Advice as always please :) ??

[nrage]

So how do I stop this??

It's hard to describe exactly. Your stroke should gradually accelerate from rest to the desired speed (full speed for a power shot) and push right through the white until the grip hand hits the chest - as Terry is always saying.

All of this without undue tension in the grip hand or arm, and all without using the shoulder to produce the power/acceleration. A long back swing helps, because it gives you time/space to accelerate.

It also helps to realise that you don't need to grip the cue hard to stop it flying off across the table, you can actually 'hold' the cue with very little pressure and therefore very little tension in the hand and arm.

You sort of just push the cue through and almost "let it go" where it will, stopping it only as a matter of course when the hand reaches the chest. Try imagining pushing the cue right through the white as if it's not there, try imagining that you're trying to push the cue all the way to the object ball.

All a bit vague, I know, it's hard to describe exactly.

[Belloz22]

Hey terry....... bit of an update. I tried what you mentioned and have a few questions.....

Occasionally I was still missing one of these shots off the pink/blue spot. However I cannot tell if it is me picking the wrong line or not cueing straight....... so how can I tell. The problem im having is im really struggling to image a ghost ball on the object ball to then draw a line through the center of the white. It feels like im stood up for ages working out degree level maths before I can get down and then concentrate on cueing straight. By time I get down on shot im so mentally exhausted that when I miss I feel worse about it due to the amount of time I spent teying to suss the potting line etc??

[nrage]

I try to let my unconscious mind pick the line of aim. I find the back of ball spot, and just think "hit that" as I get down on the shot. Have you tried that?

[Belloz22]

I try to let my unconscious mind pick the line of aim. I find the back of ball spot, and just think "hit that" as I get down on the shot. Have you tried that?

Yea i have - tried that for ages and found i always tended to hit shots thick. I have really tried so many different ways of finding the angles, but i feels like for me its impossible to imagine something that isnt there, and trying to image a ghost ball is nigh on impossible for me. Ive even resorted to trying to work out approximately the angle, then working out where to aim - i.e. 45 degress appox, aim half ball, just off straight, aim 3/4 ball etc.........

[nrage]

Yea i have - tried that for ages and found i always tended to hit shots thick. I have really tried so many different ways of finding the angles, but i feels like for me its impossible to imagine something that isnt there, and trying to image a ghost ball is nigh on impossible for me. Ive even resorted to trying to work out approximately the angle, then working out where to aim - i.e. 45 degress appox, aim half ball, just off straight, aim 3/4 ball etc.........

When I'm hitting them thick it's almost always because I didn't get down on the line of aim correctly, and that's because I started by standing too straight on the pot.

When you stand up behind the balls to aim what line do you stand on? Do you stand with the white lined up with the object ball dead straight? Or, do you get behind the white, pick the back of ball spot and try to stand on the line of aim (path the white needs to take)?

I find that if I'm not concentrating I line up too straight and when I get down I either have to slide onto the correct line, or I don't notice and either way the result is usually thick.

It really hit home to me when I watched Nic Barrow's head cam video. You have to pick the line of aim and get on it very deliberately, and then walk straight in and down every single time.

Does any of that sound like it might be what you're doing?

[itsnoteasy]

This line of aim still screws with my head if i let it, remember on angled shots your cue will not be on the line of the contact point of the object ball, there is an off set, and you have to judge this,otherwise you will hit shots to thick(its not any easy thing,) i have seen very very good players in our club miss pinks off the spot ,to thick, so if they can do it we all can.
Power is timing not effort, a little gripping to hard or to soon(kills my game),as has been said, slows the cue down, a little trick i do which gets me back on the straight and narrow is to play a stroke (no balls just a practice stroke)and get into my end position, relax my grip and then i know how it should feel when i play and i try to keep it this relaxed all the way through.Maybe others have their own little ways of correcting things, would be nice to hear from good players and coaches things to try to correct faults, its maybe impossible to do this without seeing you.

[Terry Davidson]

belloz:

I get a real impression that you are badly over-thinking this aiming thing and not allowing your brain to sort it out. On anything except a straight-in pot there is always an off-set between BOB (back-of-ball) and where the cue is actually aiming. This is because you are attempting to hit a precise contact point between 2 spheres. (Now that I've told you that you will likely be even more messed up I imagine as this seems to be really worrying you.)

Now here's a hard fact. Since billiards was invented there have probably been at least 100 million players giving it a go. Every last one of these players realized (consciously or unconsciously) that in order to pot any ball they must get the cueball to contact the object ball in the PLANT position.

Here is another hard fact. Barring kicks, 99.9999999 of missed pots are because the player did not deliver the cue straight and NOT BECAUSE THEY SELECTED THE WRONG LINE OF AIM! Every player who has ever picked up a cue with a little bit of experience realizes he has to hit that plant position or BOB if you like.

Another hard fact...WITH A LITTLE BIT OF EXPERIENCE YOUR BRAIN WILL AUTOMATICALLY WORK OUT THE CORRECT AIMING POINT BY KNOWING AUTOMATICALLY THE AMOUNT OF OFF-SET FOR AN ANGLED POT.

My advice to you is to work like the devil in learning how to deliver the cue straight FIRST and if you can consistently do that you will likely never even think about where to aim as it will be automatic as you're standing behind the shot.

Now there will likely be some people who disagree with my statement regarding the 99.99999 of missed pots but I can assure you it is the real truth and it is a hard fact. I recently had my grandson on my table and he had never picked up a cue and I asked him where he thought he had to hit the object ball in order to pot it. He immediately chose the plant position and then I explained to him the really difficult part (much like golf or tennis) to get a technique that would allow him to deliver the cueball to that spot on the object ball's waistline (the balls only contact one another at the waistline by the way).

My grandson was 9 years old at the time but even he automatically understood what has to happen and 100 million (at least) past and present billiard players have understood this so now you have to find out why you can't understand this principle.

IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE!

Terry

[Belloz22]

But in the same instance surely you can be cueing straight but not getting down on the right line....... for me I totally agree i prob do over complicate the potting angles etc, but this is a result of several coaches telling me I cue straight. If that is the case then surely the amount a shots I miss will logically more than likely be due to selecting the wrong angle?? Or probably the case....... not getting down on the line I have picked out??

[Terry Davidson]

belloz:

The very first thing you need to do is get yourself a video camera to use. Put the camera over the green side top pocket and the cueball dead in and on the baulkline near the yellow spot. Adjust the camera so it covers from the top of your elbow down to around 6" in front of the cueball.

Get someone to spot the blues for you and record 10 shots and play with a little power to at least do a 'stop shot' leaving the cueball within 1" of the blue spot. Now download freeware called 'Kinovea' and plug the camera in and open Kinovea and select the camera video. Use the frame-by-frame feature and watch the butt of the cue over the leather of the yellow pocket during the backswing and delivery and see if it goes either right or left on BOTH the backswing and delivery. Even 1mm of sideways movement will throw the cue off the line of aim.

Then back the video up (using reverse frame-by-frame) until you get to the point just before the cueball moves and check and see if the tip of the cue is at the exact centre of the cueball and also see if it STAYS on the line of aim for a few frames after the cueball has been struck.

This is the only way you can really tell if a player is delivering the cue straight and hitting the middle of the cueball. Some movements are so small that the naked eye cannot detect them but they are large enough to throw the cue off-line.

I suspect you are not getting down properly on your chosen line of aim since detecting the line of aim is intuitive for everyone. The correct way to do this follows:

1. Standing up behind the shot, determine your chosen line of aim and place the laces of your straight leg foot right on that line of aim (it's a good idea to put a small piece of paper on the floor right on the line of aim and directly underneath where you will grip the cue). To determine this spot set up the cueball on the yellow spot, blue on spot and lay your cue down on the cushion so the tip is against the cueball and the cue is on the line of aim then put the coin or small piece of paper directly under the grip hand.

2. Place your laces directly on top of the piece of paper and lean over and ensure your nose is pointed directly at the object ball (this will mean your head is directly on the line of aim).

3. Now bend your leg and swivel your hips to the left (if right-handed, opposite for left). You should swivel the hips to the left and back so the back is straight and as flat as possible BUT WHEN YOU ARE DOING THIS KEEP LOOKING AT THE OBJECT BALL AND KEEP THE NOSE ON THE LINE OF AIM.

4. DROP THE HEAD STRAIGHT DOWN, keeping your eyes ONLY on the object ball with the nose still pointed to the OB and get into the address position. When your bridge hand hits the table and the cue is in the address position confirm it is at the point of the cueball you want to hit. If it isn't then adjust your bridge arm ONLY...DO NOT SHIFT THE HIPS, UPPER BODY OR FEET. They must remain stationary. Confirm you are sighting correctly and agreeing with your chosen line of aim. If it doesn't look right then STAND BACK UP AND REPEAT.

5. Do your 2-3 feathers (or none if you prefer) and KEEP EVERYTHING STILL, especially the hips and head.

6. My recommendation is to lock your eyes on the object ball right after you finish the feathers and before you start your final backswing at what is called the front pause, which is the final confirmation of the sighting.

7. Backswing and deliver the cue and accelerate THROUGH AND BEYOND the cueball, driving the grip hand to the chest (for any type of power).

If you used a video camera and confirmed you always deliver the cue straight (not very likely by the way unless you are running centuries daily) and you follow the steps above you cannot fail to be on the correct line of aim. Confirm this by placing the pink on spot with the cueball about 1ft behind it (but not straight in) and pot a few slower pink and see if they go into the EXACT CENTRE of the pocket. If they do then increase the power in increments ensuring you always hit the exact centre of the pocket.

LASTLY...PRINT THIS OFF AND TAKE IT TO THE CLUB WITH YOU AND FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS ONCE YOU HAVE DONE THE VIDEO. (Rent a video camera and a tripod for a 2hr stint if you can't borrow one for free).

If you really want confirmation then copy your video to a DVD and mail it to me and I'll tell you if you are cueing straight.

Terry

[Belloz22]

Thank you for the detailed reply Terry

I'm due to go down the club tomorrow and will spend a little time working on getting down on the correct line of aim with the tips you have given me.

I will definetly have to invest in some kind of recording equiptment, but this is percisely the reason i went to see a coach - and this is where the fustrations lies - all of the coaches have told me i cue relatively straight and could not really adjust my technique much to fix anything. So why is this something that has never been picked up via 3 different coaches ?

[armstm]

Thank you for the detailed reply Terry

I'm due to go down the club tomorrow and will spend a little time working on getting down on the correct line of aim with the tips you have given me.

I will definetly have to invest in some kind of recording equiptment, but this is percisely the reason i went to see a coach - and this is where the fustrations lies - all of the coaches have told me i cue relatively straight and could not really adjust my technique much to fix anything. So why is this something that has never been picked up via 3 different coaches ?

i think terry is right for most top players, a miss is due to not cueing correctly, however i feel for most 50 break players or below it is selecting the line of aim and staying on it. if you look at nic barrows videos, he draws a line of aim and then u see players head moving left and right - in and out of the line of the aim as they get down. this has nothing to do with straight cueing.

one thing that's helped me dramatically is to imagine a line of aim. sometimes you stare at the pot (e.g. a cut back black) and sometimes you just can't see, however persevere, try to stand a little bit further back or move your head slightly from side to side and usually a line of aim suddenly seems to appear.

sometimes it doesn't and it feels like you are guessing.

however the more you do this - really try to see the line - the more you are getting aligned correctly.

my suggestion would be to practice blacks and pinks from all angles and try to see the line. gradually you'll start to get this line automatically and ur consistency will improve.

by the way, cueing errors you can usually feel, you haven't hit it right. this is the brain trying to compensate. this also happens to me but its rarer than simply not being aligned correctly and knowing you are only guessing about where to hit the object ball.

[armstm]

the other benefit of really imagining a line of aim is that it takes care of the point terry makes about dropping ur head down in a straight line. because you're looking at the line, it's difficult for ur head to not drop down straight.

[nrage]

Belloz22, you might also want to try this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tdn2ZJK7_g

[Terry Davidson]

belloz:

The whole idea of using the camera is just to CONFIRM you are cueing straight. I can't speak for other coaches but I do know it's very difficult to detect a cueing error with the naked eye but the camera shows it right away. Using Kinovea in frame-by-frame give you a picture every 1/30th of a second and you can easily see where the cue is lined up on the cueball and whether it goes sideways from the start of the backswing to the delivery and beyond the delivery. The good thing is though that there are not a lot of players who have their cues going through exactly straight AFTER hitting the cueball and right to the end of the delivery. In my experience most right-handed players you can see the tip moving to the left of the line of aim after they hit the cueball. If this happens say around 3" after the cueball starts to move then there's no problem and it doesn't effect the shot.

Where it is visible before the strike of the cueball is the butt of the cue over the leather of the yellow pocket. In frame-by-frame you can very easily see if the cue wanders at all to the right or left. You can also easily get a shot of the cue tip actually hitting the cueball at the exact time of strike and whether that tip is in the centre of the cueball.

Once you have recorded yourself and have using Kinovea confirmed you always cue straight (I find this very hard to believe) then you should work on getting the line of aim. Getting down while keeping your nose on the object ball is good advice and will ensure you get down straight. If your head comes in from the left (very common) then you are just guessing at the line of aim when you're sighting. Even better if you can imagine a ghost cueball in the plant position on the object ball and point your nose at the centre of that imaginary cueball and keep the nose there while assuming the address position.

Terry

[j6uk]

For me the so called line of aim begins and ends with the feet