What % goes to aiming and sighting

[throtts]

to execute successful pots . Lets just say we are all cueing dead straight and share it between aiming and sighting.

This afternoon I was practicing on the black giving a very large percentage of pot trust on aiming and minimal on the sighting, along with playing the shots quick. This was after and at the end of nearly 3 hr practice. Result, I potted 10 out of 10 blacks on the trot and then packed up ( mrs yelling dinners ready ). I put more trust than I normally do on my aiming just to experiment, along with the up tempo play. For me I normally split it 50 50 but after that I think that's wrong, it tells me that I may dwindle too long on the sighting stage, yes guys, I know I need more play to be sure.

Not so sure our vmax will agree with the above due to fixation on the bob, which I agree with but I only did it for a very brief period ..

So what's your percentage between the two of them guys, or what should it be. ( Terry and Chrissmall ? ).

( also did the downward pressure of the cue via the chest and chin, results were surprising there too, later on that ).

[Terry Davidson]

throtts:

I've never really thought about the length of time spent aiming and sighting and how they compare to one another. In thinking about it I don't stand very long behind the shot aiming, perhaps 2-3 seconds. Then I get down into the address position, stop the cue at the cueball for about 1-2 seconds to check everything out, feather 2-3 times (duration perhaps 3 seconds) and then stop the cue at the front pause for about 1 second.

So the results are 3 seconds aiming and a total of 6 seconds for all of what takes place in the address position. BUT, the actual sighting on the front pause is only about 1 second or so and that is when I lock my eyes on the object ball.

Terry

[chrissmall147]

i don't go by percentages but what i can say is you have to take your time with the aiming if you are a beginner or even a good club player. Remember that u pot the ball from the standing position because if this is wrong you will not pot the ball. Every player should approach the shot and find correct line of aim. Secondly you should visualise the shot going into the pocket and visualise where you want your cue ball to finish and then you have to work out height and power on the cue ball to get your white where you want it to go. When you sight the balls during cue actions that is you just getting a feel for the shot you are about to play and all your aiming has been done at this point. So this is how i played the game to a high level and won a world ranking event and this is the way i teach my clients aswell. if i was to put a percentage on it i would say 80% aiming and 20% sighting. You do however have to get your eye movements correct to suit your cueing actions and decide at which point you lock the eyes to the object ball which is very important for timing in my opinion. so ye throtts you are correct to spend more time on the aiming side of the shot so well done.

cheers chris small

[throtts]

Thanks, Terry and Chris,,,

Wow, 80 to 20, very interesting approximation, big difference there. My thinking as well was the longer you are on the stick the more chance there is of movement and possible negativity..

Thanks again, guys..

[vmax4steve]

Not so sure our vmax will agree with the above due to fixation on the bob, which I agree with but I only did it for a very brief period ..

Actually throtts I do agree, the focus on BOB at the moment of the strike is only a split second for me, to try to focus for longer means I take my eye of it and it wanders elsewhere, probably the pocket.
I do feel that it's very important though to focus on BOB when standing behind the shot before getting down into the stance.
This I believe puts BOB into the short term memory so that after focussing on the cue ball at the front pause you don't need to search for it again, you remember where it is and it's easier to find and as soon as you focus on it again you can play the shot without delay.

[Terry Davidson]

This is also the same reason most coaches say 2 feathers ideally and only 3 maximum and it's because with a multiple feathering routine of say 5 or 6 you're giving your body and your eyes more opportunity to move.

From the other end, there are players who don't feather at all or some (Marco Fu springs to mind) who only do a couple of really short feathers before the backswing. What is amazing to me is a lot of these players who don't feather pot an amazing number of long balls but they always use really high power. When it comes to a lower power long ball they don't do so well.

I have yet to figure out why this is so.

Terry

[throtts]

Terry,

I have toyed with no feathers and seem to work for me, specially when warmed up and in the zone. At the moment I have 3 very small feathers. However, this is my problem, I cant make my bloody mind up what to stick with which is bad I know. When I am hitting the cue ball well I can screw and stun the cue ball to all positions on my table, like a power screw from a straight black off its spot to get on yellow for example. I just need to stick with one and feel it will be the 3 small feather job.

