Does Anyone Have Problems With Aiming, Sighting, & Potting?

[Nic Barrow]

You must have been to the same seminar with me when that woman was on the stage!

I have tried to keep it as simple as possible, but in a way which aligns a players eyes with the correct potting angles - allowing cueing to be straight.

At the moment, if a player is not aligned and aimed perfectly, the only way they can pot is to cue the ball badly

[Nic Barrow]

Yes Byrom Black
I would say 80% of pots with below 30 break players are missed because of cueing mistakes or thinking about the cue ball (because they don't know where it should go, how to get it there, or what height and speed to play it).
Aiming is actually the easier part in all this, but equally the alignment and aiming does need to be accurate, otherwise you have to cue badly to pot the ball!

[wootton05]

Aiming with side....

I find it much easier to judge the shot when playing running side as opposed to playing check side.

Is this normal? When using side I have always thought it was trial and error playing the shot reguarly to try and learn the throw on the cue ball; are there any better techniques for learning to play side or is it lots of practice and lots of trial and error?

[Shockerz]

Agreed that practice is always going to be most of it.
But what if the gadget can save dozens or hundreds of hours of practice in one area so that we can focus on something else.
Or solve an issue in minutes that the player would never solve in a lifetime.
Of course, I am not PROMISING that mine will do that BUT...

Yeah, not discounting your method/gadget at all Nic as I haven't used it and I have an open mind myself so it may work fantastically and I would certainly be interested if it helped me.

Who's to say that over the years we haven't unlearned the babies from what they did instinctively. Why do they need to learn to walk when we do most things for them.

Put a remote control, a take away, a big bag of donuts and some bear on the table next to my sofa and if my missus is out for the weekend I lose total control of my legs for huge amounts of time.........maybe I'm a big baby, oh, that rings a bell somewhere.

A dog is the cleverest animal in the world, works for 5 minutes a day, says hello and goodbye and you love it to bits as it goes back to the living room and a coma until tea time, why are babies so different.

Wow, where did all that come from.

Anyway, I think we can all have theory's on how we all learn, rates of learning and what triggers learning and each individual is different. Fundamentally there are similarities but there is always the risk of taking those naturally talented individuals to a place of paralysis through analysis.

As a coach (and well regarded), it must be difficult to spot natural talent and channel it without taking away what is natural.

[tetricky]

Aiming with side....

I find it much easier to judge the shot when playing running side as opposed to playing check side.

Is this normal? When using side I have always thought it was trial and error playing the shot reguarly to try and learn the throw on the cue ball; are there any better techniques for learning to play side or is it lots of practice and lots of trial and error?

I find the same. I have formed a view that running side sends the ball on an arc that 'smears across' the object ball such that there is more contact area that meets the potting angle, whereas on check side the arc of approach to the object ball is reversed with the point of intersection being directly on to the object ball (rather than a more glancing blow) and thus the point of contact a bit more critical (and needing to be more accurately cued - not just in terms of aim, but also in controlling the arc). I could draw diagrams. I'd be interested to hear what better players have to say.

I think it's practice, and trial and error, and trying to make your shot selection so that you minimise the need for significant check side.

[wootton05]

Yes thats what i mean; i rarely need to play a shot with check side but it is probably the most uncomfortable shot for me.... the only time i am truely confident is playing a straight shot and i just need a touch of check side to get the cb up the table.

[tetricky]

Apologies if this is idiotically simple, and blindingly obvious to most people, but it's something that I have only recently come to appreciate and is how I am now trying to remodel my game.

Previously I would look only one shot ahead, and try to put the cue ball as close to where I ideally wanted it. So I might play a half cut red into the corner with check side to get more directly behind the black, making the pot a lot harder, and meaning I missed. A lot. Now I'm looking a couple of shots ahead. Play the half ball red plain ball, and leave more of a cut on the black. Trickier, but a higher percentage of making those two shots, than the previous two shots i would have attempted.

As i say, blindingly obvious to most people, but something that I've only recently realised. It's what I mean when I say shot selection to avoid playing too much check side.

[Terry Davidson]

Nic...as I mentioned it's a bit of a hornet's nest and you have even forgot to mention your thought on 'dominant eye' which will make it worse I think.

For those of you reading this, especially alibadi...I have had cataract lense replacement on both my eyes and the surgeon did not listen to me and keep my right eye as the stronger as I know it was my 'preferred' aiming eye. So now without contacts my visual acuity is 20/20 left eye and 20/50 right eye, so left for distance like driving and right eye for close like reading.

