Advice as always please :) ??

[Belloz22]

Hey all again..... most of you know my troubles from my rant in another thread.... anyway, I think I found my problem but cant fix it so j seek some advice.

My problems seems to be im not picking the right angle, even though ive played for years, and when I do know the angle I for some reason am not getting down on that line, walking in etc, just not consistent. I have never ever felt confident working out potting angles etc...... 14 years of playing and trying various techniques and to this day I still feel like I cant work out angles..... so advice please?

The other thing is..... why would I not be getting down on the right line, like 1 in 3 shots etc?? I feel im on the right line but obviously not as im no where near the potting angle etc??

Thanks in advance

[sealer]

How do you aim, what is your method?

[cyberheater]

How do you pick your angle?

I find if I stand well back from the shot and move around then there is a angle that sort of pops up. This is the correct potting angle. At that point. I keep my eyes completely fixed on the point on the object ball where I'm aiming at and slowly walk in on the line of shot and go through my shot routine and pot the ball (hopefully).

If something feels off. I stand up. Stand well back and go through the whole thing again.

More often then not. If I miss the pot it's because I didn't hit the object ball where I intended due to cueing or I took my eye off the pot.

Do not adjust your line of aim when you are down on the pot.

Your brain already knows the correct angle. Your brain is absolutely brilliant at geometry. You just need to allow your eyes and brain to get in sync and then follow a good shot routine. That should increase your potting ability.

[Terry Davidson]

When aiming you have to get the cueball into the plant position on the object ball. Most people use 'ghost ball' which is imagining a cueball in the plant position and then the line of aim is from the centre of the real cueball to the centre of the imagined (ghost) cueball.

However, there is also another important facet to this. If you are right handed (reverse if left handed) you MUST place your right foot exactly on this line of aim and I recommend the arch of the right foot (or the laces if you prefer). The next thing you must ensure you do correctly is while still standing up behind the shot place your nose right on this line of aim also (so point your nose at the centre of the imaginary cueball or else point it at the spot on the object ball directly opposite the pocket opening). This will mean you will be leaning a bit to the right to keep the nose (actually the centre of the head) on this line of aim.

Lastly, you MUST ensure you drop you head EXACTLY STRAIGHT DOWN, keeping your nose on the line of aim until you assume the address position. As soon as you get down into the address position with your nose pointed at the object ball do a quick check and run your eyes from the 'V' of the bridge, through the cueball and then to the object ball BUT DO NOT LOOK AT THE POCKET. Then start your feathering, stopping the cue in the address position once again just before the final backswing and look again to see if everything looks good to you.

If you've done this correctly you MUST be on your chosen line of aim but it also means you CANNOT move any part of the upper body or shuffle the feet as you must keep absolutely still until AFTER you've delivered the cue.

To practice this, start with very simple shots like the brown or pink off the spot with the cueball perhaps 18" behind but not straight so you give yourself some kind of angle to detect. Then pot the ball at medium pace and ensure the object ball goes in the exact centre of the pocket. If it doesn't then either you've selected the wrong line of aim or else you moved the upper body a bit while feathering, during the backswing or the delivery.

Try placing the yellow ball against the brown in the plant position and then get down so you're aiming at the centre of the yellow and if you can have a friend remove the yellow ball and then take the shot that will give you the confidence you need. BUT, remember to NEVER have the brown or pink straight in.

Terry

[Belloz22]

Thank you Terry for the advice - one thing im finding though, i feel im not getting down at the center of the white, im getting down already putting side on the shot. I know it sounds silly, but with all the years of playing and being coached so many different techniques, i feel i really cannot identify the line of aim, and especially, get down with my cue at the center of the white, without going off the shot line on the way down?? Ideas ?

[sealer]

Thank you Terry for the advice - one thing im finding though, i feel im not getting down at the center of the white, im getting down already putting side on the shot. I know it sounds silly, but with all the years of playing and being coached so many different techniques, i feel i really cannot identify the line of aim, and especially, get down with my cue at the center of the white, without going off the shot line on the way down?? Ideas ?