I think my question about the percentages between aiming and of sighting is a good one though. Chris's approximation of 80 aiming and 20 sighting is a big teller imo. How often do you see that reversed down the club or with a beginner, quite often I say.

[itsnoteasy]

I thought it was nearly all aiming, sighting is only to check my aiming is correct, think of it the other way if you got down any old way (bit exaggerated )wouldn't mater how much sighting you did from that point you would probably miss, but if you aim correctly get down bang on line, you can then shut your eyes and make the pot.

[chrissmall147]

hi terry,

just been thinking about your post. I could never teach someone to not feather as i do not believe in it. This is my conclusion on the subject of no feathers with long pots with power and with lower power. Imo it's a bit easier to play full power for players who don't feather as you know exactly how the delivery is going to be, ie full throttle if need be, but as soon as someone who doesn't feather has to play lower power or say more delicate shots, how can the brain tell the arm what to do, it can't so the arm in my opinion doesn't know what it's about to do. So say they play a shot and it should be power 5 they land up playing power 4 and they have a good chance of decellerating aswell and if played with a touch of side that cue ball is not going to the intended target. If you feather like you are supposed to then you are getting a feel for the shot whether it is power or lower power and your arm knows exactly what it's meant to be doing. I strongly believe in this and often wonder how players that don't feather can get a feel for certain shots especially when it is not power shots, i certainly could never have played the game this way. I would like to know your thoughts on this Terry.

cheers chris small

[chrissmall147]

it is all aiming mate and ive changed my percentages from last night. I would have been 90% aiming and 10% sighting. sighting is just to confirm you are aimed up correctly and that you are striking the correct part of the cue ball and obviously making sure you are looking at bob when delivering the cue.

cheers chris small

[DeanH]

Hi Chris
I only have one little feather just as I address the cue ball with the tip, then I don't have anymore to the time of the pull back. It could be called a long front pause
It has only been the last couple of years that I have been doing it this way, before I did feather probably too much but I have a tremmer in my elbow that got worse with the feathers that really put off my cue delivery. So over the previous years I tried various permutations and ended with practically none. Which works for me
Soft shots, I have not found any detriment to this type of shots. As well as snooker, I play in a pool league (UK 8ball) and do soft shoots without any problem. Fyi I use the short pull back for soft and long pull back for power method (from Wayne G three years ago).

[chrissmall147]

hi dean,

if you have a tremor in your elbow then i would keep it the same mate if you feel like it keeps you steadier on the shot. Or you could try 3 0r 4 short feathers to try and get the feel for the shot a bit more. Try it and see how you get on and if there is still a tremor then just stick to what you are doing. Yes shorter backswing for non power shots and medium to full power i recommend longer backswing so as you can create the power you want to play. All the best pal.

cheers chris small

[DeanH]

Hi Chris - thanks for the reply
After I wrote that post I did remember that I do find myself doing some feathers but usually after a "few" shandies
"Tremors" not "tremmer"

[throtts]

it is all aiming mate and ive changed my percentages from last night. I would have been 90% aiming and 10% sighting. sighting is just to confirm you are aimed up correctly and that you are striking the correct part of the cue ball and obviously making sure you are looking at bob when delivering the cue.

cheers chris small

haha, thanks, Chris..

I have toyed with no feathers at the 6 month stage of taking snooker serious with my Star and was around a 50 to 60 high break standard player, which for the amount of time in practice ( 6 month ) I thought was okay. So what did I like about it, well, I think it helped me keep my upper body and head still, encouraged fixation of the BOB on the OB and if I think now, it was also helping me hit from the elbow and not the shoulder. At the mo though I have a few small feathers. I stopped the no feathers because I was not happy with my push through of the white on certain shots. Have not ruled it out in terms of trying it again but I must stop the swapping about of techniques. We shall see..

Chris, this downward pressure of the cue ( J Trump ) is it to maximize and further promote straightness of the cueing.