I'm a speed reader so I missed it. I envision the tip of my cue hitting the object ball at the point of contact FWIW.
What are you looking at?
- Thread starter Okie
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I'm a speed reader so I missed it. I envision the tip of my cue hitting the object ball at the point of contact FWIW.
This is what I am wondering. If you are aimed properly it will work. The problem as I see it is that your subconscious can never bail you out of a poorly aligned position, but that is a whole other discussion.
Thanks for posting!
Ken
On the contrary, I believe the problem is that our subconscious is able to do this fairly well - I call it "steering" (= navigating the cue tip into the target as if it were a cruise missile). Fact is that we're able to do this a goodly percentage of the time, so we get lazy, no longer do a proper setup, are often satisfied with less than perfect alignment, especially on shots we don't deem critical. What one really wants, however, is an alignment on each and every shot that's so good that we could shoot the shot blind-folded - but then, we use our eyesight as a backup. Perfection is to make doubly sure, so to speak.
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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Well said!
I think we totally agree on this point. I get to typing and thinking and thinking I am typing as fast as I am thinking then I reread the post before submitting only to find I said something poorly then I change it and preview it only to find my change makes less sense than the original post then I erase the whole damn thing due to a total state of confusion!
I know this will make some giggle. I know I have had a good laugh or two at myself but it is true! :embarrassed2:
I thank each and everyone of you who have added their $.02 to this thread!
Ken
I missed it!
I miss so often that I can't stand to watch anymore. So I usually close my eyes somewhere in the middle of my final backstoke, and just stay down until my opponents asks me to move. :smile:
Seriously on most shots I try to keep CB, OB, and pocket in my vison until the very last second then I fully focus on my contact point on the OB. If you lined up properly on the CB and you trust your stroke, I don't see a need to focus on anything other than the OB/ contact point.
I miss so often that I can't stand to watch anymore. So I usually close my eyes somewhere in the middle of my final backstoke, and just stay down until my opponents asks me to move. :smile:
Seriously on most shots I try to keep CB, OB, and pocket in my vison until the very last second then I fully focus on my contact point on the OB. If you lined up properly on the CB and you trust your stroke, I don't see a need to focus on anything other than the OB/ contact point.
A drill for precision and training
HERE'S A GOOD DRILL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROPER ELEMENTS:
Create the angle in your mind ABOVE the shot....then get down as if you had already made the shot....this is the level of confidence you must have. So CONNECT the balls - CREATE the angle -get down with CONFIDENCE that you have already made the shot and feel the "hit".
Look at the object ball last, but for the first full 3 seconds look at exactly where you want to hit the cue ball....then focus on the object ball, but only be aware of it's presence,(it's almost like you're "feeling" the shot with your eyes) and let your eyes go back and forth.....pull the trigger looking at the object ball and watch the object ball go in the pocket while you're raising back up, don't "jump up", just come up at a steady, comfortable pace. I like practicing for 15 minutes by myself NOT taking any practice strokes, this MAKES you get down on the ball more carefully, with better attention to the most important part- precisely hitting the cue ball.
HERE'S A GOOD DRILL TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROPER ELEMENTS:
Create the angle in your mind ABOVE the shot....then get down as if you had already made the shot....this is the level of confidence you must have. So CONNECT the balls - CREATE the angle -get down with CONFIDENCE that you have already made the shot and feel the "hit".
Look at the object ball last, but for the first full 3 seconds look at exactly where you want to hit the cue ball....then focus on the object ball, but only be aware of it's presence,(it's almost like you're "feeling" the shot with your eyes) and let your eyes go back and forth.....pull the trigger looking at the object ball and watch the object ball go in the pocket while you're raising back up, don't "jump up", just come up at a steady, comfortable pace. I like practicing for 15 minutes by myself NOT taking any practice strokes, this MAKES you get down on the ball more carefully, with better attention to the most important part- precisely hitting the cue ball.
Thanks for your post Mr. Wiley! I value your opinion highly! A very good suggestion!
