Eye Dominance, Sighting and the Cue

[cantpotforshíte]

Evening Gents. Well, this sighting change was a big thing for me yesterday, pottin em off the lampshades in practice so I was. Today, I played the team captain and wanted to impress and do well. I tried too hard for the first four frames, got tight, undid all the good work. Frame 5, and I thought, drop down use your right eye, and just pot some balls, let the cue go through. I set a goal as a newish player a few months ago, to get a 50 break within 12 months. Achieved the target 9 months early tonight, and beat my captains high break. Damn! It should have been 80. I really do think the new sighting helped, combined with all I've tried to learn and do, as advised by Terry, Nrage, Vmax, the list is long. A lot of folk have put up with me, tried to help me, and never really got annoyed, so here's a big thankyou to you all for all of your help. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without you. There's still so very much to learn, I've only just begun. As always, I'm walking in the shadow of giants, but tonight will keep me going Too much Old Rosie cider. Night all.

Well done to you mate. And we all thought that you were massively over-analysing and due to get nowhere fast! Just goes to show...

Also, hitting your target so early should take a lot of pressure off you. All you need to do now is stick to your technique, and don't think about the breaks. Just watch them happen.

[pottr]

So pretty much what I said yesterday muppets x

[nrage]

The wiki page is illuminating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_acuity

The short answer..

A vision of 20/20 is considered nominal performance for human distance vision. A vision of 20/40 is considered half as good as nominal performance. A vision of 20/10 is considered twice as good as nominal performance.

also..

In other words, 20/20 vision or 6/6 vision does not necessarily correspond to the best possible visual acuity a subject may achieve, but once this standard is attained the subject is considered to have achieved "normal" visual acuity.

[pottr]

My understanding is that 20/20 is perfect vision not average, while readings that are less are less than perfect. If this is wrong then my apologies.

No offense taken brother. I harboured under the same impression too until my future mother in law put me firmly in my place, lol

What the hell that means I don't know

I couldn't tell you either, all greek to me. We're around there for tea tonight so I will show her and ask her to decipher it for us.

I do have trouble under artificial light though which is why daylight bulbs are so much better for snooker.

I am the same. Takes me a while for my eyes to adjust to the lights, almost as if there were a film across them... Frustrating.

[Particle Physics]

My understanding is that 20/20 is perfect vision not average, while readings that are less are less than perfect. If this is wrong then my apologies.

My own prescription is as follows

R -1..........5.0 ..........+2.0 .........+1.5
.................................................. ................11.0
L -1.........175.0.........+2.0..........+1.5

...........H-Dist............V-Dist........H-Near......V-Near[/B]


What the hell that means I don't know except that without my glasses/contact lenses I can only make out detail within an arms length, I can read and that's about it, with my glasses/contact lenses I can make out detail beyond an arms length, I can't see to read but anything further away is clear.
I do have trouble under artificial light though which is why daylight bulbs are so much better for snooker.

20/20 is very rare. Vmax, what do you think of the Dennis Taylor glasses, have you tried them?

[vmax4steve]

20/20 is average for a healthy person

at 20/16 and 20/12.5 my eyesight score is better than the 20/20 average, but by no means exceptional.

I think it means I can see definition at 20 feet what the average person could not see beyond 16 feet, hence the score 20/16.

I fail to see the contradiction?

My understanding is that 20/20 is perfect vision not average, while readings that are less are less than perfect. If this is wrong then my apologies.

My own prescription is as follows

R -1..........5.0 ..........+2.0 .........+1.5
.................................................. ................11.0
L -1.........175.0.........+2.0..........+1.5

...........H-Dist............V-Dist........H-Near......V-Near[/B]


What the hell that means I don't know except that without my glasses/contact lenses I can only make out detail within an arms length, I can read and that's about it, with my glasses/contact lenses I can make out detail beyond an arms length, I can't see to read but anything further away is clear.
I do have trouble under artificial light though which is why daylight bulbs are so much better for snooker.

[Particle Physics]

Evening Gents. Well, this sighting change was a big thing for me yesterday, pottin em off the lampshades in practice so I was. Today, I played the team captain and wanted to impress and do well. I tried too hard for the first four frames, got tight, undid all the good work. Frame 5, and I thought, drop down use your right eye, and just pot some balls, let the cue go through. I set a goal as a newish player a few months ago, to get a 50 break within 12 months. Achieved the target 9 months early tonight, and beat my captains high break. Damn! It should have been 80. I really do think the new sighting helped, combined with all I've tried to learn and do, as advised by Terry, Nrage, Vmax, the list is long. A lot of folk have put up with me, tried to help me, and never really got annoyed, so here's a big thankyou to you all for all of your help. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without you. There's still so very much to learn, I've only just begun. As always, I'm walking in the shadow of giants, but tonight will keep me going Too much Old Rosie cider. Night all.

