What ball do you look at last before shooting?

[twal]

No doubt about it. CB last.
I would say 0.01 seconds right before I hit it.
When you shoot you are constantly comparing the relationship between the contact point of the object ball and the cue ball.
My guess is those who see the OB ball last are more of a “feel” player.
I am very methodical in my approach.
There is a reason for everything that happens on the table.

 

[PoolBum]

I have also heard that strickland looks at the cue ball last. Can't verify it though.

I heard this as well, went and studied tapes of him very carefully and it was clear that on normal shots he was looking at the object ball last.

 

[ball-banger]

I hear many people say that they look at the CB last on a break shot to make sure they hit the CB as accurately as possible. You could use the same logic on most other shots as well, IMO. I line up my shot and look at the CB when I pull the trigger. It seems to work for me. I just don't like the feeling of not looking at what i'm hitting with the tip.

 

[i4pool]

On normal shots, I am with the group who looks at the object ball last. I normally go back and forth between the CB & OB, 3 -4 times, then end with focusing on the OB for at least a second before pulling the trigger. IMO, I have pretty good results doing it this way.

Now, for the break... I recently switched from OB-last to CB-last and it's made a +difference on my control of whitey. I'm squatting the CB more often now. :thumbup:


Regards,
Abe - i4pool

 

[Philthepockets]

Not sure why you would want to look where your are coming from rather than where you are going, do you drive a car? :grin-square:

 

[Scott Lee]

These are all XOP (xtra-care operating procedure) situations, where either there the CB is more important. In SOP shots you look at the OB last, because your cue goes where your eyes go.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

What do you look at last when you;

Kick at a ball?
Are jacked up over a ball?
Are jacked up on the rail?
Trying to Jump the CB?
Masse the CB?

If you are really interested in what very good players look at last, just watch their eyebrows. They will be UP if looking at the OB last and Down if looking at the CB last.

In my observations it is about 50-50.

I really think that is the process of looking back and forth between the OB and CB that is important. Looking at either one Last is good for the PRE-Shot routine.

 

[BlaineBarcus]

I've been wondering about this myself. I've always looked at the object ball last but I attended the Johnny/Earl pool school and talking to Johnny he told me that he is now looking at the cue ball last. He said he always used to look at the object ball last but after years he is now looking at the cueball last.
"Think about it.....once your properly alligned on the shot the object ball isn't gonna move so wouldn't you want to make sure your hitting the exact spot on the cue ball?"(Johhny's explanitation as to why he now looks at the cue ball last)

My thoughts exactly

 

[KoolKat9Lives]

These are all XOP (xtra-care operating procedure) situations, where either there the CB is more important. In SOP shots you look at the OB last, because your cue goes where your eyes go.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

This is not only the prevailing wisdom, it's darn near the rule for good pool. Yes, as noted there are a couple exceptions, but they are exceptions.

Johnny told me that once he goes down on a shot he never looks at the object ball. "There's only two things that matter on a shot. It's all in the alignment and the stroke through the CB. All I can control is the hit on the CB, so why even worry about the OB?"

I'd be willing to bet he does look at the OB when down on a lot of shots - maybe he is looking at the CB last, but I just find it hard to believe. He probably doesn't even know it since it's so engrained. I could be mistaken, but it seems unfathomable to me! I need to watch his eyes next time... Has anyone watched Johnny's eye pattern? Maybe I'll look for a video and report back. And Ralf too.


Ok, edited to add:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZXRgSHE2b4

I swear his eyebrowns are moving a good 3 times a shot while down on the shot. Hard to say for sure.
Whatcha think?

 

[greyghost]

IN EVERY SPORT IN THE PLANET

You look at where you want to deliver the object that your delivering.

Baseball- bat to ball, you look at the ball.

Basketball -ball to rim, you look at the rim.

Archery -arrow to target, you look at target


When you punch someone in the mouth, you look at their mouth not your fist.

To not look at your objective target last is just plain silly as hell in any endeavor that takes eyes to perform.

 

[djkx1]

IN EVERY SPORT IN THE PLANET

You look at where you want to deliver the object that your delivering.

Baseball- bat to ball, you look at the ball.

Basketball -ball to rim, you look at the rim.

Archery -arrow to target, you look at target


When you punch someone in the mouth, you look at their mouth not your fist.

To not look at your objective target last is just plain silly as hell in any endeavor that takes eyes to perform.

