Young lady w perception/aiming error

Bigkahuna

Bigkahuna

It's Good For Your Game!
Silver Member
I have this lady on one of my pool teams she is trying hard but is just terrible and losing most of her matches at a level 2 in the APA. I was working with her yesterday correcting stance, bridge, stroke, hitting cue ball center etc. At some point I realized that she predominantly aims too far left. So, if cutting to the right she mostly over cuts and cutting to the left undercuts. Even having her send the cue ball down the middle of the table she is mostly to the left of the diamond on the end rail. If i look at where she is pointing the stick she swears she is right on target when she is to the left of target.

I know I have read an article Tom Simpson wrote regarding this I am just not sure how to correct for it. She is hitting center ball, has a good straight stroke and her dominant eye is over the stick.

Anybody on this? Any instructors? Answer here or PM me.
 
Bigkahuna said:
I have this lady on one of my pool teams she is trying hard but is just terrible and losing most of her matches at a level 2 in the APA. I was working with her yesterday correcting stance, bridge, stroke, hitting cue ball center etc. At some point I realized that she predominantly aims too far left. So, if cutting to the right she mostly over cuts and cutting to the left undercuts. Even having her send the cue ball down the middle of the table she is mostly to the left of the diamond on the end rail. If i look at where she is pointing the stick she swears she is right on target when she is to the left of target.

I know I have read an article Tom Simpson wrote regarding this I am just not sure how to correct for it. She is hitting center ball, has a good straight stroke and her dominant eye is over the stick.

Anybody on this? Any instructors? Answer here or PM me.
Click to expand...
Since you are in Maine, I would recommend seeing Joe Tucker.
 
Bigkahuna said:
I have this lady on one of my pool teams she is trying hard but is just terrible and losing most of her matches at a level 2 in the APA. I was working with her yesterday correcting stance, bridge, stroke, hitting cue ball center etc. At some point I realized that she predominantly aims too far left. So, if cutting to the right she mostly over cuts and cutting to the left undercuts. Even having her send the cue ball down the middle of the table she is mostly to the left of the diamond on the end rail. If i look at where she is pointing the stick she swears she is right on target when she is to the left of target.

I know I have read an article Tom Simpson wrote regarding this I am just not sure how to correct for it. She is hitting center ball, has a good straight stroke and her dominant eye is over the stick.

Anybody on this? Any instructors? Answer here or PM me.
Click to expand...


I wish I could say this better but truth be told, some people want to be good at pool, some people not so much. The responsibility to raise one's game beyond s/l 2 is not on the instructor, it's on the student.

If your friend wants to get better at pool, tell her to go hit balls for 1 hour a day, 5 days a week. She'll be an s/l 3 in a month.
 
Jude - can't agree more. Have her play every day for a month and see what happens. You need to get over that hump first.

Once that's done...

I'll echo the other poster's suggestion to see JoeT.
 
You sure she's stroking straight? Also you may want to experiment with having her hold the cue under her left eye, chin, and right eye, and see if anything changes.
 
Have her do the Coke Bottle drill.

Stroke in and out of the bottle opening without hitting the bottle.

Not using the "Big or Wide Mouth" Coke bottles....use a normal Coke bottle.

Her success goal is to perform the drill 10 times in a row successfully.

You could also get a training ball....I believe Joe Tucker sells them.

-Mathew
 
okinawa77 said:
Have her do the Coke Bottle drill.

Stroke in and out of the bottle opening without hitting the bottle.

Not using the "Big or Wide Mouth" Coke bottles....use a normal Coke bottle.

Her success goal is to perform the drill 10 times in a row successfully.

You could also get a training ball....I believe Joe Tucker sells them.

-Mathew
Click to expand...

This is not a problem of where she is HITTING the cue ball but where she is AIMING the cue ball. When she swears she is aimed at a diamond at the other end of the table she is usually off by an inch or more. She has already been doing the coke bottle thing for a while and is pretty good at it.
 
dominant eye?

I would suspect a weak dominant eye or cross dominance, right handed left eye dominance or left handed right eye dominance. With a weak dominant eye sometimes one eye is dominant sometimes the other. There are exercised to increase eye dominance and finding and using these might help her.

I think you are in the right place working on stance. Get her stance and head position consistent and then let her shoot a simple shot downtable over and over or even the cue ball at a target. Making a simple adjustable gap and letting her practice shooting the cue ball through it would work. A couple of pieces of wood with an adjustable bridge across the top against the rail is all that is needed. As she gets better keep shrinking the size of the gap. She has to learn what a straight shot looks like to her. Once she has this base point she can work on cuts. Don't bore or frustrate her too much doing one thing but until she masters a straight shot working on other things serves little purpose.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
I would suspect a weak dominant eye or cross dominance, right handed left eye dominance or left handed right eye dominance. With a weak dominant eye sometimes one eye is dominant sometimes the other. There are exercised to increase eye dominance and finding and using these might help her.

