Where To Look, Cue Ball / Object Ball

[tommy_boi]

I was speaking to a very good player in 8 ball pool and snooker tonight, and he said something that really got my head thinking, well i told him i usually miss the long pots, and that is normally what lets my game down and makes me lose, cause normally when playing pool i am either on a tough long pot to win the game and miss, or with snooker similar happens, anyway he said to me where do i look when i am hitting the object ball, my response was the point on the object ball that i want to hit, which from what i have read is the correct way, but then i did say to him this is where i might be going wrong, i think on the long shots i am striking up the cue ball, but then when i go to hit the cue ball i hit a completely different spot which results in me missing the long pot, well his reply was i always look at the cue ball, he said he looks at the object ball, then gets down on the shot, looks at the cue ball, then looks at the object ball, then on the final back pause looks at the cue ball, he said this is the best way as then he knows where he is hitting the cue ball and what is going to happen with it as in position, i did try this after he said about it and found it did help slightly, but on some shots, he just felt like i had to look at the object ball to see where it was going to end up, it just felt too weird not looking at the object ball on final delivery, i have thought about just doing this on the long shots so i know i am hitting the correct spot on the cue ball, so i don't put side on the cue ball by accident which then makes me miss the pot, what are your thoughts on this, does anyone else do this?.

Thanks.

[Sidd]

Tommy, while I hope senior players and coaches here would comment on that but what I can say is that its not how your friend has told you. You must always look at the potting angle on the object ball while sricking the cueball. If you get down on the shot in the address piosition directly on the line of aim then you should not worry about anything else. Looking at object ball upon strike is also good for improving potting concentration. The reason for not hitting the cue ball where intended is not cuz of not looking at it but due to not delivering the cue straight... If you are delivering the cue straight then you will hit the cueball where intended without looking at it... where would a dart player look at while throwing ?? the board of course. Another reason for not hitting the cueball where intended can also be due to shoulder/head movement or any upper body movement during delivery...

So always look at the object ball while striking and not the cue ball however you must look at thecueball several times while feathering just to ensure you will be hitting where intended.....

[liquidsymphony]

hi . as you said not looking at the object ball on final delivery seems weird , and it's deffinetly notthe usual way to play . you lust look at the object ball when striking the cue ball . you must look at the cue ball first to see where your tip is going to impact it , and the eventual amount of spin your gonna put , but then "forget" about the cueball , as the main goal is THE OBJECT BALL
the problem is that many players got bad "habits" , they play with unappropriate stance, bridge , grip or cue action but it works for them so they don't try to correct it as it's would meen to start from the beggining again
there's even pro players that play with bad stance ( joe swail ) or bad cue action ( dave harold ) but they are tremendous
maybe a problem of stance make you not deliver the cue straigh and you don't hit the cueball nicely , but keep looking at the object ball

[stephenm2682]

i've been told loads of times on here to look at the object ball on striking the white, but whenever i watch snooker on tv, i have yet to see them looking at the object ball, it always seems to be, that they look at the white when striking, but then very quickly flick the eyes to the point on the object ball they want to hit.

and that goes for most players.

[merlin1234]

Most players look at the OB on striking but I don't think it's "wrong" to look at the CB. Afaik, as long as you've sighted correctly and set up correctly, you just have to cue stright, doesn't really matter which end of the imaginary aiming line you're fixating on at the moment of striking.

[Terry Davidson]

tommy:

There are 4 different eye rhythms used for snooker by all players.

1. (most common) eye go between OB and CB when feathering, lock on cueball during backswing then switch to the object ball during the rear pause and stay on OB until completion of delivery.
2. Some players will shift to the OB at the start of the delivery but 'flick' their eyes back to the CB just before time of strike and then quickly back to the OB at time of strike (this one is very difficult to control).
3. Some players, like myself, need a long time to focus on the object ball so they switch their eyes to the OB during the front pause and leave them there through the backswing and delivery.
4. Some really good players will focus on the spot on the CB during the backswing and then either just before or just after the rear pause will move their eyes to the OB.

However, at the time of striking the cueball ALL these different eye rhythms have the eyes locked on the OB as it's really a question of hand-eye coordination and the hand will follow the eyes. Also remember to mentally imagine you are trying to hit the object ball with the tip of the cue (where possible)

Terry

[tommy_boi]

Terry

Now that we have that sorted, that you should always look at the object ball last, a question i have is where do you look on the object ball, when you cue up, do you look at the spot on the cue ball you want to hit with the tip on the cue, and is that same spot on the object ball too, or can you look at any point on the object ball?.