Table cue ball and you.

Place the cue ball on brown spot. Play mid pace shots down the spots and see if it comes back straight, little off is also acceptable for now. If it does come back to you move on to the next step. If it doesn't slow down your getting down on the shot and try to work out the way that works for you to make it roll back straight. Make sure you are pulling back slow and straight and start delivering the same way. If it is not working just try to punch it from a very short back swing, if it still does not come back straight it means you need adjusting your stance as you must be placing yourself at and angle to the shot. Just be patient and try to work out the way in order to make it roll up and down. This may be hard but it needs to be done. It is also a great help to have someone there to observe and help. As i said even if it is not perfect it is still acceptable. What you don't want is the cue ball to have a lot of side on and come back half a meter in relation to your tip and brown spot. Also make a chalk mark in the middle of the black cushion in line with the spots or if they not in line than in the middle as this is where you are going to look while cuing the white down and this is important. You need to have a point you will aim at, you cant just roll it up and down without focusing your eyes somewhere. This takes you to the next step.

Second step is to learn a consistent way of aiming.
Players use different methods. Or couple of methods at the same time.

I suggest to go for the back of ball method.

Set yourself blacks of the spot that are not too difficult.
Get behind the black ball and line it up with the part of the pocket you want to send it to.
Focus on the spot on the black and i mean focus!
Now looking at that spot get behind the white and judge the path of the white in order to hit that spot.
Once you happy it will work replicate what you worked out in step one. Be slow and purposeful. Notice how good players, even players like ROS are getting down on the shot. Always the same and pretty slow and smooth. It is important to look at the point on the black while getting down.

Once you are down don't move.

Cue up switching your eyes between balls but the trick is the spot on the black you really have to see it and try to hit it.
Now when your ready deliver starting slowly and straight.

Do not get discouraged by missing.
You need to learn and adjust as you will be misjudging the path of the white.
Never forget about the point on the black ball as that is the key.

Keep it the same and every now and then come back to step one in order to confirm you are cuing straight.
Never forget that you have to focus on that spot on the back of the ball at all shots. In around a year you will be flying

[Belloz22]

Thanks for the advice. Il report back later

[alabadi]

Table cue ball and you.

Place the cue ball on brown spot. Play mid pace shots down the spots and see if it comes back straight, little off is also acceptable for now. If it does come back to you move on to the next step. If it doesn't slow down your getting down on the shot and try to work out the way that works for you to make it roll back straight. Make sure you are pulling back slow and straight and start delivering the same way. If it is not working just try to punch it from a very short back swing, if it still does not come back straight it means you need adjusting your stance as you must be placing yourself at and angle to the shot.

I suggest to go for the back of ball method.

Set yourself blacks of the spot that are not too difficult.
Get behind the black ball and line it up with the part of the pocket you want to send it to.
Focus on the spot on the black and i mean focus!
Now looking at that spot get behind the white and judge the path of the white in order to hit that spot.
Once you happy it will work replicate what you worked out in step one. Be slow and purposeful. Notice how good players, even players like ROS are getting down on the shot. Always the same and pretty slow and smooth. It is important to look at the point on the black while getting down.

Keep it the same and every now and then come back to step one in order to confirm you are cuing straight.
Never forget that you have to focus on that spot on the back of the ball at all shots. In around a year you will be flying

I myself find I am in the same situation, I have been playing for just over 4 years now, and I am convinced that sometimes I am not getting down on the line to deliver the cueball to a desired point of contact, and on other occasions I feel that I am not selecting the correct contact point.