I think you are in the right place working on stance. Get her stance and head position consistent and then let her shoot a simple shot downtable over and over or even the cue ball at a target. Making a simple adjustable gap and letting her practice shooting the cue ball through it would work. A couple of pieces of wood with an adjustable bridge across the top against the rail is all that is needed. As she gets better keep shrinking the size of the gap. She has to learn what a straight shot looks like to her. Once she has this base point she can work on cuts. Don't bore or frustrate her too much doing one thing but until she masters a straight shot working on other things serves little purpose.

Hu
Click to expand...


Thanks Hu,

Like myself she is very right eye dominant doing the dominant eye test. Her dominant eye is is over the stick and this seems to be natural for her. In observing and working with students it seems to me that right eye dominant people have their right over the stick and left eye dominant have their left eye over the stick.

I am just wondering if there is a correction for this or is it just to aim more to the right on e very shot. Seems to me that the correction of a mechanical issue would be more appropriate.
 
Good thing she doesnt play darts :) someone could get killed.

Seriousely though i agree with jude. Sometimes just good ole fashinoned hittin balls is all you can do.
 
I really hate introducing eye-dominance to a new player. Truth be told, the cue should feel centered to her and that's it. If you start telling her about which eye to keep over the cue, she's going to be second guessing what she sees and it'll end up taking twice as long.

Tell her to keep both eyes open and keep the cue in the middle of her vision (not necessarily directly beneath her chin). Her body will eventually begin to fall into place naturally.
 
Bigkahuna said:
This is not a problem of where she is HITTING the cue ball but where she is AIMING the cue ball. When she swears she is aimed at a diamond at the other end of the table she is usually off by an inch or more. She has already been doing the coke bottle thing for a while and is pretty good at it.
Click to expand...

Is she having a problem aiming at long shots (long targets)?

Is she ambiodextrous?

I am ambiodextrous, and I noticed that I tend to have stronger aim for long distances with my left eye. Where as my right eye is more dominant for shorter distances.

My eye dominance will change depending on what I am using the most. This is a rare instance. Most peoples' eye dominance won't change.

Looking long distances, my left eye becomes dominant. Looking short distances, my right eye becomes dominant.

Head tilt is another potential aiming problem. A lot of players don't even know they are doing it. Until someone video tapes them and analyzes their technique.


P.S. Before some idiot starts bashing my about eye dominance changing....I went to an eye doctor, and he checked my eye dominance...it was right eye dominant.
I went hand gun shooting, and was shooting left handed, using my left eye for about a week.
I went back to the eye doctor about a week later, and the eye dominance test showed left eye dominance.
The doctor was shocked, and told me that eye dominance doesn't change, but he is wrong.
Changes in brain function can influence your eye dominance.

So, I am not talking out of my AZZ. I am speaking from true, actual experience.
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
I really hate introducing eye-dominance to a new player. Truth be told, the cue should feel centered to her and that's it. If you start telling her about which eye to keep over the cue, she's going to be second guessing what she sees and it'll end up taking twice as long.

Tell her to keep both eyes open and keep the cue in the middle of her vision (not necessarily directly beneath her chin). Her body will eventually begin to fall into place naturally.
Click to expand...


I agree.....I tend to hold the cue aligned below my nose...which is between both eyes. Not lined up with the right or left eye.
 
Bigkahuna said:
Thanks Hu,

Like myself she is very right eye dominant doing the dominant eye test. Her dominant eye is is over the stick and this seems to be natural for her. In observing and working with students it seems to me that right eye dominant people have their right over the stick and left eye dominant have their left eye over the stick.

I am just wondering if there is a correction for this or is it just to aim more to the right on e very shot. Seems to me that the correction of a mechanical issue would be more appropriate.
Click to expand...

I actually met a high skill level player that would take a long time on shots.
I found out later, that he has problems shooting straight in shots.

On straight-in shots, he actually uses a little right english and adjust his aim for throw.

It took him years to realize his problem, and it was actually noticed by some pro/hall of fame player.....can't remember the name.

Maybe Scott Lee or Joe Tucker could help your friend.
 
My sig ohter had the exact same problem. I just asked her how she fixed it and she said to turn the butt more to the left as she gets down in the stance. WHat was happneing to her was she would line up behind the CB and then when she got down the cue naturally aimed to the left although she would swear it was still aimed correctly.
Does this make any sense?

jim
 
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Jude Rosenstock said:
I really hate introducing eye-dominance to a new player. Truth be told, the cue should feel centered to her and that's it. If you start telling her about which eye to keep over the cue, she's going to be second guessing what she sees and it'll end up taking twice as long.

Tell her to keep both eyes open and keep the cue in the middle of her vision (not necessarily directly beneath her chin). Her body will eventually begin to fall into place naturally.
Click to expand...

Yes, regarding eye dominance, I agree most people seem to make the adjustment on their own.
 
Try closing the left eye and see if this improves things.

If that doesn't work, set the cue up on the table with some 1" blocks, pointed at a specific target, like a screw standing on it's head, a few feet away. Use a string line to confirm that the cue is pointed directly at this target. Without disturbing the cue, have her move her head over the cue until she sees the alignment as true. That is the head-eye position she will need.

I have problems with shifting cross dominance, and there are many days where I just have to close one eye.
 
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