I'm no coach but....

[vmax4steve]

For me there are many things that can stop you cueing straight, eyes off the object ball is just one of them.
Feet, head, chest, grip ,bridge,tension, movement, shoulder , elbow, ballance,alignment to list just a few that can make you cue across the White, if any one of these are wrong you are making it hard for yourself, whether you look at the contact point or not.

Feet are wrong because you haven't looked at the contact point on the object ball before and/or during placing them, head is wrong because feet are wrong, chest is wrong because feet and head are wrong, you're feeling that tension because the shot looks wrong, that movement of shoulder, elbow, feeling off balance is because your aligment is wrong because you haven't looked.

Not saying it's definitely the case every single time, you can do everything correctly and twitch on the delivery stroke when the pressure gets to you, but what happens when you twitch like that ?

j6 says if only it was as easy as hand follows the eye, of course it isn't, and a straight cue action that only moves between three and twelve inches can be achieved on the kitchen table, getting that straight action on the correct line and keeping it there most certainly isn't easy, and to do both you have to look at the correct target at the correct time.

[cally]

That's assuming the player never looked at the contact point at all. There's a difference in looking at it on getting down on the shot and looking at it whilst down. If you look at it and drop into position and you're technique is fine then you'll be on line whether you look at the ob whilst down or not. You may not hit the ball precisely where you wanted if you take eyes off the ob but that's a different thing to cueing straight...

[C-J]

As many others,I have struggled with this problem for a long time.4max4steve is right in everything,but although sounds easy, it is very,very difficult to truly come to this understanding.Most important is to cue along your eyeline.If this doesn't feel good,you haven't looked at the right spot in the first place or you are trying to compensate while down on the shot.This wil cause different feelings in the hand -eye coördination and or cause tension.To get this proces right and smooth takes a very long time and a lot of discipline.

[pottr]

I'm no coach but....

You should know if you're on the line of aim before you start cueing.

If you don't then snooker's not the game for you

[itsnoteasy]

You should know if you're on the line of aim before you start cueing.

If you don't then snooker's not the game for you

This is true Pottr, but I , like Cally thought we were talking about flicking your eyes off the object ball once down, and for me I have realised its not the be all and end all of missing a pot.

[cally]

I have a little trouble taking my eye of the ball. Gawd knows where I'm looking when I do this, but When I get it right and fix eyes at the right time my potting accuracy is much better....