PART I – WHAT’S MISSING
I've watched the DVD a couple of times, but have only spent a little time "trying CTE out" at a table. Why haven't I tried it out more at a table? Because the DVD doesn't clearly explain how to use the system - it's vague and non-specific in some key ways that I'll explain. Individually and collectively, these key areas of vagueness are where "aiming by feel" comes into CTE.
As you can probably already tell, my answer to the most popular question is: no, CTE is not "exact". In fact, it doesn’t even really pretend to be, although Stan and his students might not realize that.
The key areas in which CTE is vague are:
1. Selecting the correct “aim point”
2. Selecting the correct pivot direction
3. Placing the cue stick on the correct pre-pivot line
The first two of these (selecting the aim point and pivot direction) are admitted openly by Stan. He says “experience and recognition skills are KEY in determining correct OB aim points” and “experience shows which pivot is correct”. No specific instructions are ever given for how to select these two key elements of the system; they simply must be learned by experience - in other words, “by feel”.
The third key area of vagueness, how to place the cue stick on the correct pre-pivot line, is never admitted to be vague. In fact, instructions that sound like they might be specific (but aren’t really) are presented, making it appear that Stan either sincerely believes he is being specific or wants us to believe he is.
The main ingredients in the “equation” for where to place the cue stick are the two “vision lines” - the center-to-edge line and the edge-to-aimpoint line. We’re told to “establish the visual” using these two lines, and that this visual “locks in the two CB edges” and tells us where the CB’s “aiming center” is. But we’re never told two things that are essential to make sense of that:
1. What does “establish the visual” mean? Where should our eyes be? Looking straight down one line or the other, or somewhere in between? (Except on rare shots there’s no way to sight down both lines from the same eye position.) Our eye position is what “locks in the CB edges” and shows us where the CB’s “aiming center” is, but there’s no specific instruction for locating our eyes for that purpose.
2. Once we (somehow) “establish our visual” and find the CB "aiming center", where do we place our cue stick? Beside the line from our eyes to the CB center? Parallel to it? This seems most likely, but again it’s never spelled out. We're advised to "slide the bridge hand into place", but are never told where the slide should start or end.
Either one of these missing instructions is a wide-open door for more “feel” to enter the aiming picture, and remember, we’ve already identified two more areas, selecting the aim point and pivot direction, where “feel” is explicitly used. (Note: I'm assuming that the pivot length is well defined for specific CB/OB distances.)
So again, CTE is not an “exact” system. But so what? Does relying on “feel” make CTE a “bad” system? I think the answer to that is probably different for every player, and I think it might depend on what positive benefits other than an inexact aiming “formula” might come from using CTE. That’s the topic of PART II - coming soon to a thread near you.
pj
chgo
I've watched the DVD a couple of times, but have only spent a little time "trying CTE out" at a table. Why haven't I tried it out more at a table? Because the DVD doesn't clearly explain how to use the system - it's vague and non-specific in some key ways that I'll explain. Individually and collectively, these key areas of vagueness are where "aiming by feel" comes into CTE.
As you can probably already tell, my answer to the most popular question is: no, CTE is not "exact". In fact, it doesn’t even really pretend to be, although Stan and his students might not realize that.
The key areas in which CTE is vague are:
1. Selecting the correct “aim point”
2. Selecting the correct pivot direction
3. Placing the cue stick on the correct pre-pivot line
The first two of these (selecting the aim point and pivot direction) are admitted openly by Stan. He says “experience and recognition skills are KEY in determining correct OB aim points” and “experience shows which pivot is correct”. No specific instructions are ever given for how to select these two key elements of the system; they simply must be learned by experience - in other words, “by feel”.
The third key area of vagueness, how to place the cue stick on the correct pre-pivot line, is never admitted to be vague. In fact, instructions that sound like they might be specific (but aren’t really) are presented, making it appear that Stan either sincerely believes he is being specific or wants us to believe he is.
The main ingredients in the “equation” for where to place the cue stick are the two “vision lines” - the center-to-edge line and the edge-to-aimpoint line. We’re told to “establish the visual” using these two lines, and that this visual “locks in the two CB edges” and tells us where the CB’s “aiming center” is. But we’re never told two things that are essential to make sense of that:
1. What does “establish the visual” mean? Where should our eyes be? Looking straight down one line or the other, or somewhere in between? (Except on rare shots there’s no way to sight down both lines from the same eye position.) Our eye position is what “locks in the CB edges” and shows us where the CB’s “aiming center” is, but there’s no specific instruction for locating our eyes for that purpose.
2. Once we (somehow) “establish our visual” and find the CB "aiming center", where do we place our cue stick? Beside the line from our eyes to the CB center? Parallel to it? This seems most likely, but again it’s never spelled out. We're advised to "slide the bridge hand into place", but are never told where the slide should start or end.
Either one of these missing instructions is a wide-open door for more “feel” to enter the aiming picture, and remember, we’ve already identified two more areas, selecting the aim point and pivot direction, where “feel” is explicitly used. (Note: I'm assuming that the pivot length is well defined for specific CB/OB distances.)
So again, CTE is not an “exact” system. But so what? Does relying on “feel” make CTE a “bad” system? I think the answer to that is probably different for every player, and I think it might depend on what positive benefits other than an inexact aiming “formula” might come from using CTE. That’s the topic of PART II - coming soon to a thread near you.
pj
chgo
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he is relocating his vision and his body for all three shots, slightly, 100%. i know this because i can make/have all 3 shots. Anytime you have to use a different reference point you must relocate your vision center/body, as you call it slightly.