I can run the white up an down the spots accurately well most of the time, if I am out slightly it is less than an inch from the tip of my cue. I can play the blue across the table and either follow through into the same pocket or screw back into the opposite pocket, again most of the time. so this proves to me that my cueing is to an extent straightish.

what baffles me is blacks off the spot from a high position, no matter how much I practice them I am still getting around 60% success. I am more likely to miss on the thick side more often. I probably spend 2-3 hours a week just practicing blacks, I have done this for nearly 5-6 months now so I am getting frustrated with the lack of my brain not learning the angles.

on occasions I can detect when my cueing was off or if I moved on the shot, however most times than not when I am down on the shot I have no confidence that I have selected the correct path for the white to hit BOB.

I have used most aiming methods and I probably use a combination of BOB and Arc coverage, I feel that its the arc coverage that is causing the problem, I just can't visualise correctly where the arc should be in relation to BOB.

I feel that my wonderful brain is not learning as it should...probably my age is an issue don't know really, but its frustrating as hell.

I just wish there were a coach that would just look at this issue and get me on the right path, rather than spending time adjusting stance , bridge or feathers. I think aiming is one of the biggest issues that causes concern, yes straight cueing is ultimately a must otherwise it wouldn't matter if the correct contact point is made as one would miss if they can't cue straight.

for me this doubt is what is making me miss even the simplest of shots.

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

For your black off the spot problem I suspect you are not mentally selecting the correct point of the pocket to aim at. I know this sounds stupid but I've found a lot of students will aim for the pocket opening or even using the back of the pocket to derive their line of aim and when playing to a partially closed pocket such as the black of the spot you have to play the pot aiming at the edge of the leather on the side cushion.

It seems you have trained your brain to select the wrong line of aim and it may be in all partially closed pocket shots or just the black as that's the most common you will see. You must carefully look at the black off the spot again and aim for the point on the pocket which allows you the most room for error ON BOTH SIDES, which in this case would be around 1/4" off the jaw on the top cushion.

Terry

[nrage]

For your black off the spot problem I suspect you are not mentally selecting the correct point of the pocket to aim at. I know this sounds stupid but I've found a lot of students will aim for the pocket opening or even using the back of the pocket to derive their line of aim and when playing to a partially closed pocket such as the black of the spot you have to play the pot aiming at the edge of the leather on the side cushion.

It seems you have trained your brain to select the wrong line of aim and it may be in all partially closed pocket shots or just the black as that's the most common you will see. You must carefully look at the black off the spot again and aim for the point on the pocket which allows you the most room for error ON BOTH SIDES, which in this case would be around 1/4" off the jaw on the top cushion.

LOL, I was thinking the exact same thing might be the cause.

alabadi:

I found that putting a red in the plant(set) position and getting down as if to play the pot (line of aim directly through the plant(set) red) helped me re-train my brain to aim to the correct part of the pocket.

[alabadi]

Thanks Terry for the advice, I am not sure I am doing this but its worth a go to see if it is the case. I have always (well thought I have ) aimed the centre of the OB with the edge of the leather.

I just seem to be a magnet for the jaw nearest to the top cushion. when I am low on the black more often than not, I seem to be able to have more success, and when I miss these types of shots its on the thin side. again hitting the Jaw on nearer the top cushion.

I feel I need to completely re-programme my brain for these shots.

thanks once again your input is appreciated

[Belloz22]

Well lil update - played reasonabley well today, was finding though, when it comes to a shot with a little bit of power i was moving offline, as if i was finding i couldnt get the power from stroking the white, rather i was thumping it etc ??

[throtts]

Well lil update - played reasonabley well today, was finding though, when it comes to a shot with a little bit of power i was moving offline, as if i was finding i couldnt get the power from stroking the white, rather i was thumping it etc ??

That's mostly to do with the fact that a lot of players muscle the shot too much and forget to push the cue through the white.

[nrage]

That's mostly to do with the fact that a lot of players muscle the shot too much and forget to push the cue through the white.

.. in other words they either get the shoulder involved and/or they tense their muscles, thinking this will produce power, but it actually just slows the cue down and gives it the wobbles.

[Belloz22]

.. in other words they either get the shoulder involved and/or they tense their muscles, thinking this will produce power, but it actually just slows the cue down and gives it the wobbles.

So how do I stop this??