Reasons for missing a ball

[CRiZZ76]

Hi there,

missing a pot can have several reasons, but giving the correct stance and grip and straight cueing, there are 2 reasons, that I can think of:

- Looking at the right spot to hit the object ball, but not hitting it (wether you use an imaginary ghostball or drawng the imaginary line etc)

I experience this a lot with long pots and perfectly straight shots with a distance between CB, OB and the pocket.
Not only on a real table, but also on Virtual Pool 3/4 with ghostball aid or without.
So not cueing straight is maybe not the only reason, since on the computer any shot is played perfectly straight, so you only have to aim.

I know you can not compare real situations to a simulator, but the sighting is still pretty similar at some points.

So maybe the problem lies in not seeing the line from the Cueball to the desired hitting point on the object ball. Any tips on how to improve with this? (Practice routine etc)

- Hitting the spot you picked out, but it was the wrong spot

This happens mostly with awkward potting angles, i.e. black from the spot with the cueball near either of the black pockets.
I haven't figured out, how to determine the right spot on those type of shots, even though I would pot 2 or 3 of 10 with this.
I walk around to see the direct line from the OB to the pocket and pick out the spot, then walk behind the cueball, always eyes on the OB, but now of course it looks completely different. Any advice would help me.

I also wonder which of these 2 Reasons apply (mostly) for Professionals missing a pot?

Thanks

[SouthPaw]

Edited: Should really read posts before i type

I'd say for professionals it's more likely a case of taking their eye of the pot, whether that be concentrating too much on a cannon or perfect position. I'd say regarding long pots it's more mental(in your head related) if you have a very straight cue action...

[throtts]

My 3 for pros and club players.

1, There line due to a poor aiming stage. For pros it is so rigid and unmovable during the sighting. That's why you see them get off a shot now and again to simply re-line.

2, Cueing across the cue ball, pros do it too sometimes.

3, Upper body / head movement.

[Terry Davidson]

Agree with throtts here...the main reasons for pros missing relatively easy shots that they would normally get are:

1. Some upper body movement during either the backswing or delivery (remember the hips are part of the upper body and any lateral movement in the hips will cause the cue to go off-line.

2. Normally referred by the commentators as 'taking their eye off the ball' and this refers to attempting to get just the right cannon or cueball angle for position and watching the cueball instead of locking on the object ball during delivery.

3. Very rarely you will notice a pro adjust himself while down on the shot and this usually occurs with a cut-back black pot where the pocket is not visible when the player is down and they will adjust a bit while down on the shot instead of trusting the potting angle they selected when standing behind the shot. This normally always leads to over-cutting the black and catching the near jaw.

Terry