Missing to the left .

[denja]

When potting Blue ball off its spot cue ball on baulk line into top left pocket straight pot, I often miss very slightly to the left it is driving me mad any comments I would be most grateful I can cue perfect over the spots at a good pace.

[nrage]

When potting Blue ball off its spot cue ball on baulk line into top left pocket straight pot, I often miss very slightly to the left it is driving me mad any comments I would be most grateful I can cue perfect over the spots at a good pace.

First and best option - go see a coach If you want to do some self diagnosis tho..

How many out of 10 do you miss? Is it consistent? Do you always miss by the same amount?

Does it happen with all powers of shot, do slow shots miss as often as harder ones?

To miss to the left the white must be hitting slightly to the right of the correct contact point (obviously), the real Q is how it gets there and there are several possibilities. They all boil down to striking the white off center or across the line (which is actually the same as striking off center, but rotated slightly).

It may be aiming - you might be aiming it wrong. (unlikely but good to start with)
It may be alignment - getting down slightly off center
It may be line of aim - getting down slightly across the line of aim/shot from right (grip) to left (tip) - the tip may still appear in the center of the white but the angle of the cue across the line from right to left.
It may be moving on the shot - moving body/shoulders/chest left during the stroke.
It may be a cueing fault - grip hand moves right, tip moves left, ball skews right slightly.

Over this distance, and if you're playing the shot with low power it may be skewing right, then arcing left before contact, so you may have any of the above problems but to the opposite side from described above. To rule this out play the shot harder (this might introduce other issues) or shorten the distance between white and blue and play firmly (med power).

So, first lets rule out aiming. Do you have a ball with spots on it? If so, set that up on the blue spot so the spot is exactly the right contact point to pot it. Play the shot at a slow pace and concentrate on the spot and pay close attention to the moment of impact and try to see any of the object ball around the white - you should see none of it if you contact it perfectly.

If you have no ball with spots, move the white closer to the blue - start at 1ft, then 1.5ft, then 2ft and see when the fault reappears. Aiming is easier at closer distances, but this will also rule out slow shot arcing so you need to test the full distance with a firm power to rule the arcing out independently as well.

Next, alignment. Play 10 or 20 pots and each time when you get down pause immediately and check your tip position on the white. Is it always dead center? If you have a ball with spots you can more easily tell, if not you could buy a small sticker - like for example one of those round plastic circle stickers with the hole in them used for ring binder pages.

Next, line of aim. This can be done alone or with a mate to help. Get down on the shot and pause immediately. Have a mate sight the shot from the pocket through the balls to the cue, and from behind to the pocket. Can he/she see any problem? If you have no mates then you can place the cue on the table and sight the shot yourself, once you have the cue dead in line place a piece of chalk under the butt. Now get down on the shot and pause, very slowly drop the grip hand straight down - does the cue land directly on the chalk?

Moving on the shot/cueing fault. The best way to check these is with slow motion video, or with a mate helping out. Video capture will get everything, warts and all. So, be careful to look specifically at the moment the tip strikes the white. Use FREE software like kinovea to analyse the video, place markers on your shoulders and head at the start of the shot and check those against the final position, and the moment the tip strikes the white. Likewise you can place a marker on the line of the shot and/or the line of the cue and watch it move during the shot.

[Terry Davidson]

AS 'nrage' says the two most common areas to look at are movement on the shot and cueing right-to-left. Moving on the shot is usually caused by some movement of the head/shoulder area upwards on the BACKSWING and then the brain attempts to correct that as it will take the cue off-line.

Cueing right-to-left (if not caused my body movement) is usually caused by gripping the cue too tight and too early in the delivery (just before the strike). To correct this get on a table by yourself and try loosening the grip right off until you are barely holding the cue and then try and maintain that loose grip all the way through the delivery until the grip hand hits the chest.

Also check and ensure you are accelerating THROUGH AND BEYOND the cueball strike

Terry

[denja]

THANK YOU Guys for your in depth answers I have a suspicion that I do cue very slightly to the right at times as I stated I have no problem over the spots at a good pace I think I must concentrate more on center ball striking when attempting the blue.

[j6uk]

Before you take the balls out to practice or even play someone, warm up your cue action by getting on the baulk line for five minutes. Start off slowly and work up to long back swings, pausing at the back then, accelerating through (like you would do when playing a shot) along the baulk line an stop at the chest. Oh and you wanna be watching the center of your cue hover up that baulk line.. enjoy
After ten years you'll have natural alignment and a piping cue action.. If after 10 yrs you find your still having problems with cueing straight go and see a coach.

[j6uk]

If I was you, I'd look for a good coach. Take all the good stuff from tsf and look for some help. If its good enough for the Greats its good enough for you.