Oikawa
Well-known member
This thread is not about aiming in the sense of picking the correct cut angle, but about alignment; I will share a method I use for accurately fine-tuning the cue angle to point towards wherever I want the CB to go at. So, you can use this no matter if you use some aiming system or not, it doesn't matter how you arrive at your aim point, all this method does is simply align your cue's angle to match the intended shot line.
There are many ways of aligning the cue to the shot line, at it's simplest you can just learn to to drop down into the shot in the same way every time, and let your backhand fall wherever it naturally goes, trusting that this position is then correct, possibly doing visual micro-adjustments based on where you see the cue is pointing at. This "chin method" attempts to reduce the need for cue-angle related visually confirmed micro-adjustments or keeping a precise body/backhand position while stepping down into the shot, and moves the responsibility of the backhand position to be automatically relative to your chin's position, which works because your chin's position is very consistent in relation to where your eyes are (as long as your head rotation is consistent, more about this later).
The basic idea for the shot routine (ignoring the steps that are irrelevant for this process, only saying the relevant ones) is as follows:
1. Do your aiming however you aim, and step down into the shot.
2. When down on the shot, move your backhand sideways (typically a very small amount, since you naturally fall very close to the correct location) such that the cue touches your chin at a specific point (this specific point will be described later). You have now found the correct backhand alignment.
3. Start doing warm-up strokes with a natural back/forth motion, having the cue consistently touch the correct point on the chin. Once you address the cue ball, verify that the tip position into the CB is correct, and if not, do an adjustment with your bridge hand, to have the cue point at the correct point. DO NOT move anything else than the bridge hand in this part to do this adjustment. Repeat a few times if needed, until you verify the cue is consistently pointing the CB at the correct location and is not moving off.
4. Now your backhand and bridge hand are both at the correct alignment, which if done correctly, ensures your cue is pointing exactly along the intended shot line.
5. Shoot the shot.
About the specific point on the chin: Depending on your vision center and head rotation amount, the point on the chin that ensures correct cue alignment will differ. If you try this method, test different chin positions until your shots start going in multiple times in a row, then you know you've found the correct point on the chin.
The change is head rotation is an important factor to consider. Typically if you have a normal shot with no elevation/awkward bridge hand shenanigans, your head will naturally be at the same angle relative to the shot, so it will be consistent. However, if your body is in a different setup (most commonly shooting over the rail or elevated), your head might naturally be at a different angle relative to the shot, causing the correct chin position for this method to change. At this point, you have two options:
1. Always ensure your head is rotated at the exactly same way (preferably facing the shot straight on, and not tilted in either way). This might be uncomfortable depending on how it naturally wants to lay, and might also be inconsistent in terms of judging whether you have turned it correctly.
2. Let your head fall into whatever rotation it naturally wants to, and memorize the natural rotations for different shot types (normal and elevated/on the rail being the main ones).
I personally do option 2, knowing that once you learn to drop down into the shot in a natural and repeatable way, your head will automatically be at a consistent angle each time for non-elevated and rail/elevated shots. For me, when I'm elevated or shooting off the rail, my correct chin position is slightly more to the left than normally. This doesn't take long to figure out and memorize by testing different shot types multiple times in a row.
At extreme elevations and jump shots, keeping the same head rotation becomes more and more difficult to do consistently, but with some practice you can implement this method for them and get consistent results.
In terms of how accurate this method is if done well; I can make straight-in semi-long pots on a snooker table with a very high percentage (90%+), so it is definitely very precise if practiced well (mostly the head rotation issue must be mastered, which is the biggest culprit for poor accuracy), assuming your fundamentals are solid and there are no other issues causing misses.
I do not know how widely used this or similar methods are, I found it by myself and, once I figured out/practiced it, find it more effortless and precise than other methods I've tried.
There are many ways of aligning the cue to the shot line, at it's simplest you can just learn to to drop down into the shot in the same way every time, and let your backhand fall wherever it naturally goes, trusting that this position is then correct, possibly doing visual micro-adjustments based on where you see the cue is pointing at. This "chin method" attempts to reduce the need for cue-angle related visually confirmed micro-adjustments or keeping a precise body/backhand position while stepping down into the shot, and moves the responsibility of the backhand position to be automatically relative to your chin's position, which works because your chin's position is very consistent in relation to where your eyes are (as long as your head rotation is consistent, more about this later).
The basic idea for the shot routine (ignoring the steps that are irrelevant for this process, only saying the relevant ones) is as follows:
1. Do your aiming however you aim, and step down into the shot.
2. When down on the shot, move your backhand sideways (typically a very small amount, since you naturally fall very close to the correct location) such that the cue touches your chin at a specific point (this specific point will be described later). You have now found the correct backhand alignment.
3. Start doing warm-up strokes with a natural back/forth motion, having the cue consistently touch the correct point on the chin. Once you address the cue ball, verify that the tip position into the CB is correct, and if not, do an adjustment with your bridge hand, to have the cue point at the correct point. DO NOT move anything else than the bridge hand in this part to do this adjustment. Repeat a few times if needed, until you verify the cue is consistently pointing the CB at the correct location and is not moving off.
4. Now your backhand and bridge hand are both at the correct alignment, which if done correctly, ensures your cue is pointing exactly along the intended shot line.
5. Shoot the shot.
About the specific point on the chin: Depending on your vision center and head rotation amount, the point on the chin that ensures correct cue alignment will differ. If you try this method, test different chin positions until your shots start going in multiple times in a row, then you know you've found the correct point on the chin.
The change is head rotation is an important factor to consider. Typically if you have a normal shot with no elevation/awkward bridge hand shenanigans, your head will naturally be at the same angle relative to the shot, so it will be consistent. However, if your body is in a different setup (most commonly shooting over the rail or elevated), your head might naturally be at a different angle relative to the shot, causing the correct chin position for this method to change. At this point, you have two options:
1. Always ensure your head is rotated at the exactly same way (preferably facing the shot straight on, and not tilted in either way). This might be uncomfortable depending on how it naturally wants to lay, and might also be inconsistent in terms of judging whether you have turned it correctly.
2. Let your head fall into whatever rotation it naturally wants to, and memorize the natural rotations for different shot types (normal and elevated/on the rail being the main ones).
I personally do option 2, knowing that once you learn to drop down into the shot in a natural and repeatable way, your head will automatically be at a consistent angle each time for non-elevated and rail/elevated shots. For me, when I'm elevated or shooting off the rail, my correct chin position is slightly more to the left than normally. This doesn't take long to figure out and memorize by testing different shot types multiple times in a row.
At extreme elevations and jump shots, keeping the same head rotation becomes more and more difficult to do consistently, but with some practice you can implement this method for them and get consistent results.
In terms of how accurate this method is if done well; I can make straight-in semi-long pots on a snooker table with a very high percentage (90%+), so it is definitely very precise if practiced well (mostly the head rotation issue must be mastered, which is the biggest culprit for poor accuracy), assuming your fundamentals are solid and there are no other issues causing misses.
I do not know how widely used this or similar methods are, I found it by myself and, once I figured out/practiced it, find it more effortless and precise than other methods I've tried.
Last edited:
