Young lady w perception/aiming error

[pooltchr]

and her dominant eye is over the stick.

.

This isn't necessarily the best head position. Obviously, if she thinks she is aiming at one thing, but not hitting it, her perception of where her cue is pointed is different from reality. Forget D-eye and just focus on getting her head positioned over the cue so that her perception of straight matches reality. If the cue is under her eye, under her chin, or under her ear...if that is how she sees the straight line, that's the right position for her.

Steve

 

[RRfireblade]

I might be oversimplifying but it's little more than her learn where to aim.

You aim and miss left , aim more right till you start missing right.

Have her stand behind the line of aim , about a cues length back and line it up using her cue , then step into the table and lower into her stance and see if that doesn't help. Just put a target on the other end of the table and have her shoot at it till she starts hitting it constantly.

 

[rackmsuckr]

I too think it is an eye dominance problem. When I cut to the right, I have to either overcut a bit, use english for a thinner hit, or remember to center my left eye over the cue more.

Does she jump up on her stance when she delivers, meaning she is changing where she actually hits the cueball?

Can she pocket the cueball straight into a pocket from down table?

Can she hit a ball and have it bank off the end cushion and have it go directly back into the tip?

She may benefit from learning the shaft method of aiming, but if her mechanics are wrong in the first place, she may still miss to one side.

I would have her get in front of a qualified instructor so they could break it down for her.

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

I might be oversimplifying but it's little more than her learn where to aim.

You aim and miss left , aim more right till you start missing right.

Have her stand behind the line of aim , about a cues length back and line it up using her cue , then step into the table and lower into her stance and see if that doesn't help. Just put a target on the other end of the table and have her shoot at it till she starts hitting it constantly.

Actually, it sounds funny but if you miss left, you should continue hitting it the exact same way until your body automatically makes the adjustment for you. Conscious adjustments may show immediate results but they slow down the learning curve.

 

[DRINKDUFF]

Try closing the left eye and see if this improves things.

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

I wasn't missing all my shots, but I was missing enough to piss me off, so I worked on my stance, bridge and stroke for hours on end, but couldn't figure out why I was still missing. Then one day as I was lining up an end rail to end rail shot, I closed my left eye to see if my aim was off and bingo, I was aiming to the left. I started putting my cue on the right side of my chin/cheek over my right eye. Sometimes I find myself going back to the old way of centering myself and that is when I miss. I have done the dominate eye tests and it always comes out that I am right eye dominate.

 

[Bigkahuna]

This isn't necessarily the best head position. Obviously, if she thinks she is aiming at one thing, but not hitting it, her perception of where her cue is pointed is different from reality. Forget D-eye and just focus on getting her head positioned over the cue so that her perception of straight matches reality. If the cue is under her eye, under her chin, or under her ear...if that is how she sees the straight line, that's the right position for her.

Steve

Steve,

Thank you for the suggestions. Robert Byrne says in his book that the dominant eye should be over the cue and perhaps this is no longer true. So, is it convergence in that the "straight line" is found where ever the two eyes converge?

I have tried myself to move my head around to different positions and I can't miss like she does. I am however finding that shifting my head to the right cuts the ball slightly to the right. Does this make sense to you?

 

[teebee]

In golf you often see new players who slice align more and more to the left only to slice more and more to the right. The only cure is to line up square and swing until you can swing correctly. I agree with Jude that if you are doing everything else right you just need to play more. Your vision adjusts to success if you are paying attention when you practise.

 

[Bigkahuna]

I wasn't missing all my shots, but I was missing enough to piss me off, so I worked on my stance, bridge and stroke for hours on end, but couldn't figure out why I was still missing. Then one day as I was lining up an end rail to end rail shot, I closed my left eye to see if my aim was off and bingo, I was aiming to the left. I started putting my cue on the right side of my chin/cheek over my right eye. Sometimes I find myself going back to the old way of centering myself and that is when I miss. I have done the dominate eye tests and it always comes out that I am right eye dominate.

