Which aiming system you use and why?

Which aiming system do you use?

  • Bottom of the ball

    Votes: 3 11.1%

  • Center to Edge (CTE)

    Votes: 7 25.9%

  • CP to CP (Parallel-lines)

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Double the Distance

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • Fractional-ball

    Votes: 6 22.2%

  • Midpoint parallel shift

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Hit a million balls (aiming by feel coming from practice shots many times)

    Votes: 18 66.7%
  • Total voters
    27
8pack said:
Good for you.;) Not only do you shoot like a champ your talk is right up there to.
I'll make sure I pay attention everything you say .
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I'm just responding, politely I might point out, to your criticism and barbs.

I don't expect you to listen, care, and certainly not to be swayed. But others reading this exchange might find it instructive.

Lou Figueroa
 
Dan White said:
Everyone has good days and bad days but the difference between us is I believe the majority of those fluctuations in play are caused by stroke errors more than aiming errors. Nervousness in a pressure situation clearly impacts the stroke mechanics more than the aim. If you are nervous and miss a straight in shot it isn't because you couldn't see that the correct aim was a full ball hit.

True, but I was referring to getting on my own table at home and throwing some balls out to whack around and practice.

What you are getting at without saying it is that CTE eliminates the problem of having your eyes not seeing right from day to day. That's why you said, "That's what I don't want to have happen." The problem with your logic is that if the eyes won't let you see what you normally do with ghost ball aiming, they won't let you see your two lines properly using CTE, either.
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You're missing the point. It had to do with FEEL aiming. IOW, not ghost ball, not CTE, not anything other than "see the shot" and do it by feel, memory, the subconscious or unconscious mind.

Those can be used by very experienced players when things are clicking and you just get into a zone. Never lasts forever or sometimes not very long at all.
 
8pack said:
All you million ball hitters explain your feel sytem that requires know aiming.
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Already did that.

The thing is that everybody's brain works differently. A few weeks ago there was a thread in the Main Forum concerning the fact that not everyone has an "inner monologue." IOWs, not everyone can have a silent conversation with themselves, or say, hear a song play in their heads. Similarly, not everyone can visualize things in their brain. Like ferinstance, if I ask you to picture a red star in your head, not everyone can do that.

So when I say I just see that shot and the balls, that's what I'm capable of and have great success with. Not everyone can visualize all those CPs, and degrees and fractions of a hit. Personally, I scratch my head when I see all these diagrams specifying all these different angles you're suppose to see. Besides which, they all go out the window when you start factoring in throw and serve and squirt and whether you're jacked up a bit or a lot on the rail or over a ball.

Lou Figueroa
 
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8pack said:
But you guys live on here.
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What are you talking about?

I spend a few minutes in the morning posting a few things over a cappuccino. Then I might tune in again in the late afternoon while I have something on the stove. Maybe I'll check in every once in a while if there's thread going on that I'm actively participating in. It's a few minutes out of my day for a couple of yuks.

Lou Figueroa
 
Dan White said:
Everyone has good days and bad days but the difference between us is I believe the majority of those fluctuations in play are caused by stroke errors more than aiming errors. Nervousness in a pressure situation clearly impacts the stroke mechanics more than the aim. If you are nervous and miss a straight in shot it isn't because you couldn't see that the correct aim was a full ball hit.

What you are getting at without saying it is that CTE eliminates the problem of having your eyes not seeing right from day to day. That's why you said, "That's what I don't want to have happen." The problem with your logic is that if the eyes won't let you see what you normally do with ghost ball aiming, they won't let you see your two lines properly using CTE, either.
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Exactly. These same physical and mental stumblings occur regardless of aiming method, including CTE. On a day when your eyes aren't working to full potential, or your mind is not in the game (which is the real problem, not the eyes themselves), when you aren't accurately visualizing ONE line (like ghostball or fractional aim line), or your feel for speed and spin is off, to believe you'd magically be able to visualize two lines any better is illogical.