From reading your post on the 3 second cue ball look in another thread I have been giving this a try. It seems to help me slow my pace down quite well without making me feel like I am freezing up or idling without purpose. I know from video analysis that tend to I shoot too quickly. But from the inside I feel I am playing at a proper pace. I think I am doing as acousticsguru describes in his last post and being a bit lazy in my routine.
I think my confusion on where to focus at final stroke time is clearing up. Having spoke with Mr. Brett and Mr. Shuffett I knew I needed more cue ball vision time but I needed to clarify when this should occur.
Thanks again for your time!
Ken
Did this too, so shift another from poll 1 to poll 2
I have pretty much lumped 1 and 2 together as the same result. A poorly worded poll. :embarrassed2:
Thanks again for your input!
Ken
Thanks for the post!
Next time I see ya I will explain where all this is coming from.
Also, so everyone knows...
I focus on the contact point of the object ball at impact and have the intent of watching it into the hole but fail miserably on many occasions. I think using the routine that Mr. Wiley is suggesting will help this impatient shooter slow down long enough to finish the shot!
Ken
I am in camp 2 as well. I will get down and check my alignment with my tip at the center of the cue ball. Then I look at the cue ball, adjust for english, and do my warm up strokes and focus on where I want to hit the cue ball. Then pause and focus on the contact point of the ob, and fire.
I find it very hard to look at the cue ball last except for jacked up shots. Even trying to practice it for the break shot doesn't feel right for me.
I find it very hard to look at the cue ball last except for jacked up shots. Even trying to practice it for the break shot doesn't feel right for me.
Sup Nat! Thanks for posting!
Looking at the cue ball feels fine, even natural, to me but I know what I am feeling is most likely a placebo. There is no substitute for good fundamentals.
See ya soon,
Ken
If you miss by too much it is not aim it is stroke, if you miss by hitting jaws of pocket could be aim could be that you did not account for throw of OB
Try pause before you fire, pull short (for long shots and large cuts) very slowly and follow through.
My eye is concentrating on the line the CB will roll down as it approaches the OB. You could call this looking at the contact point on the OB, but that would be misleading, I really am looking at the line the CB will roll down. I often see a mark, a fuft of felt, or other identifiable iten on the line (or close to it) and use the CB rolling past that mark as feedback to my aiming system.
A subtle but distinct difference occurs when you counter the arc of the CB due to massé. Here you want your eye to focus on the point in the path where the CB 'takes' the bend and then on the line from this point of arc towards the OB.
A subtle but distinct difference occurs when you counter the arc of the CB due to massé. Here you want your eye to focus on the point in the path where the CB 'takes' the bend and then on the line from this point of arc towards the OB.
I used to look at cb last for about 10 years-- then changed to object ball last. My eyes switch to ob while my pause at the end of the stroke (at the end, like Niels Feijen for example).
And of course on jacked up shots, jumps etc- i look at cb last or at a *target* i defined on the cloth.
lg
Ingo
And of course on jacked up shots, jumps etc- i look at cb last or at a *target* i defined on the cloth.
lg
Ingo
Me too. You could call it an intermediate target.
I voted #1, then saw the edit. so #2 probably applies.
It depends if its a very easy shot I just look at the OB, if its a difficult shot then I look at the point of contact on the OB, more often the later. the point of contact on the OB.
How in the world can anyone look at the CB and play?? I do that only if i'm practicing something and I have a problem i'm working thru but only for a few shots. If I think there is a problem with where i'm hitting the CB(and this is a very very rare thing). I have to force myself to look at the CB when I pull the trigger its just natural for me to look at the OB.
It depends if its a very easy shot I just look at the OB, if its a difficult shot then I look at the point of contact on the OB, more often the later. the point of contact on the OB.
How in the world can anyone look at the CB and play?? I do that only if i'm practicing something and I have a problem i'm working thru but only for a few shots. If I think there is a problem with where i'm hitting the CB(and this is a very very rare thing). I have to force myself to look at the CB when I pull the trigger its just natural for me to look at the OB.