After working a long time on my aiming and sighting technique I have discovered I now sight (in the address position) with my left eye but I keep the cue on centre-chin and turn my head slightly to the right but not a lot, my nose points perhaps 20* to the right. I am still not certain whether this is for actual accurate (or more accurate) sighting or if it's just a comfort thing, taking the strain off the lower neck.

Remember, I've always said COMFORT is the most important thing in a player's set-up.

[Nic Barrow]

It is a balancing act about letting the talent flow unbridled (too much) / or (over) instructing.
I have misjudged in both directions before.
And whilst not perfect in pitching my approach to players (as no pro can pot every long blue they go for), I have a lot more precision at it than I did say ten years ago.

[Shockerz]

You must have been to the same seminar with me when that woman was on the stage!

I have tried to keep it as simple as possible, but in a way which aligns a players eyes with the correct potting angles - allowing cueing to be straight.

At the moment, if a player is not aligned and aimed perfectly, the only way they can pot is to cue the ball badly

Do you believe that doing two things wrong may even straighten the problem up and may still be within the margin of error on a 12ft table.

A strong grip and an open stance (not aiming perfectly) in golf can still allow you to hit the ball down the middle of a fairway but, as soon as you correct one you will dramatically reduce results.

I'm always fearful that some stances maybe the bodies way of compensating for the sighting issue we keep coming back to (dominent eye or centre); would a change of stance look right but then confuse the sighting if the dominant eye theory is utilised within the brain.

I guess the answer would always be with the majority of experiences a coach has as this would be be the majority of successes and improvements, not too sure of it is a complete fix for all.

Still open at the moment thought (although it doesn't sound like it).

[Nic Barrow]

You can't put check side on a straight shot!

[wootton05]

I mean just playing a touch of bottom right to go left off the cushion.... but thanks for trying to pick fault in my comment instead of taking that time instead to answer my question and help as you said you would in the post.

[Terry Davidson]

Just another observation on moving the cue to be underneath the 'dominant' eye as a lot of players on here have done. I have always held the suspicion (similar to Shockerz) that in some cases when the player moves the cue he is actually assuming a better overall physical alignment (nothing to do with the eyes) and therefore start to deliver the cue more consistently straight.

Of course, there is no way to tell this positively except with posting videos or else one-on-one coaching as the adjustment may be very minor.

The other thing I've found is even with a new player once I explain where they have to hit the object ball in order to pot it (although some needed no explanation) they will automatically know the correct potting angle and the difficulty becomes delivering the cue straight. This is why I insist that 99% of missed pots are due to inconsistent cueing.

[Nic Barrow]

Very good point.
The whole point of this product is to eliminate doubt in a player regarding their eye alignment/vision centre, head position, and there is a little bit that I will include on how to set the technique up to support that ideal head/camera position.
Interestingly, I worked with a right handed player last week who had never found his vision centre in his life.
We tried all sorts of head positions, including using the three main types of head movement used to find one's vision centre but no joy.
So intuitively I said: 'Just get down left handed and see if you can see the shot.'... PERFECT!
So he then kept that head position, but we organised a stance that allowed him to keep that head position, allowing him to aim correctly.

[Shockerz]

Just another observation on moving the cue to be underneath the 'dominant' eye as a lot of players on here have done. I have always held the suspicion (similar to Shockerz) that in some cases when the player moves the cue he is actually assuming a better overall physical alignment (nothing to do with the eyes) and therefore start to deliver the cue more consistently straight.

Of course, there is no way to tell this positively except with posting videos or else one-on-one coaching as the adjustment may be very minor.

The other thing I've found is even with a new player once I explain where they have to hit the object ball in order to pot it (although some needed no explanation) they will automatically know the correct potting angle and the difficulty becomes delivering the cue straight. This is why I insist that 99% of missed pots are due to inconsistent cueing.

Don't you just love this game!

When I first saw a coach (and I think he's great and has certainly helped me) one of the observations which I'm sure drove him mad was this:

I feather the cue 3 times and then strike the cue ball. The first three are normally completely off line (across the line) and then I pause and bring the cue through straight as I pot the ball.

So, do I naturally know where to strike the ball and the first three are just going through the motions prior to me doing what instinct is?

I would have to say with that description that my stance, aiming or sighting must be incorrect but then I focus on the prize and something takes over.

One things that drives me nuts is that every now and again my form goes a little as I'm sure most people does; at that point I put the cue right under my dominant eye and I can put them of the lampshades. So I hear you say, just leave it there. I've done that and come back another day and it doesn't work until I return it to my chin, what has changed?

I know of one player who when he has a dip in form comes in and plays left handed only for a couple of frames. When I asked him why he said that when he then puts it back in his right hand it feels so good he feels uplifted by it and can't help but pot.