aiming/sighting something doesnt make sense

[ewokuk]

After watching a couple of videos on youtube yesterday where the guy basically says you get the line of the shot before you get down, and if you have done this correctly then you can basically close your eyes the second your chin touches the cue, with no sighting and no feathering and pot the ball.

I have also in the past read the same sort of thing many times, you line up the shot before you even get down to play it. Now here's what has just dawned on me that does not make sense....if you must get the line of the shot perfectly before getting down, technically any form of sighting or aiming once down is then in theory a total waste of time. Likewise if sighting after getting down DOES assist getting the aim correct, then everything I have seen and read about lining up the shot BEFORE you even get down and being able to close your eyes and play the shot without any further aiming, is rubbish.

It cannot be both, either aim is actually achieved once down and during your sighting process, or it is achieved before you get down and sighting is then redundant.

Personally I suspect any claims of accurately lining up a shot before getting down are rubbish. common sense dictates you need to be more or less on the right line before getting down, but I suspect the actual finer aiming to target the pocket with the object ball is basically done when down and sighting.

I ask because I have never really bothered to attempt any kind of super accuracy when lining up before getting down, it has always just come naturally to me to get down in a position where I am basically targeting roughly the right area on the object ball and the sighting/feathering process fine tunes it to get it accurate.

[cyberheater]

Personally I suspect any claims of accurately lining up a shot before getting down are rubbish.

Really?

Check this video out.

[itsnoteasy]

All aiming is done before you get down on the shot Ewokuk. Do a search on here there should be enough stuff on aiming and sighting to keep you busy for a couple of weeks. No adjustments at all should be made once down on the shot, and I mean none.

[mrgrey]

I've heard story about one man, who can do a snooker trick. He stands on the line of aim, closes his eyes, while standing. With his eyes closed he gets down on the shot and pots long straight blue. He is 4 times world snooker champion )).

I was coached to line up before getting down on the shot. Game becames easier.

[ewokuk]

Wish I knew what he was saying, from the looks of it he seems to be suggesting the cue brushing the chest is key to keeping it straight (and I always wondered but could never quite tell from the tv pictures whether the pros actually consciously use their chest as an aid to straight cuing or whether the cue doesn't actually touch the chest at all).

However, as far as I can tell this is a dead straight shot so it requires no real aim or fine adjustments, just straight cueing which is why he's demonstrating brushing the chest as an aid to keeping it straight. He also does sight and feather it when he gets down so any adjustments are already made when he hands the cue over, he simply doesn't move after.

The reason I don't buy that EVERYTHING is done before you get down is due to the extreme accuracy that is required. The cue ball contacting the object ball 1millimetre off line would be enough to miss the pot on a decent length shot, and I don't believe it possible to just position yourself and bend over and instantly be accurate in aim to less than 1mm without a single adjustment during the sighting and feathering process.

I may be wrong but I can't get my head around simply walking into a shot and putting your bridge hand and cue on a line that is accurate to virtually microscopic levels just like that, without even the slightest of adjustments during the shot. Now I am not walking about conscious adjustments to aim and shuffling feet around!, but I still think the process of feathering and switching eyes over the balls and the pocket is helping the brain calculate the exact angle and very small subconscious adjustments to aim are made due to that without even knowing, particularly for non-straight shots.

I will see if any of the stuff on sighting and aiming can clear it up, but usually this stuff is simply about switching your eyes between the relevant things (which, if what you are saying is correct, would be TOTALLY unnecessary since you are instantly on perfect line without doing any of that after getting down).

[ewokuk]

After reading a few more posts around here about aiming I am even more convinced that aim is adjusted after getting down because again, if it isn't, none of these sighting methods are worth a bean because they are done after getting down, when supposedly you already have the perfect line.

A lot of them mention looking at the object ball when the white is hit, why? If you already have the perfect line then you may as well be looking at the barmaid on the other side of the room for all it matters, so again I suspect aim is done when down.

I am thinking you get 'the line' before getting down, which is say 95% of the aim because you need to be standing on the right line, then the sighting and looking at the object ball once down will subconsciously have you adjusting the aim that last 5% or so (if needed, on occasion you might be bang on anyway) to hit the target accurately.

[itsnoteasy]

I think you are confusing what aiming and sighting is, there are loads of threads on this, just keep trawling through. Unfortunately for you ,you are around the ten thousandth person to ask this question and I think the coaches have just got fed up answering it, but the answers you are looking for are on the site.

[Catch 22]

After reading a few more posts around here about aiming I am even more convinced that aim is adjusted after getting down because again, if it isn't, none of these sighting methods are worth a bean because they are done after getting down, when supposedly you already have the perfect line.

A lot of them mention looking at the object ball when the white is hit, why? If you already have the perfect line then you may as well be looking at the barmaid on the other side of the room for all it matters, so again I suspect aim is done when down.

I am thinking you get 'the line' before getting down, which is say 95% of the aim because you need to be standing on the right line, then the sighting and looking at the object ball once down will subconsciously have you adjusting the aim that last 5% or so (if needed, on occasion you might be bang on anyway) to hit the target accurately.

Yeah but even if you get down on the perfect line of aim , there is no guarantee you are cueing straight . Looking at the object ball when striking the white will help you push the cue through straight . Picking line of aim while standing is half the shot , the other half is stance , grip , delivery etc .

[Cmbrstefan]

aiming/sighting something doesnt make sense

aiming is done from the standing up. you ja e to see the whole table to know what is going on before you go down.

Even a sharp shooter with a rifle. he looks first where he has to shoot to on a bigger view then gets down to align the aim (otherwise he would not find it in the scope).might be a bit off the explanation I just woke up.

[cyberheater]

However, as far as I can tell this is a dead straight shot so it requires no real aim or fine adjustments, just straight cueing

Okay. I give up.

[sydneygeorge]

Cyberheater, thanks for posting this video, thought provoking stuff.

[Gnubblez]

I think your brain is already doing the adjustments for you just before you get down on the table (meaning you are already getting down on the correct line of aim). You are saying that you subconsciously make adjustments while you are feathering and stuff. It's all done subconsciously, so how do you know you are actually making these little adjustments?

Curious... If you know you are making these little adjustments... What adjustments exactly? Moving your bridge hand a bit? Shifting your elbow hence the cue a bit to the left, right, up, down... What adjustments?

And finally, what's your highest break?

[Vitikka]

Curious... If you know you are making these little adjustments... What adjustments exactly? Moving your bridge hand a bit? Shifting your elbow hence the cue a bit to the left, right, up, down... What adjustments?

Ask Selby

Many people do these micro adjustments with out any problems, maybe it's just what suits you?

[Gnubblez]

Yeah well, I thought of Selby when I was typing that up, but I'd rather not ask him anyways... Here's the thing about Selby... He moves all the time along with his cue. His cue moves, he moves.. Each stroke of his cue, he is moving. Are you saying that Selby makes micro-adjustments for every movement of his cue? I think it's just something he is used to doing...

[j6uk]

that's just the tv cameras eye efin with you. if you stood right next to him, you wouldn't notice a thing