where and when to look

[vmax4steve]

Checked my alignment on cue ball and it seems ok, its hard to tell if you are bang in the middle when you are down on the shot but i can play up and down the spots 3 times normally (miss to the left by half a ball to a ball sometimes, always to the left, any reasons why greatly appreciated)

Another thing m8, when practising up and down the spots put a chalk mark on the top cushion directly behind the black spot and focus your eyes on this at the exact moment of striking the cue ball as having no object ball contact point to focus on will make your hand follow whatever you are looking at, you could even be staring into space with no focus at all to keep your cue on line.

[alabadi]

When I play with side Sidd I stand behind the shot and look at the point of contact on the object ball allowing for the deflection and arcing of the cue ball. So if I need to aim thicker to allow for the deflection and arcing I focus on the point of contact that I'm aiming for, then, unlike most players, I look at the spot on the cue ball my tip needs to hit when placing my feet and getting down into my stance. Once down I again focus on the point of contact on the object ball that I first aimed for (thicker) and then play the shot with my eyes focussed still on this thicker contact point and just let the cue ball deflection and arcing along the cloth work its magic.
As the hand follows the eye, if you take your focus off the thicker contact point and focus on the actual contact point then you will push the cue off line, the cue ball will then deflect and arc along a different line and the shot will be missed.

Never adjust your aiming point once you are down on the shot, never adjust the line of your cue once you are down on the shot.

How those people who look at the point of contact on the object ball when getting down into their stance when playing with side know where they are pointing the tip of the cue is beyond me as it's something I don't do myself so I can't give any tips on this technique at all.

i think different players have different methods.
i read a book by EX professional player Eddie Charlton, in his book when he explains playing with side he doesn't change the contact point on the OB he actually aims different, so depending on which side and the amount of side he will aim left or right of the pocket, and then select the contact point on the OB to hit that point.

obviously he has practiced this and with his cue he knows how much it throws to make the pot. i have tried both methods and they both work, so its a matter of preference and which one you get more comfortable with.

Alabbadi

[vmax4steve]

i think different players have different methods.
i read a book by EX professional player Eddie Charlton, in his book when he explains playing with side he doesn't change the contact point on the OB he actually aims different, so depending on which side and the amount of side he will aim left or right of the pocket, and then select the contact point on the OB to hit that point.

Alabbadi

Which is exactly what I mean when I say I aim thicker, so the contact point on the object ball that I focus on would be to miss the pocket, then the cue ball deflects and arcs to make a thinner contact to make the pot. The method is the same, it's just been explained differently.

[alabadi]

I look at the spot on the cue ball my tip needs to hit when placing my feet and getting down into my stance.

i am curious to how you could tell if your feet or in a diiferent place when playing with side or not, i mean when you play with side its usually a few mm difference where the tip of the cue is aimed at on the cue ball, i would think it very difficult to place the feet a few mm different from if you were playing with side and know it.

although i don't play with side that often as its tricky when i do i just get down as normal looking the contact point i selected on the OB and then once down check that my tip is pointing at the correct point for the amount of side i want to play with, if its not i adjust slightly, its only going to be a few mm so the body feet won't need adjusting i find this works for me if i have correctly made my prediction right and played the shot correctly with no body movement and pushed the cue through in a straight line

Alabbadi

[itsnoteasy]

Vmax and everyone you are all right.Went today concentrated on two things keeping head still and contact point on ob, back to making regular 20s and the odd 30 missed a black off the spot on 34 with 4 more reds in the open, had done loads of work to get into position and then stopped doing my routine and played to quick(bit of movement and took my eyes off pot , it was only a half ball stun up of around 10 inches as well) and bloody missed i was , for the first time, mad at myself.
I feel i am throwing these chances away, should make hay while the sun shines as my decent form wont last forever.
Still playing with bendy cue, have they made the spring stronger? as it very rarely flexes even playing blues to middle and stunning in and out of baulk back down to pink area , nothing.I did get a couple of minor flexes when my grip tightened a bit.
Thanks Terry it gave me the confidence to keep my chin on the cue, cue didnt flex at all but it helped me stay still and im sure it made the cue come through straighter as my long potting was very very good today

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

Sorry m8, but you're worrying about far too much. When a player places his right foot (right hander) it won't ALWAYS be in the EXACT same position and could vary likely anywhere up to 10mm. We teach the grip hand and thus the butt of the cue should be over the arch (laces) of the right foot but I wouldn't even mention whether it should be centre-foot, inside the arch or outside the arch and we also usually say 'somewhere between the arch and the start of the toes so that is room for about 3" there alone in the straight on dimension and then across the foot would be another 3" or so.

In effect you have an area on the straight leg foot of about 9 square inches for the grip hand to be vertical from and except for a robot with laser measuring I doubt if any player gets it exactly the same every time. In this case reasonably close and within the 9sqin I would think is good enough, even for a pro.

Terry

[alabadi]

alabadi:

Sorry m8, but you're worrying about far too much. When a player places his right foot (right hander) it won't ALWAYS be in the EXACT same position and could vary likely anywhere up to 10mm.

Terry

That was exactly my point Terry i was just responding to something Vmax was saying that when playing with side he looks at the contact point and puts his right foot in position.

my argument was its almost impossible to put your foot in a different position for a shot with side and actually know because the width of the foot itself is around 100mm so moving it a few mm for playing side you are not going to be aware of it.

Alabbadi

[vmax4steve]

So if I need to aim thicker to allow for the deflection and arcing I focus on the point of contact that I'm aiming for, then, unlike most players, I look at the spot on the cue ball my tip needs to hit when placing my feet and getting down into my stance.

Read the highlighted section Alabbadi.

[vmax4steve]

I feel i am throwing these chances away, should make hay while the sun shines as my decent form wont last forever.

It will if you keep doing the fundamentals, keep the routine going until it becomes habit. Write a little note and keep it in your cue case and read it everytime you take your cue out. I did this years ago and I'm doing it again now.

[alabadi]

Read the highlighted section Alabbadi.

it doesn't matter. maybe, i think we see things different and that OK, i myself look at the OB standing behind the cueball when lining up.

[vmax4steve]

That was exactly my point Terry i was just responding to something Vmax was saying that when playing with side he looks at the contact point and puts his right foot in position.

Alabbadi

No Alabbadi, I mean I didn't say this about my right foot, don't know where you got this from.

[pottr]

For the life of me, this is another example of a thread that's really going overboard through delving into aspects of technique which have little importance.

The title is 'where and when to look'

Where - At the object ball.
When - Preferably before striking the cueball.

How has it got to 40+ posts? Goes back to mine and Steve's point about whether you need to be of a decent standard to offer coaching advice.

More evidence to support our stance that you do. Otherwise it seems threads go off on tangents that are irrelevant to the original discussion.

[alabadi]

No Alabbadi, I mean I didn't say this about my right foot, don't know where you got this from.

I'm sure you said that you look at the spot your cue will make contact with the cueball when placing your foot, go back and check your posts.

Alabbadi

[Sidd]

For the life of me, this is another example of a thread that's really going overboard through delving into aspects of technique which have little importance.

The title is 'where and when to look'

Where - At the object ball.
When - Preferably before striking the cueball.

How has it got to 40+ posts? Goes back to mine and Steve's point about whether you need to be of a decent standard to offer coaching advice.

More evidence to support our stance that you do. Otherwise it seems threads go off on tangents that are irrelevant to the original discussion.

True that...!

[nrage]

More evidence to support our stance that you do. Otherwise it seems threads go off on tangents that are irrelevant to the original discussion.

Nah, just evidence that people like to discuss and think about things and how they relate to each other.