[lennon11]

changing your eye rhythm can be very difficult and also cause all sorts of cueing and timing problem...it really is alot more to do with hand eye coordination coupled with good technique rather than having your eyes at a certain point at certain times in your delivery.

[narl]

My routine is usually as follows:

Stand behind the balls to line up the shot.
Get down on the shot with the cue tip at the white still looking at object ball.
Switch view to white ball and start feathering.
Feather the ball a couple of times, front pause, then when drawing back the cue i switch my focus to the object ball and deliver the cue.

[tommy_boi]

changing your eye rhythm can be very difficult and also cause all sorts of cueing and timing problem...it really is alot more to do with hand eye coordination coupled with good technique rather than having your eyes at a certain point at certain times in your delivery.

What is timing then, i've heard it is when you push the cue through the ball and pull it back again to screw the ball back, is this correct, to be honest, my game is all over the place at the minute, i cant even play good at 8 ball, so snooker is never gonna work for me at the minute, i played snooker the other day and made a break of 27 which i think wasn't all that bad considering i am playing rubbish right now, also what is this hand eye coordination about?.

Thanks.

[Terry Davidson]

tommy:

Rhythm and timing is generally your technique and how SMOOTH it is or how rythmic. Plus, you never pull the cue BACK during the delivery...you always drive the grip hand through to the chest AND LEAVE IT THERE FOR A SECOND OF TWO once the shot is completed. Screw is achieved by hitting the bottom of the cueball and driving the cue through the cueball (accelerating through the cueball).

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

tommy:

After awhile aiming becomes natural. Some players say the aim for an specific spot on the object ball although I have difficulty imagining a specific spot on a smooth and shiny object whereas some players imagine the object ball covered with an imaginary cueball and then aim for the centre of the imaginary cueball (which is the method I use).

The choice is yours...some people imagine a railway track or two lines running from the cueball to the object ball and meeting the object ball at the desired angle. Or imagine a pipe doing the same thing.

Terry

[sixofclubs]

John Higgins looks at the cue ball on strike. Which is interesting I think.

I personally find that looking at the cue ball for a long shot from the cushion, perhaps a safety shot where the thickness of object ball strike is so important, can really help.

Coming at it from a golf perspective, all golfers play 'blind' in effect, looking at and striking the golf ball (their cue ball for comparison) with the ultimate target in the back of their mind's eye as they obviously can't look at two things at once.

Snooker is complex because there are two balls involved, but at my very early stage in learning, I am yet to be convinced that looking at the cue ball on strike is wrong. Indeed I can see a lot of sense in it, if nothing else from a feedback point of view with regards to one's cueing.

It's a debate that will run and run.

[narl]

tommy:

Rhythm and timing is generally your technique and how SMOOTH it is or how rythmic. Plus, you never pull the cue BACK during the delivery...you always drive the grip hand through to the chest AND LEAVE IT THERE FOR A SECOND OF TWO once the shot is completed. Screw is achieved by hitting the bottom of the cueball and driving the cue through the cueball (accelerating through the cueball).

Terry

What sighting technique do you find works best? I put my routine at the bottom of the last page and im not sure if its something that would work well or not compared to others. I'll repost it here:


Stand behind the balls to line up the shot.
Get down on the shot with the cue tip at the white still looking at object ball.
Switch view to white ball and start feathering.
Feather the cueball a couple of times, front pause, then when drawing back the cue i switch my focus to the object ball and deliver the cue.

I find it very hard to adopt other routines which involve flicking my eyes back and forth between cueball and object ball.

[tommy_boi]

John Higgins looks at the cue ball on strike. Which is interesting I think.

I personally find that looking at the cue ball for a long shot from the cushion, perhaps a safety shot where the thickness of object ball strike is so important, can really help.

Coming at it from a golf perspective, all golfers play 'blind' in effect, looking at and striking the golf ball (their cue ball for comparison) with the ultimate target in the back of their mind's eye as they obviously can't look at two things at once.

Snooker is complex because there are two balls involved, but at my very early stage in learning, I am yet to be convinced that looking at the cue ball on strike is wrong. Indeed I can see a lot of sense in it, if nothing else from a feedback point of view with regards to one's cueing.

It's a debate that will run and run.

So you are saying looking at the cue ball (the white ball) last is the way forward?.