Most right handers are right eye dominant and lefters are left eye. I have worked with a few people who are right handed and left eye dominant.

 

[Bigkahuna]

Does she jump up on her stance when she delivers, meaning she is changing where she actually hits the cueball?

NO

Can she pocket the cueball straight into a pocket from down table?

YES

Can she hit a ball and have it bank off the end cushion and have it go directly back into the tip?

MOST OF THE TIME

She may benefit from learning the shaft method of aiming, but if her mechanics are wrong in the first place, she may still miss to one side.

WE ARE WORKING ON FRACTIONAL BALL AIMING IE TIP IN TIP OUT HALF BALL HIT

I would have her get in front of a qualified instructor so they could break it down for her.

PROBABLY NOT GOING TO HAPPEN SHE IS A COLLEGE STUDENT WITH NO CAR AND LITTLE MONEY

 

[woodyosborne]

my 2 cents worth

i wonder if she is getting"down" on the ball with her chin close to the cue? may have been mentioned already. i do think it helps me for sure when i get closer to the cue. one more thing; does she wear glasses/ i have had my glasses get so misaligned it is not even funny.
disclaimer: i make no claims of proficiency in analyzing anyone's game, stance, stroke, or cue value.

 

[Bigkahuna]

i wonder if she is getting"down" on the ball with her chin close to the cue? may have been mentioned already. i do think it helps me for sure when i get closer to the cue. one more thing; does she wear glasses/ i have had my glasses get so misaligned it is not even funny.
disclaimer: i make no claims of proficiency in analyzing anyone's game, stance, stroke, or cue value.

Does not wear glasses gets down on the cue....

 

[kath13]

If she is doing everything right, assuming she gets down in line with her shot and her stroke is true, etc. I would ask the question, what is she looking at when she hits the cue ball? Is she looking at the object ball? When I first started playing, I had a difficult time getting myself to really look at the object ball, I kept looking to where I cued up on the cue ball. When I finally stopped with the constant eye flicker, a number of things happenned for me. First, I really saw where I was aiming at and secondly, I remembered so I could adjust when I made the mistake and could correct accordingly. To have my eyes focused on the object ball before my final stroke was a big event for me; before I would focus on the object as I took my final stroke and not before. It made the difference for me. Also, have you checked her cue? My first cue had so much deflection that even my boy-friend, who is an accomplished pool player said that he wouldn't play with it... Hope this helps.

 

[Bigkahuna]

If she is doing everything right, assuming she gets down in line with her shot and her stroke is true, etc. I would ask the question, what is she looking at when she hits the cue ball? Is she looking at the object ball? When I first started playing, I had a difficult time getting myself to really look at the object ball, I kept looking to where I cued up on the cue ball. When I finally stopped with the constant eye flicker, a number of things happenned for me. First, I really saw where I was aiming at and secondly, I remembered so I could adjust when I made the mistake and could correct accordingly. To have my eyes focused on the object ball before my final stroke was a big event for me; before I would focus on the object as I took my final stroke and not before. It made the difference for me. Also, have you checked her cue? My first cue had so much deflection that even my boy-friend, who is an accomplished pool player said that he wouldn't play with it... Hope this helps.

WOW!! look at all those reps for just thirty posts! Ladies and Gents this is the infamous kath143 that wrote this brilliant work.........
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=112074

Just thought I would give you the recognition you deserve and thanks for the tip....

 

[~jj~]

JoeT

Hi highly recommend Joe Tucker also, especially when it comes to aiming and perception of the shot.

I have been messing around with a lot of his tools and and discovering quite a bit about myself and my left eye dominance.

As for your teammate, if she closes one eye and lines up the shot she will likely miss to one side. If she closes the other eye and shoots, she will likely miss to the other side. This is only my personal experience. If she can focus with both eyes then she should have a better grasp of where she is actually hitting. This might be a little overboard for her though.