I agree, but some others would say the cue is the object your delivering and the CB is the target.

 

[bob c]

These are all XOP (xtra-care operating procedure) situations, where either there the CB is more important. In SOP shots you look at the OB last, because your cue goes where your eyes go.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

When did you jump ship and become an OB last guy? As I recall you used to preach CB last.

 

[12310bch]

For all you CB watchers ,try this. Put a dime on a short rail.Shoot from other end of table. Try to hit the dime. What were you last looking at? The CB or the dime?

 

[DannyK]

I voted ob, but it's an ongoing process. I find myself reverting back to cue-ball last sometimes...usually on long straight in shots.

 

[Philthepockets]

How bout this, try looking at the CB whilst shooting on a 6x12 snooker table and let me know how it works out for ya

 

[accustatsfan]

I shot cue ball early on because I would accidentally bump the cue ball. I heard about object ball last and what an automatic improvement.

Break is still cue ball last. I always heard you had to key in on the cue ball hit for accuracy during power on the break.

I don't mind changing technique, but there's so many red herrings that I want to make sure I hear from a credible person before I experiment with a change.

 

[PetToilet]

I think most people who think they look at the cue ball actually look at the object ball.

Perhaps, but I look at the cue ball on purpose, to make sure my tip ends up where I want to and I focus on the delivery of the tip.

It took me quite a long time to make myself not look up to see if I made the pot right afterwards.

 

[PetToilet]

For all you CB watchers ,try this. Put a dime on a short rail.Shoot from other end of table. Try to hit the dime. What were you last looking at? The CB or the dime?

CB

How bout this, try looking at the CB whilst shooting on a 6x12 snooker table and let me know how it works out for ya

I didn't fare too bad for my first time on a 6x12 I'd say, I should try it again at some point. One of my friends used to play snooker all the time..

 

[PetToilet]

Yeah and Pete Sampras used the smallest tennis racquet that was on the market. Oh yes , there is Tiger Woods that can throw a ball in the air and then hit it with his driver down the fairway. And who cannot remember Kobe jumping in the air out of 4 man coverage to sink a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go, To use an analogy that is at least as valid as Archer's reasoning, on a rifle open gunsight you line up front and rear sights but you focus on the FRONT sight.:shrug:

Yes, the front sight, not the object.

 

[PetToilet]

IN EVERY SPORT IN THE PLANET

You look at where you want to deliver the object that your delivering.

Baseball- bat to ball, you look at the ball.

Basketball -ball to rim, you look at the rim.

Archery -arrow to target, you look at target


When you punch someone in the mouth, you look at their mouth not your fist.

To not look at your objective target last is just plain silly as hell in any endeavor that takes eyes to perform.

Yeah.. you're delivering the cue to the cue ball.

In tennis, the pro's look at the ball contacting the racket, not where they want the tennis ball to land.

It is a little different because everything is stationary, so I think looking at OB last isn't such a bad thing.

 

[CreeDo]

To not look at your objective target last is just plain silly as hell in any endeavor that takes eyes to perform.

But! It's fair to say that that in addition to delivering the cue ball to the object ball, you're also delivering the tip to the cue ball.

The difference between pool and all those other sports is this:
Tennis, baseball, punching a guy in the mouth: you may need to swing high, or low, or forward, or backward. No two swings are supposed to be identical.

But in pool it's pretty much the exact same swing every single time. You're just pointing the stick in a different direction. Yes there are other shots that use a nonstandard stroke but most of your strokes are identical, or at least that's what we're all trying for.

I think looking at the OB last allows a person to make subconscious corrections to their aim and english and speed that might help a shot that is on the verge of being missed. But in theory this is a bad habit, we wanna keep away from steering and get the stroke as straight and consistent as possible. If looking at the OB last encourages even a tiny bit of steering, maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I played the entire night looking at CB last and only missed 2 balls that I felt I could have made looking at the OB last. And to be fair they were like 75 degree cuts anyway. I made all my other shots just fine looking at the CB last. I also found a strange sort of confidence hitting long straight in shots. I know that I only miss these when I catch the sides of the CB as I stroke. I was never in danger of doing that looking at the CB last.

I think it's sort of amazing, over 10 years of looking at OB last and with zero practice I had no problem switching to CB last and running out. I encourage others to try it before they knock it. You shouldn't play any worse and you might find your CB position improves.