Why Look at the Object Ball Last?

Why look at the object ball last?

Hand / eye coordination. You are training your brain to send the cue ball to the point you are looking at. Doesn't necessarily have to be the point of contact, point of aim, etc.., may just be the object ball in general. Out of all the elements of shotmaking (speed of shot, english, throw, position, etc.), pocketing the object ball is the most important, or nothing else matters. You figure out the various control elements of your shot, then you get down and take a few warm-up strokes to groove your shot in your computer while integrating aim, then you look at the object ball and work your magic.
I speak from experience, although I'm not a pro or expert by any means. Bad habits sneak in slowly, and this is one of my worst. Remembering Mosconi's, and others, advice to sometimes sit back and take stock of your fundamentals to make sure you haven't let bad habits sneak in, i.e. bad bridge, poor follow-through, etc., I unfortunately do this most often when I'm not winning like I should. Almost always, it's because I have gotten so wrapped up in controlling the cue ball that I've started making the cue ball the priority, looking at it last. Once or twice doesn't affect my game much, but when it becomes habit I see my cue ball perform beautifully while I miss my shot.
Magically, when I get home and practice on my table, and force myself to look at the cue ball as I stroke, I can't miss!
 
cuetechasaurus said:
What advantage does looking at the object ball last give you?
Click to expand...
Like you said, if properly aligned the shot should go. I agree with this, with one stipulation. Your stroke has to be perfect and you can not move your head. Where the head goes, the body follows. There is not an abundance of perfect strokes in the world.

I am sure many have heard, on a perfectly straight in shot, it can help to aim at the pocket, rather than the object ball. I believe the reason is, the further away the aim point is the bigger the increment of allowable error.

Tracy
 
Double-Dave said:
OOPS! Typo, I edited it. You can see from the rest of my text I meant the OB, sorry for any confusion. I look at the objectball last.
Click to expand...

I know you knew really, but I didn't know if you knew I know you knew. Just thought I'd let you know I knew you knew I know you knew to avoid any confusion.

Boro Nut
 
whitewolf said:
I have been looking for a guena pig (spelling) for sometime.
Click to expand...

I think you mean guinea pig, and I'm not convinced you'll find one that knows how to. Have you considered a hamster?

Boro Nut
 
Matt_24 said:
Chuck Norris looks at them both, does a Walker Texas Ranger roundhouse kick above the table and cue ball immediately responds hitting the object ball at the correct point of contact, pocketing the ball cleanly. The cue ball then rolls into perfect position for the next shot. He is one bad mofo.
Click to expand...
Once, Chuck Norris looked at the cueball and burned a hole right through it
 
am i really the only one?

but i look at cb when im aligning,
im looking at the ob when im adressing,
and i shift my eyes to the pocket at the end..

so i look at the POCKET last and not the ob or cb...

im surprised no one else mentioned it:confused:


if im having a day off, and i dont trust my natural instinct, i close my eyes and play some racks of straightpool just to prove myself, once im aligned correctly i WILL make the pot, no mather what my eyes or brain might be doing at that moment. looking at the pot VERY concentrated makes my pot% go ALOT higher. i know many people say to 'see' the ball going in, but i spend ALOT of time doing so and it helps. i look at the pocket alot.

my routine:
alignment untill its correct;
1adressing stroke with tip as close as possible to cb
1adressing stroke to look at the ob
1adressing stroke to look at the pocket
set, pauze, freeze, see the ball go int, and shoot

so i look at the pocket for 2 strokes of my 4stroke preshot routine
 
Last edited:
I look at the object ball last because that allows me to focus precisely on the aiming point all the way through my stroke.
 
When i tried to find out what i was doing with my eyes when i shot, i couldnt figure it out. Everytime i concentrated on "seeing" what i was looking at as i cued the ball i ended up missing more than normal so that didnt give me a correct answer. Finally asked my friend to look for me but then he wasnt too sure because he said i shifted my eyes as i was stroking through the cue ball. I do know that my eyes end up on the object ball but it sounds like im looking at the cue ball as i stroke back and shifting to the object ball as i stroke through the cue ball.

