staying on the line of aim

[armstm]

hi all,

i recall vmaxsteve saying that a lot of missed pots were not cueing issues (where you can feel / see the other player didn't push cue thru straight)


but somehow you take eyes off the object ball.

this is what i think happens to me. i think the line of aim is correct standing up, but somehow i lose this line on the way down. when you're confident i think you trust yourself to stay on the line of aim, when you're nervous you sort of override this line of aim and you get off-line.

for example i consistenly undercut cut-back black pots into the (yellow-side black pocket). i think this is sighting fine standing up but just not getting on line of aim going down.


i have actually videoed myself and i can see i am offline when feathering... amazing and depressing at the same time!


i recently tried to visualise little dotted lines (!!!) even on short pots. i think jimmy white mentions he does this on long pots. i tried to glide down and thrust my bridge arm out onto this line.

i found i was more consistent and also my stance changed to a more athletic looking stance (i was videoing it) - without me thinking about where to put my feet.

the other issue i have is that my elbow is not in the right place - i was joe swail-like. so i have this weird action where i will get down, realise (from experience) elbow is wrong and staighten out this elbow without moving grip hand position.

my consistency is terrible ( i am quite a good pool player but *$"! at snooker) and i think its a combination of these 2 errors alongside many others probably!

[Terry Davidson]

Here is the 'secret' of staying on the line of aim.

If you can accept the fact that you get the best view of the line of aim when standing up behind the shot then make sure your head/eyes are directly above that selected line of aim and then DROP THE HEAD STRAIGHT DOWN you will most certainly be set up on the correct line of aim. (It also helps A LOT if you have the arch or laces of the straight-leg foot directly on the line of aim BEFORE you get down into the shot and also the laces should be directly below the grip hand).

HOWEVER, you said once you are down on the shot you are making adjustments, like to your elbow. ONCE YOU INITIALLY GET DOWN INTO THE SHOT WITH THE HAND ON THE TABLE THEN absolutely nothing CAN MOVE OR YOU WILL TAKE YOURSELF OFF THE LINE OF AIM.

You should also have your eyes on the object ball as you're dropping the head straight down and do not look at the cueball until your hand is on the table and you're in the address position. When feathering your eyes should go back and forth between cueball (to ensure you're hitting the cueball in the right spot) and the object ball and then either at the front pause, during the backswing, at the rear pause or at the start of the delivery...you move your eyes to the object ball and lock them there until AFTER you have delivered the cue and your hand hits your chest. (You should stay down and follow the object ball to the pocket (or not) with your eyes only, not allowing the body to move AT ALL for 1-2 seconds after the hand hits the chest).

Terry

[armstm]

Here is the 'secret' of staying on the line of aim.

If you can accept the fact that you get the best view of the line of aim when standing up behind the shot then make sure your head/eyes are directly above that selected line of aim and then DROP THE HEAD STRAIGHT DOWN you will most certainly be set up on the correct line of aim. (It also helps A LOT if you have the arch or laces of the straight-leg foot directly on the line of aim BEFORE you get down into the shot and also the laces should be directly below the grip hand).

HOWEVER, you said once you are down on the shot you are making adjustments, like to your elbow. ONCE YOU INITIALLY GET DOWN INTO THE SHOT WITH THE HAND ON THE TABLE THEN absolutely nothing CAN MOVE OR YOU WILL TAKE YOURSELF OFF THE LINE OF AIM.

You should also have your eyes on the object ball as you're dropping the head straight down and do not look at the cueball until your hand is on the table and you're in the address position. When feathering your eyes should go back and forth between cueball (to ensure you're hitting the cueball in the right spot) and the object ball and then either at the front pause, during the backswing, at the rear pause or at the start of the delivery...you move your eyes to the object ball and lock them there until AFTER you have delivered the cue and your hand hits your chest. (You should stay down and follow the object ball to the pocket (or not) with your eyes only, not allowing the body to move AT ALL for 1-2 seconds after the hand hits the chest).

Terry

thank you terry. i agree that the ideal is nothing moves, i will work on getting the elbow right before i get down. i think it is possible to keep the grip hand in the same place whilst maneouvring the elbow into the right place but as you say this is not ideal and is a source of errors.

as for the head straight down, i had tried this without much joy. i recently tried getting my grip hand on the line of aim early, and this seemed to produce better results.

[nrage]

realise (from experience) elbow is wrong and staighten out this elbow without moving grip hand position.

I think this is just about impossible to do consistently. I know I can't "feel" proprioceptively where my grip hand is - by this I mean that I don't feel/know where it is relative to the line of aim, and even if I had some idea I doubt it would be accurate enough TBH. I think the only way to make sure the grip hand is on the line of aim, and that you're not cueing across the ball is to not move anything you don't have to move once you get down on the line.

[armstm]

yes that is fair, i think i do this from habit. having videoed self i know i pot better with the elbow straight, and it looks a hell of a lot better. all i have to do is to get down with the elbow correct to start with!

[nrage]

yes that is fair, i think i do this from habit. having videoed self i know i pot better with the elbow straight, and it looks a hell of a lot better. all i have to do is to get down with the elbow correct to start with!

True. I think the best way to ingrain this new habit is going to simply be repetition. You know from experience when you get down "wrong" - because you can feel it? or? but instead of adjusting down on the shot I would get back up (I know, I know, it's a pain, and I am guilty of not doing it at times too) and repeat the getting down. At practice, get down on a shot 5-10 times and concentrate on what the elbow and wrist feels like when it's "correct". I found I can get my elbow right if I concentrate on holding my wrist "just so" as I get down on the shot. My wrist dictates my elbow it seems.

