What are the pros looking for when they do this.
- Thread starter housecue
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Additionally, it also gives you a minute to breath and start fresh on each shot. It's easy to get into a rush and "slide sideways" into a shot with out standing back and looking at what you've got to do. If you have to make a lap around the table and chalk your cue twice before you're sure you can make the ball, well, that's just what you've got to do.
I believe it's part of the fundamental part of the pre-shot routine: to approach the CB.selftaut said:
I don't think it's technical...
For me anyway...and I imagine for many others as well...
If you stand in a straight line from the pocket through the object ball to where you are standing...then you can 'imagine' the ball going in the hole easier than you can from an angle...
It's a tool for positive thinking...imo it's a good thing to imagine the ball going in before you play it...it's simply easier to see that from a straight line...and imo that's more important than trying to find a 'contact point'...
Does anyone really look at a 'contact point' on the object ball when they are shooting???...
For me anyway...and I imagine for many others as well...
If you stand in a straight line from the pocket through the object ball to where you are standing...then you can 'imagine' the ball going in the hole easier than you can from an angle...
It's a tool for positive thinking...imo it's a good thing to imagine the ball going in before you play it...it's simply easier to see that from a straight line...and imo that's more important than trying to find a 'contact point'...
Does anyone really look at a 'contact point' on the object ball when they are shooting???...
I try to do this on just about every shot, if for no other reason than pre-shot routine's sake. If I just look from the cue ball, I'm probably fine in most cases, but looking from the object ball does help me "lock in" the angle, I think. Particularly, for a difficult cut where the object ball is close to the rail, it can be hard to tell from the cue ball's perspective how close exactly the object ball is to the rail.
Bigjohn said:
Perhaps not the center of the pocket, but maybe this technique is used for cheating the pocket a little. And this requires one to look carefully at the point within the pocket target area where the OB must go to successfully complete the shot, thus the journey down table.
Sometimes I use the little worn marks on the inside of the Valley tables' pockets as guides for aiming the OB. This really "locks in" the shot for me. Otherwise I get too sloppy in my aim.
fwiw,
Jeff Livingston
If it's very good players you're watching, the shooter may also be checking to see which half of the pocket is more desirable for the OB in terms of where s/he wants the CB. But the other posters are absolutely right: most of the time, it's just to reinforce the ghost-ball aiming technique. GF
Most people are probably either finding the contact point or visualizing the postition of the ghost ball. If they look at that point when they are shooting then they must use feel to actually aim their cue somewhere else than where they are looking or they will always miss every shot that is not straight in. The only way to aim the stick (which is all you can aim) is to visualize the ghost ball and aim at a point on it relative to the english and stroke you are using.housecue said:This might be a silly question, but I have to ask. When I watch the pros play, sometimes I notice when they have a long angle shot, they would take a moment to walk and sight the path of the OB into the desire pocket, then they walk back to their CB position and get down and shoot. It seems to help them with the shot. What are they looking for when they do that?
unknownpro
housecue said:This might be a silly question, but I have to ask. When I watch the pros play, sometimes I notice when they have a long angle shot, they would take a moment to walk and sight the path of the OB into the desire pocket, then they walk back to their CB position and get down and shoot. It seems to help them with the shot. What are they looking for when they do that?
I do that and I'm drawing a line from the rail through the ob to the exact point in the pocket that I want to hit. Then when back at the cb I can see the exact line of the shot and I have a much better idea of how to make the cb intersect that line so the ob goes where it needs to go.
After hitting a few million balls, i think most pros know the angles and the contact points pretty well. I always thought that when they went over and studied the angle and even put down their cues towards the ball, it was solely to help them visualize the ball's path towards the pocket.
I know for myself, and I am no pro, I go over and look at the angle and point my cue at the object ball with the tip resting on the table, its done solely for me to visualize the shot going into the pocket. I go back over and get down on the shot and fire away. For me at least, I have to be able to see how the shot will go in, and while most of the time you dont need to do this, it helps on hard shots or pressure shots to do this preshot routine.
