help! aiming

[nicklaus21]

thanks terry,

but i heard most pros aim using the stance,how do u do that?

[Terry Davidson]

nicklaus:

The pros don't 'aim with their stance' as you say. What's being talked about there is setting up properly on the line of aim of the cue. This is done by standing behind the shot, keeping your eyes and nose pointed at BOB and then when you take your one step with the right foot you should place it on the cue line of aim and have the arch of the right foot directly below where the grip will be in the address position (cue against cueball).

Professionals will all set up this way and they will ensure their stance is on the line of aim every time for consistency. This is why a lot of shots are missed when players are stretching (among other things too) as they are not lined up as they normally would be.

Terry

[brendan147]

Aiming practice

Nicklaus21,

This method is an old school but it is still the best practice to improve your aiming, especially those with certain angles.

1) Set up a ring of reds (see picture attached) for 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full ball contact around the black. Now, from the far left to the far right (or vice versa), replace the red with cue ball and pot the black off its spot to top pocket in sequence. If you fail halfway (more or less), repeat it until you can complete the routine.

2) Then, after you master the basic contact angles, this time repeat this routine by placing the cue ball exactly betwen the reds, and from far left to far right (or vice versa), pot the black off its spot to the top pocket. The purpose for this routine is to make you familiar with thicker/thiner angles of 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 ball contact.

3) Repeat routines #1 and #2 for all other colour balls on their spots. Also, only use plain ball striking for this practice.

Remember, patient always paid off. This routine may take hours/days/months for you to master but if you are really serious want to improve your aiming angles, this is 1 of it.

All the best mate...!!!

Jimmy White said: Being good at something is never been easy...

[jonplayer]

To start with the best way is to pot easy balls over and over and over. There are more advanced techniques but at the level that you are at you just need to pot balls and build confidence before you start taking every shot apart. Play with top spin, bottom spin, see how the white reacts with the object ball and store it all up. After 40 hours+ of this kind of thing you should be ready to think about lines, through the object ball and stuff like that.

[nicklaus21]

hey mr terry,

sometimes i think i need to point my cue towards the inside edge of the object ball in order to pot 7/8,why is that so?is there anything wrong with my sighting? or how do i check whether i have sighted the angled pot correctly?

pls help mr terry

[Terry Davidson]

nicklaus:

I'm not sure I am following you as a 7/8th pot is almost a dead-in pot and the off-set between BOB and the line of aim of the cue would be just a couple of mm, not very much and the cue should be pointed just off the centre of the object ball, depending on which way you are cutting the ball.

The only thing I can tell you is to try these shots over and over and stay down when you complete the delivery and without any body movement just observe where the object ball ends up. If you are missing the pot consistently on one side then your brain will get the feedback it requires to automatically make the correct adjustment.

Experience and self-practice is the key to this problem I think

Terry

[vmax4steve]

nicklaus21:

You are making one VERY SERIOUS error in your aiming process.

It is...EXCEPT FOR A DEAD-IN SHOT YOU NEVER AIM THE CUE DIRECTLY AT BOB.

The offset between BOB and the line of aim of the cue can be anywhere up to 1-1/32 of an inch (half the diameter of a ball). That is one heck of a lot more than the 'mm' you mention and since there are 2.5cm to an inch then we can say it can be anywhere up to 25mm away from BOB.

However, in order to get this you must supply your brain with the proper feedback so it can unconciously learn this offset and do it perfect every time. This is done on completion of each and every shot where you leave your cue extended and remain still and follow the object ball with your eyes. If on a particular type of shot you tend to over-cut then with this feedback your brain will automatically make the correct adjustment the next time you come across this type of shot.

Most professionals state they aim using 'experience' rather than any set aiming technique and this is exactly what they're talking about. When they first started out the probably used the 'ghost ball' method, imagining a cueball against the object ball in the plant position and then aiming for the centre of that imaginary cueball. Perhaps some good players still use this method but are unaware of it on a concious level.

Terry

What you are aiming at is where you want the cue ball to hit the object ball. You don't aim with the cue, you aim with the cue ball as if the cue ball is joined to the cue. You stand behind the shot and SEE exactly what the shot requires and point the cue at the cue ball in order to make it happen.
The brain knows what you are trying to do if your eyes are giving it the correct information, and it will subconciously make the cue ball part of the cue. It's nothing more than perfectly natural hand and eye co-ordination that has evolved over millions of years in all primates, all it needs is practise to make it suit whatever ball game you are playing.