Yes, that's one of my points: the cue must be "pivoted" unless the amount of swerve exactly matches the amount of squirt - call that the "effective pivot point" because it changes with the amount of swerve for each shot. Another point is that each cue also has a "natural pivot point" (the point at which you'd pivot if swerve didn't exist) which is a fixed characteristic of each shaft like tip width or taper, and exists at the same point on the shaft whether or not the cue is ever actually pivoted there, defining the squirt side of the squirt/swerve equation for each shot.
If there's enough flexibility in CB position, then it's theoretically possible to choose tip offset, butt elevation and speed to exactly match swerve with squirt to aim directly at the target with "parallel english". But I don't believe there's enough CB position flexibility to do this exactly on most shots, and I don't believe we're capable of seeing whether or not we've achieved it exactly for any shot. So I think players who try to make a practice of it are fooling themselves to some degree about how successful they really are - this is what I mean when I say parallel english doesn't really exist and everybody pivots.
The important question to me is which is better: aiming "parallel" with less choice of CB position or aiming pivoted with more choice of CB position?
It seems to me that both require the same degree of familiarity with the effects of tip offset, butt elevation and speed, and I'm comfortable with aiming pivoted, so I choose pivoting and more choice of CB position.
pj
chgo
It might seem that way at first, but really, adjusting for the swerve is much easier and intuitive than you would think. If I were to rate how difficult the adjustment is, I would say that its only slightly more difficult than determining how to get the cue ball to slide into the object ball for a stop shot.
Sure, a lot of the time you will not shoot it perfectly, just like a lot of the time the cue ball will not make a dead stop when you shoot a stop shot, but the fact that parallel english allows you to shoot softer more than makes up for any intuitive inaccuracies. Not to mention the huge visual advantage you get due to being able to point the cue in the same direction as you would with center ball.
You also might think that your cue ball becomes limited with parallel english, but it really doesn't if you are shooting the right shots. If you keep your speed consistent, which you should ideally be doing regardless of whether or not you pivot, the only factors should be what spin (both horizontal and vertical) you use and what elevation you use. The adjustments to elevation are so slight that they are essentially subconcious. So really, all you have to do is pick a spin and use it provided your feel is up to par.
There are however some spots where parallel english doesn't work and as with any system or method in pool, true mastery comes not from simply being able to use it, but from knowing what its limitations are.
With parallel english, you are slightly limited in that you cannot use a HARD stroke and expect to make the ball reliably and very close shots are much more difficult to account for. For hard and/or close shots, pivot methods are better.
Other than that, once you get say 3-4 diamonds away from the object ball, Not a whole lot of adjustment is needed as long as you have a good feel for the shot. Just visualize the swerve and throw working in your favor rather than simply adjusting for it.