I know for myself, and I am no pro, I go over and look at the angle and point my cue at the object ball with the tip resting on the table, its done solely for me to visualize the shot going into the pocket. I go back over and get down on the shot and fire away. For me at least, I have to be able to see how the shot will go in, and while most of the time you dont need to do this, it helps on hard shots or pressure shots to do this preshot routine.
Patrick Johnson said:
Yes, it can, but only by a very small amount.
By a "very small amount" I mean perhaps by 1/16" for some shots, more for others, due to effect of throw on the object ball. The times when this small amount can be critical are on those long shots, where great precision is required, and especially on very tight pocketed tables. If shooting very firmly on a very tight pocketed table the margin of error can be very small, and 1/16" or thereabouts can result in making or missing the shot; at least that's been my experience.
Well, what they, and we are doing is giving our brain the most information possible to allow us to make the shot. Some may process contact points, others angles, some ghost balls, etc. . Its providing information to the brain so that when we shoot, we feel the shot.
If you don't look at the shot, you take the chance that your brain doesn't have enough information and mistakenly gives us the wrong feel, and hence we miss a shot that we should make. If made an integral part of the PSR, you will miss less balls.
JMO, of course.
If you don't look at the shot, you take the chance that your brain doesn't have enough information and mistakenly gives us the wrong feel, and hence we miss a shot that we should make. If made an integral part of the PSR, you will miss less balls.
JMO, of course.
Yes, always - unless I get lazy and start letting "feel" take over too much. Feel is always a big part of aiming, of course, maybe the biggest part - but I'm most accurate when I pay conscious attention to the non-feel things that are available to me, like the contact points and where my stick is pointing in relation to them. When I get lazy and less precise about those things I start missing the tight shots into half pockets (and my CB control gets less precise as a result).Flex said:
pj
chgo
uwate said:
I do the same thing. I look at the angle between the CB and OB. I then know where the ghost ball or contact point is. Another little trick is using the ferrule and tip as a measuring device. The ferrule and tip together measures roughy 1 1/8 inch, one half the diameter of the CB. Lay the cue down along the path you want the OB to travel with the tip almost touching the OB. Look where the back end of the ferrule is and you have the spot where the center of the CB should be on contact. Keep your eye on that spot and pull your cue back where the tip touches that point and then lift up leaving a "little" spot to aim at. You then just have to shoot the center of the CB to that mark. A sneaky way to mark the table and no one ever catches it.
housecue said:This might be a silly question, but I have to ask. When I watch the pros play, sometimes I notice when they have a long angle shot, they would take a moment to walk and sight the path of the OB into the desire pocket, then they walk back to their CB position and get down and shoot. It seems to help them with the shot. What are they looking for when they do that?
Pardon me for getting back on topic. Tho you didn't
spell it out exactly, but I'm guessing the shots are only
the ones where the shooter can't see the pocket as he
sights on the ball.
Many players at all levels don't "see" this shot as well.
Dale
About the only time I'll do this is when I have to wait for someone on the next table to take their shot & move. I normally play pretty quick & don't like to be held up but I've found this keeps me going while I'm waiting, rather than just standing around. Stops me getting silly & going into warp speed too!
I really think it's just visualising the shot. Maybe some fine tuning, like is it a shot into the middle of the bag or do you need to cheat the pocket a little. Never hurts to look I guess, I just don't do it often.
I really think it's just visualising the shot. Maybe some fine tuning, like is it a shot into the middle of the bag or do you need to cheat the pocket a little. Never hurts to look I guess, I just don't do it often.
housecue said:This might be a silly question, but I have to ask. When I watch the pros play, sometimes I notice when they have a long angle shot, they would take a moment to walk and sight the path of the OB into the desire pocket, then they walk back to their CB position and get down and shoot. It seems to help them with the shot. What are they looking for when they do that?
Do you think they might be looking at the tangent line and the path the cueball must take to get shape on the next ball?
Getting directly behind the ball would help visualize the line the cueball must take, whether it be straight down that line or if it must vary from it.
There may be interfering balls or a somewhat different angle off a rail may be desired. They would then use a little draw or follow to deviate from the tangent line for position.