[Terry Davidson]

pottr:

You are far-sighted with those readings and for snooker that's a GOOD thing as you should be able to see the dust on a ball 12ft away!

It's us near-sighted people that have the serious problems and need to get corrective lenses so we can see that dust. I have my left eye with contact at 20/15 because of snooker but my right eye is a write-off

Terry

[pottr]

Bit of a contradiction there pottr.

20/20 is average for a healthy person

at 20/16 and 20/12.5 my eyesight score is better than the 20/20 average, but by no means exceptional.

I think it means I can see definition at 20 feet what the average person could not see beyond 16 feet, hence the score 20/16.

I fail to see the contradiction?

[vmax4steve]

One thing I did that was a bit different when getting down, was to try and connect the white to the object ball to the pocket, focusing on each in turn, then finally only looking at the object ball. Visualisation I think it's called, and it's something that Alex Higgins (RIP) and Hendry do. It's like feeling the pot going in before you've taken the shot. Anyway, in combo with the cue position change, it worked a treat. I kept the cue pointing to the cue ball straight (didn't try any shots with side today), and visualised the angles with both eyes open (though I suspect my R eye was being used by brain to make the analysis).

I'm willing to bet that this was what really made the difference. People are right/left dominant in their brain hemispheres as well and I would say that this is what makes a person right/left eye dominant in those with normal vision.
I posted on this subject a while ago, look it up you may find it interesting.

[vmax4steve]

20/20 vision is not rare. To my understanding it's what a normal healthy eye should be able to see in detail from a certain distance.

My girlfriend's mother is an ophthalmologist at the local hospital where my missus works and two years ago when she gave me my last eye test she told me I had 20/16 in my right eye and 20/12.5 in my left.

She also told me that was just above average, but by no means anywhere near exceptional.

20/20 vision is not rare, but your sight is just above average according to an opthalmologist. Bit of a contradiction there pottr.

[pottr]

20/20 vision is not rare. To my understanding it's what a normal healthy eye should be able to see in detail from a certain distance.

My girlfriend's mother is an ophthalmologist at the local hospital where my missus works and two years ago when she gave me my last eye test she told me I had 20/16 in my right eye and 20/12.5 in my left.

She also told me that was just above average, but by no means anywhere near exceptional.

[Particle Physics]

PP:

I think that 'nostril' thing is just FAR TOO MUCH INFO!!! Maybe you can stuff a wad of string up there and leave a tail of 4" or so hanging out and then checking to see if it's lined up with the centre of the cue? (just joking)

I think vmax is dead on here but that's only because that's the theory I use and I agree with him.

Terry

I would T, but I think I'd get a seven point penalty for using a measuring device.

[Particle Physics]

so, as far as I am concerned, that proves where my sighting is best ... the bad news is that's where I normally sight anyway so it must be poor and inaccurate delivery causing me to miss sitters having said that, with my new found sighting confidence, I wasn't half potting some crackers tonight [/QUOTE]

I found that if I believed the angles were right, I had the confidence to get on with the shot making. A lot of the game is to do with belief and confidence. Glad to hear it helped you.

[DandyA]

I tried the following on the pub pool table tonight ...

cue butt resting on rail ... cue tip resting on a chalk ... cue pointing down the centre of the table ... cue ball nearly touching the cue tip ... object ball on the far cushion lined up perfectly straight ... I stood back and checked from both cue end and object ball end that everything was dead straight and the cue tip was dead centre of the cue ball ...

then I put my head above the cue as if I was holding the cue (I wasn't) and moved my head left and right to see what happens ... it's interesting - the shot doesn't look lined up dead straight apart from one position - in my case, with the cue just slightly right of centre chin ...

I know others have suggested this method by aiming a cue ball at the edge of a pocket leather but that's not what we ever play - I think my way is better because I'm looking at cueball onto object ball which is what the game is all about ...

thinking afterwards, it might be worth putting the cue butt on a chalk on the rail to give a more realistic height but I wouldn't think that would change the result ... and I could also try the object ball at different distances to the cue ball although I doubt that will make any difference - if it looks straight at the 15 inches or so I could get on a pool table, surely it will look straight at longer distances ...

so, as far as I am concerned, that proves where my sighting is best ... the bad news is that's where I normally sight anyway so it must be poor and inaccurate delivery causing me to miss sitters having said that, with my new found sighting confidence, I wasn't half potting some crackers tonight