[armstm]

True. I think the best way to ingrain this new habit is going to simply be repetition. You know from experience when you get down "wrong" - because you can feel it? or? but instead of adjusting down on the shot I would get back up (I know, I know, it's a pain, and I am guilty of not doing it at times too) and repeat the getting down. At practice, get down on a shot 5-10 times and concentrate on what the elbow and wrist feels like when it's "correct". I found I can get my elbow right if I concentrate on holding my wrist "just so" as I get down on the shot. My wrist dictates my elbow it seems.

that is interesting, thank you, i will try that.

[davipp]

I totally agree with what you say Terry, but I find once I step into the shot and bend over the table my body must slightly move to the right and I tend to contact the object ball thinner than expected. I have tried to eliminate twisting the body but find the cue hand brushes my hip. I have tried staying oh so slightly to the right and to left of the line of aim and twisting the body but still I do not pot the ball consistently, this is on the long shots of course.

[armstm]

i never get cutbacks blacks on either side. when i stand square-on i really struggle to see the potting angle.

weirdly i found if i stand slightly with my right-eye facing the shot then i see the angle better.

hard to explain but there you go.

[j6uk]

If your brushing your hip it could be you've got all or most your weight on and over your so called brace-leg and line of aim. This also could mean that your support leg is lazy trailing behind and bridge hand is a bit floaty and not firm on the cloth, with no weight over it. I used to do this before i got top draw coaching, and made very big breaks but with no consistency, every other shot was an exhausting balancing act.
My trilateral weight distribution would now roughly be 10 on the bridge hand, 40 on my brace leg and 50% on support leg, so most of my weight is locked into position, to support my elbow/cue-arm on my line.. enjoy

I have tried to eliminate twisting the body but find the cue hand brushes my hip.

[Byrom]

Wow many people on here over complicate what is a simple thing.

Stand behind the shot imagine the shot you need - walk into the shot placing your lead leg on the line of aim - place your cue down on the line of aim keeping this still first 'then' move your body down in position over the cue.

I think a basic mistake of lots of am players is they get down with the body and cue in one movement and by doing this they move the cue off the line of aim when they get down by pulling the cue inwards to the hip. Problems arise because any deviation at the back of the cue as you get down is greatly exaggerated at the front and can cause you to put on unwanted side, cue across it slightly and so you are moving off the line of aim.

It was something I did at first too. To stop myself doing this I first concentrated on planting my lead foot/leg -i use the back and inside of my heel as my guide- and place this firmly on the line of aim then bending slightly I place the cue on the line of aim and my hand on the table of course 'then' I start moving my body to the cue in a slightly different movement - not at the same time-but a second or two earlier. I try to keep the cue still on the line of aim and then keeping the cue perfectly still I move my body down onto the cue a second or two after. I found this stopped me pulling the cue inwards and off line as I got down.

I suppose this is natural now and it has helped me as I got older as sadly I suffer from a bad back and yet because I place the cue on line of the shot when stood up I can cue just as well today stood up off the shot and I still make breaks over 50 regularly.

There is of course also the sighting of the line and not everyone is the same in this regard - but now I am over complicating it too lol and that is a talk for another day.

Hope this helps someone.

[nrage]

I totally agree with what you say Terry, but I find once I step into the shot and bend over the table my body must slightly move to the right and I tend to contact the object ball thinner than expected. I have tried to eliminate twisting the body but find the cue hand brushes my hip. I have tried staying oh so slightly to the right and to left of the line of aim and twisting the body but still I do not pot the ball consistently, this is on the long shots of course.

The key point as you walk in is keeping your head and cue on the line of aim. In order to do this and get your body out of the way of the cue you need to lean a little over the cue by pushing the hip out. I found, when practicing this, that the thing to do is concentrate on the head and hands and keeping them on the line of aim, and making the hip thrust out very definite. Basically being aware and in control of your motions and focused on them until they are embedded and automatic.

I find it much easier to do, and get a lot more hip clearance (and comfort) if I point my back foot outside the line of aim.

[nrage]

i never get cutbacks blacks on either side. when i stand square-on i really struggle to see the potting angle.

weirdly i found if i stand slightly with my right-eye facing the shot then i see the angle better.

hard to explain but there you go.

What if you shuffle just a touch to the left, so the line of aim runs closer to the right eye?

[nrage]

Wow many people on here over complicate what is a simple thing.

... but now I am over complicating it too lol and that is a talk for another day.

It's only simple because you've trained it all in until it has become unconscious. For someone who is not yet doing it "right" they have to un-train the "wrong" and train the "right" and only then does it become "simple". It is possible to overthink things tho, and if you're having to think about this while playing a match then you're doing something wrong. But, thinking about it before practice, and picking one or two points to focus on during practice is both useful and beneficial. The goal is to have done all the thinking off the table, or at practice, and to have trained it all in until it has become natural/simple.

[armstm]

It's only simple because you've trained it all in until it has become unconscious. For someone who is not yet doing it "right" they have to un-train the "wrong" and train the "right" and only then does it become "simple". It is possible to overthink things tho, and if you're having to think about this while playing a match then you're doing something wrong. But, thinking about it before practice, and picking one or two points to focus on during practice is both useful and beneficial. The goal is to have done all the thinking off the table, or at practice, and to have trained it all in until it has become natural/simple.

i agree with nrage. a lot of good players tell me "you focus too much on technique, just play the game naturally". this is irritating because their technique is naturally good therefore they don't have to focus on technique.

i can tell you that my performance in matches is pretty much the same level as in practice. it has little to do with tensing up or with overthinking. it is because my technique is crap.