I will say, however, that focusing on a solid psr can magically smooth out those stumbling blocks most of the time. I've found myself off a bubble, not playing up to speed for whatever reason -- pissed off, stressed out, wore out, upset, headache, etc...(the list can be endless when we're looking for an excuse), but now I simply start thinking...ok, this ball is on 36, I'm lined to 15. If I were lined to 18 this would be a half ball shot. 13 to 14 would be a 5/8. So this is a touch thinner than 5/8.. This all happens in less than 5 seconds, then I decide where the cb needs to go after it hits the ob, make my aiming adjustment to account for that, and drill the shot.

By narrowing the mind (focusing on something specific that leaves your excuse out) you can get back on track much easier, back in stroke and up to speed. This can happen with any aiming system or method as long as you incorporate it into your psr. So maybe that's what Spider is getting at, the reason he hinted that CTE keeps the road smoother for him. I can say Poolology does that for me. But when you're really playing, having a great night, in the zone, free and easy, the actual conscious effort is happening so fluently that it's really being orchestrated by the subconscious. So for me I'm not looking at numbers or fractions or anything...I'm just playing. But if I feel like I'm running off the rails, struggling, then I have system that I can focus on to get me back on track.
 
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BC21 said:
By narrowing the mind (focusing on something specific that leaves your excuse out) you can get back on track much easier, back in stroke and up to speed. This can happen with any aiming system or method as long as you incorporate it into your psr. So maybe that's what Spider is getting at, the reason he hinted that CTE keeps the road smoother for him. I can say Poolology does that for me. But if I feel like I'm running off the rails, struggling, then I have system that I can focus on to get me back on track.
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That's a pretty good summation. Although going through the visuals at this point is so ingrained and so fast that little thought is involved and a flow can be kept going when everything looks like the pockets are 6 1/2".
 
lfigueroa said:
The thing is that everybody's brain works differently. A few weeks ago there was a thread in the Main Forum concerning the fact that not everyone has an "inner monologue." IOWs, not everyone can have a silent conversation with themselves, or say, hear a song play in their heads. Similarly, not everyone can visualize things in their brain. Like ferinstance, if I ask you to picture a red star in your head, not everyone can do that.
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Is that really true? I find that hard to believe.

I've also heard that some people only dream in black and white. Hard to believe as well, but at least that one seems plausible.
 
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Dan White said:
My method is to stand in the spot where the relationship between the cb/ob/pocket "looks right." I'd say it is ghost ball, but knowing where to put the ghost ball is the part we are talking about. I don't actually imagine a ghost ball and try to replace it with the cue ball.

I think whether you call that aiming or playing by feel, or just "knowing" the shot is just semantics. I wouldn't kill me to say that everyone aims but I think it would be overkill to say everyone has an aiming "system."
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You either have an aiming system or a way of aiming that gets you to the shot line. All require feel and many balls hit.

You guys seem to be sending a message by your see and shoot is what it really boils down to, yes and no.

My point is what is really happening before that, our connection to the balls. We repeat and repeat and learn from the feedback from this connection.

So we all use someway of aiming( except Lou ..he's special) and if you lucky enough you can add see and shoot to your method...but you cant have one without the other.
 
8pack said:
You either have an aiming system or a way of aiming that gets you to the shot line. All require feel and many balls hit.

You guys seem to be sending a message by your see and shoot is what it really boils down to, yes and no.

My point is what is really happening before that, our connection to the balls. We repeat and repeat and learn from the feedback from this connection.

So we all use someway of aiming( except Lou ..he's special) and if you lucky enough you can add see and shoot to your method...but you cant have one without the other.
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No, as has already been pointed out, many players just see and shoot.

Lou Figueroa
 
SpiderWebComm said:
You're welcome, but again still not enough. Nothing like what's in your autobiography..."How Do I Love Me, Let Me Count The Ways" by Lou Figueroa.

(soon to be sold by Amazon)
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No, it's plenty.

And I'm sorry to disappoint you but there's no autobiography coming. But thanks for the nice thought.

Lou Figueroa
 
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