That little shift might be one of the reasons why im stuck at the level im at now. Then again, my poor stroke and such are probably better reasons. Ive just decided to not bother with what my body was doing and just letting my body do whatever it does.
 
cuetechasaurus said:
I look at the object ball last when I hit the cueball. Today I was experimenting with looking at the cueball last, focusing on the spot I want my tip to hit. I found that I was controlling the cueball slightly better and my pocketing was a little cleaner. It wasn't that big of a difference, and I don't know if I'm going to change to doing this.

From what I hear, the majority of pool players look at the object ball last. Most instructors teach this too. What I want to know is, why does it matter? Once you are down on the shot, and you keep your body still like you are supposed to, you should be able to close your eyes and make the ball, right? What advantage does looking at the object ball last give you? I can understand it as using it for a learning process, i.e. seeing if you are sending the cueball to where you are aiming, but you can do that AFTER you make contact with the cueball.

Is it ok to look at the cueball when you strike it, but quickly shift your eyes to the object ball to make sure it goes where you hit it? Or should you completely focus on the object ball *all* throughout your final forward stroke?

Who here looks at the cueball last, and who thinks that you shouldnt, and why?
Click to expand...
You don't need to, and should not look at either one. Just the line of your stroke. The balls are a distraction.

Like Hose said, "I am the best because my stroke is straight."

The exact spot you hit on the cueball is not as important as the line of aim of your cue. It's most important on center ball shots, which is a good reason to avoid them.

unknownpro
 
Boro Nut said:
I know you knew really, but I didn't know if you knew I know you knew. Just thought I'd let you know I knew you knew I know you knew to avoid any confusion.

Boro Nut
Click to expand...

I knew it!
 
i had no idea how important eye movement was until i went to randyg's school..........and looking at the object ball last definitely works better for me as well. If im looking at the cueball when i hit it, im tuned into it and i do end up coming up out of my stance a bit to try and watch it. Watching the object ball last allows me to just stay in my stance with a full follow thru and watch the cueball roll thru my aimpoint. Very similiar to archery if youve ever shot a bow.......you want to remain relaxed and fluid without any jump, watching the target until your arrow hits it allows this to happen.
 
cuetechasaurus said:
I look at the object ball last when I hit the cueball.

Who here looks at the cueball last, and who thinks that you shouldnt, and why?
Click to expand...

There once was a great pool player named, "Wille Hoppe" and his skills remain legendary. In 1941, he published his first instructional book, entitled, "Billiards, As It Should Be Played" The following is ver batim from his section on aiming (page 25) :

Select the spots on the object and cue balls you wish to hit. Then concentrate on this line of aim...watch tip in preliminary strokes to see that your tip is going to the same spot. Your eye and hand should act in strict unison.
A glance should go from the cue ball to the object ball, back to the cue ball, rather than the object ball before delivering your stroke.
The argument often has arisen whether or not a player's last glance before striking the cue ball is on the cue or object ball. My eyes are last on the cue ball.
However, several of my fellow pros often have wanted to bet me that I was wrong. Be that as it may, it doesn't mean a thing to better play. Both methods are satisfactory. Anyway, you will do this automatically and unconsciously.

So, there you have what the late great "Willie Hoppe" had to say on the subject, and I agree with him, it doesn't really matter!

