Pete-
Let me just state, once again, that I have NO problem with any method of aim anyone uses. As I've said many times, it makes absolutely no difference to me. If it works for you, great. Use it. But my assumption had always been that pretty much all players above the beginner to intermediate level no longer felt the need to use any "system." That they all played basically by feel. My own personal experience has been that if I play enough, I begin to "see" where to hit the OB without having to imagine rail road tracks, ghost balls, or whatever. I develop a "feel" for where to aim. I know that is the case for me, and I assumed it was the case for most other players, since I only play 5-10 hours a week. If I play even an hour or so a day, I feel pretty much "in stroke." Since I believed this to be the case, I was curious as to why there was so much discussion about "aiming systems" on this forum. So I started a thread on aiming, not knowing the can of worms I was opening.
Apparently that hit a nerve with Drivermaker and Vapoolplayer, who immediately went on rants about how I didn't aim, thought I was "above" everyone else, never missed, could run endless racks and was basically a piece of s&^t. I tried several times to clarify exactly what I had said, not wanting to unintentionally offend anyone. Go back and look at the replies they made to my posts. But they had both decided they wanted a fight no matter what the facts were. They wanted to teach the "newbie" a lesson apparently. The hostility they have both shown toward me is mind blowing. And over what? Because I had the gall to start a thread and express my opinion? Isn't that what this board is about? I have played pool for over 30 years. I think that entitles me to have some opinions about the game. I have never said I was an authority on the game. I have read quite a bit about the game, however. And I have many Accu-Stats tapes and instructional tapes. I also play pool regularly with some pretty damn good players. So I consider myself to be a pretty well educated player. Am I an A player? No. Do I play in tournaments? No. I play at home and at poolrooms in the area. Am I an above average player? Yes. Well above average, I would say. I have no idea what my rating would be because I do not play in an organized league.
As for Drivermaker and Vapoolplayer- I will have to do without their expertise, because I've put them both on my ignore list. Frankly, I'm tired of arguing with them. Life is too short. I have tried to have civil, mature discussions on this board. And every time I have posted something, I have been attacked by one of these losers. What I have ever done to either of these two, I have no idea. But I'm tired of playing this childish game with them. As I've said before, they both may very well have a lot to share about the game, but I find them both to be condescending jerks- who are not on this board to discuss ideas, but to lecture others about what they are doing wrong. I'm sure there are lots of "lurkers" out there who don't post anything because they don't want the headache of being harrassed by one of these two "forum monitors" if they happen to express an unpopular thought.
As for the others on this forum, I think there are some very knowledgeable and friendly people here. And I look forward to talking about pool with you.