Proper sighting for cue action (line of aim / contact point on object ball)

[cazmac1]

Where you say "Now look at the imaginary line the white will take after striking the white" did you mean "Now look at the imaginary line the white will take after striking the object ball" ? .. or are you imagining the white hitting the imaginary white?

Yes narge your correct I tried to take of the attachment and make some corrections but can fined to delete action. do you know where it is.

[cazmac1]

Where you say "Now look at the imaginary line the white will take after striking the white" did you mean "Now look at the imaginary line the white will take after striking the object ball" ? .. or are you imagining the white hitting the imaginary white?

Yes narge your correct I tried to take off the attachment and make some corrections but can't find to delete action. do you know where it is.

[nrage]

Yes narge your correct I tried to take off the attachment and make some corrections but can't find to delete action. do you know where it is.

I'd have to post something with an attachment to be sure, but I think you can click "Edit Post", then "Go Advanced", then click the paperclip icon and you should get a list of attachments at the bottom, and hopefully a delete button. If that fails, try adding the same file again (after fixing it up) as that might overwrite it.

[exolon]

Try a little experiment.. set up the pink off its spot for a pot into the middle.. put the white anywhere at the same height as the pink spot perhaps halfway between the pink and the cush

get a friend to put the blue in the plant position and concentrate not on the pocket but on the blue aim to hit it bang on full ball cue as straight as you can.. get him to roll away the blue and cue to where it was.

the pink will at best hit the near jaw if you cue straight..

What? Why would it? Aiming to hit the blue full should ideally produce exactly the same result as (correctly) aiming to pot the pink.
I've tried similar exercises (lining up a plant, aiming to hit the plant ball dead straight, then removing it and playing the shot) and it pots, exactly as it should. The only reason I can imagine for it not to work would be effects like throw which I don't yet understand.

You're probably right about ghost ball not being a great technique though, not because of the above, but because it's basically the use of a poorer, conscious method, to replace a subconscious process. Imagine if, every time we placed our feet while walking, we visualised a "ghost foot" in the correct place. It would not result in fluent walking

[cantpotforshíte]

What? Why would it? Aiming to hit the blue full should ideally produce exactly the same result as (correctly) aiming to pot the pink.
I've tried similar exercises (lining up a plant, aiming to hit the plant ball dead straight, then removing it and playing the shot) and it pots, exactly as it should. The only reason I can imagine for it not to work would be effects like throw which I don't yet understand.

You're probably right about ghost ball not being a great technique though, not because of the above, but because it's basically the use of a poorer, conscious method, to replace a subconscious process. Imagine if, every time we placed our feet while walking, we visualised a "ghost foot" in the correct place. It would not result in fluent walking

Angled pots on a snooker table thicken up slightly, so you need to aim very slightly thinner than the ghost ball to pot the ball in the middle of the pocket. However, as you suggest, this is best done subconsciously. I like the walking analogy

[saddler79]

For me, and nobody will convince me otherwise, sighting is purely instinctive and natural and cannot be coached. The game works at such tiny fractions it is such a fine art to perfect. Good sighting/potting comes with experience and confidence in equal measures and nothing else. My shot routine is walk into the shot, sight the angle on the object ball and then stare back at the cue ball to make sure the cue ball is being struck as intended. At the point of impact on the white I have genuinly no idea where I am looking. (I suspect it is somewhere at the halfway point between cue ball and object ball). Occasionally I have games where I become unintentionally obsessed with eye rhythm (like this evening!). When this happens I couldnt make more than a 1 break. If I am concious of looking at the OB or CB on contact I cant sink a thing. when I am playing well, sighting a shot comes purely from instinct.

(Of course what I havent mentioned here is GOOD STRIKING is equally, if not more important also. You can sight to perfection as much as you want, but if the CB is not struck in the middle you are fighting an uphill struggle!!)

[Richard pincott]

I think it’s fair to say that whatever we do however we sight or cue everyone is different or of different standards. Ignoring bad contacts every time we miss we do something wrong. The higher the standard the player the more times he does things correctly however he does it.
There are many things we can try to improve your potting but however you look at it if your cueing HAND is not in the right place for the duration of the contact between the tip and the cue ball ( approx 1-2 inches ) you won’t pot the ball.
Personally I can play different ways and make centuries each way. Strange as it may seem I prefer lining shots up thick and then that gives me the concentration to see the correct spot and hit that spot. I would not recommend you try this unless you are playing really really badly lol.
It works for me though simple.
I can also cue correctly or straight on line.
The potting angle is always there. Nothing is moving. It’s a fixed picture.
Be 100% clear as to what you wish to do. Trace a path of your complete shot. This will allow your eyes to send a message to your brain which will then relay that message to your HAND. It’s the hand that pots the ball. The cue is an extension of your hand.
Get to the table looking at the target.
Check that you are cueing the white where you want.
play your shot keeping everything else still.

[Starsky]

I think it’s fair to say that whatever we do however we sight or cue everyone is different or of different standards. Ignoring bad contacts every time we miss we do something wrong. The higher the standard the player the more times he does things correctly however he does it.
There are many things we can try to improve your potting but however you look at it if your cueing HAND is not in the right place for the duration of the contact between the tip and the cue ball ( approx 1-2 inches ) you won’t pot the ball.
Personally I can play different ways and make centuries each way. Strange as it may seem I prefer lining shots up thick and then that gives me the concentration to see the correct spot and hit that spot. I would not recommend you try this unless you are playing really really badly lol.
It works for me though simple.
I can also cue correctly or straight on line.
The potting angle is always there. Nothing is moving. It’s a fixed picture.
Be 100% clear as to what you wish to do. Trace a path of your complete shot. This will allow your eyes to send a message to your brain which will then relay that message to your HAND. It’s the hand that pots the ball. The cue is an extension of your hand.
Get to the table looking at the target.
Check that you are cueing the white where you want.
play your shot keeping everything else still.

Nice answer Richard with some good points although it’s probably been lost on the original poster as the thread is over ten years old .

[Richard pincott]

Nice answer Richard with some good points although it’s probably been lost on the original poster as the thread is over ten years old .

Yes I am just getting used to this site. I could see how old it was but I am not sure how everything works on here yet.
thanks for the answer 👍

[Starsky]

Yes I am just getting used to this site. I could see how old it was but I am not sure how everything works on here yet.
thanks for the answer 👍

No problem , good to have some input from a high standard player.

[Richard pincott]

No problem , good to have some input from a high standard player.

Thanks.
Do I have to press quote to answer you or will the Post Reply directly answer you without pressing quote. What about the flag option.
I am not very technical lol

[Cue crafty]

Thanks.
Do I have to press quote to answer you or will the Post Reply directly answer you without pressing quote. What about the flag option.
I am not very technical lol

Hello Richard, I've got a vague memory of you beating Ray Edmunds in the Dubai classic early nineties, if I remember correctly?

[Richard pincott]

Hello Richard, I've got a vague memory of you beating Ray Edmunds in the Dubai classic early nineties, if I remember correctly?

Yes I remember that. I played terrible but won lol
Yeah there were lots of the older players there because they changed the system. I lost out. If they would have kept it as it was I would have been automatically in the 128 😓 lol

[Cue crafty]

Yes I remember that. I played terrible but won lol
Yeah there were lots of the older players there because they changed the system. I lost out. If they would have kept it as it was I would have been automatically in the 128 😓 lol

Brilliant ha ha, well great to have you on board and some great advice given already.

[Richard pincott]

Thanks mate.