Cross Side Larry

"Learn from the best, and beat the rest"
 
CrossSideLarry said:
There once was a great pool player named, "Wille Hoppe" and his skills remain legendary. In 1941, he published his first instructional book, entitled, "Billiards, As It Should Be Played" The following is ver batim from his section on aiming (page 25) :

Select the spots on the object and cue balls you wish to hit. Then concentrate on this line of aim...watch tip in preliminary strokes to see that your tip is going to the same spot. Your eye and hand should act in strict unison.
A glance should go from the cue ball to the object ball, back to the cue ball, rather than the object ball before delivering your stroke.
The argument often has arisen whether or not a player's last glance before striking the cue ball is on the cue or object ball. My eyes are last on the cue ball.
However, several of my fellow pros often have wanted to bet me that I was wrong. Be that as it may, it doesn't mean a thing to better play. Both methods are satisfactory. Anyway, you will do this automatically and unconsciously.

So, there you have what the late great "Willie Hoppe" had to say on the subject, and I agree with him, it doesn't really matter!

Cross Side Larry

"Learn from the best, and beat the rest"
Click to expand...


hoppe was a great balkline and three-cushion player. he didn't play pool.

william
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Tom Rossman, aka Dr Cue, a BCA master instructor explained this to me as follows: if you are aligned up properly, if your aim is correct, and you stroke straight you can be looking at the blonde in the 5th row and you will have success on that shot.

its called Burning Focus. from what i have gathered its a personal preference thing, whichever feels best for you. personally i look at the cue ball last, but thats just the way i have always done it.

DCP
Click to expand...


Sorry, BUT Dr. Cue is not a BCA Master Instructor....randyg
 
Anybody claim that they look at the Object Ball last when they are shooting a jump shoot?:D

If you don't, why should you change to Object Ball last when you are shooting other shots?

Seems to me that if you concentrate on the Cue Ball you are far less likely to try to steer the shot or miscue.
 
For whatever its worth...

Ralf Souquet said he looks at the CB last on all his shots (during an Accu-Stats post-match interview -- 2004 DCC finals I believe).
 
I have been curious about this for years. I sent an email to Frank Callan, a top snooker coach, asking this question but he just gave me the old dart arguement. Later I started a thread similar to this one and after the discussions I began convinced that it doesn't matter.

I started out looking at the cue ball and that helped my ALOT. My long pots became much better, but I later switched to look at the OB because I was getting to jumpy and nervous.

As has been mentioned, it shouldn't matter where you look if you are properly aligned. Everything you do after you are aligned is something of a mind game to stay confident and focused. Confidence and focus are two of the most important things in pool. Looking at the OB is what does it for me.

Looking at the cueball allows me to focus on my stroke in a different way. One thing that is taught in golf is that you shouldn't try and hit ball, just swing the club. The ball, by virtue of being in the path of the club, will be sent 300 yards (ya right). Trying to hit ball causes you to tense up. The same thing can be applied to pool, stroke the cue don't try to hit the cueball. How many players do you see delivering nice straight practice strokes and then practically fall down when delivering the final stroke?

For me looking at the object ball lets me focus on stroking the cue to where i want to stroke it (or something like that).

In short this is definitely a "whatever works for you" type of thing. One player may be able to perfectly comfortable doing everything while looking at the cue ball, but not me. However I might give it another go somewhere down the line.

My advice, give it a try. If it doesn't work, then oh well.
 
i look at pocket, object ball, cue ball in that order. from the pocket I look for the line to the object. and from object to cue ball.

I do this because its cool and it looks cool. And the line is clearer because from cue to pocket there can be a lot more paths.

from pocket to cue only one line of sight to make that shot, dead center.
 
Here it is

Simply put , you are aiming at a point so if you don't look at it how can you ever expect to hit it every time. That is all no more no less. To hit where you are aiming you have to be looking at what you want to hit at contact.
Hope this is a clear answer to a question based in technique fundamentals.
Nick Serdula
 
nick serdula said:
Simply put , you are aiming at a point so if you don't look at it how can you ever expect to hit it every time. That is all no more no less.
Click to expand...

The problem is though that you can and do hit it every time. I can play at the same level I do now by looking at the cue ball, but as I mentioned before, I look at the object ball because it makes me less jumpy. If people couldn't play consistently by looking at the CB then these threads would never come up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top