I was working with an APA 1 who couldn't hold the cue to begin with with. After the basics were taught and she started to pocket balls or attempt to, she had much greater success with the third eye stroke trainer from Joe Tucker.

After she made 10 shots in a row that were fairly simple (yet without it she was maybe making 3-4) she said she didn't realize that she was aiming incorrectly, but it was completely obvious after putting the stroke trainer on.

To make a long story short, if you dont want to go into all of the nitty gritty details, a 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer is a very inexpensive way to get her sighting and shooting straighter.

Hope this helps....and good luck.

 

[poolpop63]

I sent u a pm but your storage is full. Clear some space

 

[3andstop]

As Jude Rosenstock mentioned and I totally agree with, chances are that deep down inside, her teacher wants her to get better far more than she does.

I was a room owner and I had lots of folks ask for help improving. One of the most common things that I noticed is that their desire to improve is overcome very quickly by their frustrations and willingness to work hard. Once they realize the effort and devotion that is needed, they just don't care to endure the process. Trying to teach students who don't have a true burning desire to be the best they can be is in and of itself very frustrating.

I'm curious, how many books, videos and study materials does she own? Probably none.

Now I sure don't mean to judge her individually, but odds are, what we have here is just another duck pin bowler with a cue stick.

 

[Klink]

Most right handers are right eye dominant and lefters are left eye. I have worked with a few people who are right handed and left eye dominant.

My fiancee has the same problem mentioned in an earlier post. She always under cuts balls to the left and over cuts balls to the right. She can hit balls length wise and it comes back to the the tip.

As in another post it appears she is lining the shot up to the left on straight in shots but they go in the pocket. I have given up trying to help her aim when i am standing behind her and now only point to a spot on the rail beyond the object ball and this seems to work best.

She is left eye dominant and is right handed. I think the answer is going to be letting her hit enough balls to just figure it out.

 

[rackmsuckr]

My fiancee has the same problem mentioned in an earlier post. She always under cuts balls to the left and over cuts balls to the right. She can hit balls length wise and it comes back to the the tip.

As in another post it appears she is lining the shot up to the left on straight in shots but they go in the pocket. I have given up trying to help her aim when i am standing behind her and now only point to a spot on the rail beyond the object ball and this seems to work best.

She is left eye dominant and is right handed. I think the answer is going to be letting her hit enough balls to just figure it out.

That's funny, I am left eye dominant and right handed too. I cut to the left fine, but undercut cuts where the shot is going to the right, so I have to adjust either my aim, english or stance. I think being aware of what you are doing is at least the first step to correcting it...kinda like the 12 step program.

 

[RRfireblade]

Actually, it sounds funny but if you miss left, you should continue hitting it the exact same way until your body automatically makes the adjustment for you. Conscious adjustments may show immediate results but they slow down the learning curve.

I disagree but it's just an opinion.

She's already lining up like she's straight yet keeps missing left , obviously doing that over and over isn't working.

If she doesn't force herself to change to a different line of aim , different than she 'thinks' is straight to one that actually is then she'll never 'feel' the difference and learn.

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

I disagree but it's just an opinion.

She's already lining up like she's straight yet keeps missing left , obviously doing that over and over isn't working.

If she doesn't force herself to change to a different line of aim , different than she 'thinks' is straight to one that actually is then she'll never 'feel' the difference and learn.

Well, I offer no quick fixes on learning how to play. I think it's good to show someone how to properly hold a cue, how low to stand, which foot to put first. Once they have the basics, it's up to them to make the connections. I've taught a bunch of people over the years and the only ones that saw genuine improvement are the ones that practiced A LOT. In my personal opinion, for a real beginner to see progress, they'll need to practice at least an hour a day EVERY day. If they want to improve faster, they'll need to practice more.

The fastest jump I ever saw from someone who never saw the game was from someone practicing 5-7 hours a day for several months. In APA-talk, she went from an sl 2 to an sl 5 in about a year. The people who say she looks "natural" didn't see the work she put in.