Lighting and sighting pots

[sprogbasket]

I have been playing for a number of years but have only recently become aware of the fact that my performance is quite dramatically affected by the quality of the lighting on the table.

The snooker room at my local club has been given a complete overhaul including the lightng above the tables which is now bright and clear without any shadows or dark areas.

I have been practising and could not miss a ball - my confidence was sky high.


I then played myfirst away match at a venue with less good lighting and I found that I lost the potting angle as I adopted my stance. ie Standing up I could see the line of the pot but as I lowered into stance the potting angle dissappeared as the object ball fell into shadow - I could not see the edge of the object ball because of darknes.

Now other players did not seem to be so affected by this issue.

I half rectified the problem by changing my stance to an "old timers" and not going down so far into my "proper stance" this minimised the ffect of shadow.

It raises a couple of points -

1.Do I need glasses ?

When I sight pots I draw an imaginary line back from the centre of the pocket through the centre of object ball and aim for this point - it works for me.....however I hear pros talking about half ball this, quarter ball that, full ball other.

2. So my second question is this - am I sighting incorrectly...I am confused because on a table with good lighting my way does seem to work.

It may just be a question of age.

Sorry to go on a bit but answes on a postcode very much appreciated.

Tony.

[nrage]

I aim pots the same way you do, and I think it is a good method to use.

I think it's now a commonly used method. Neil Selman, a professional coach (and one time pro player) uses the same method, see..
http://www.youtube.com/user/neilmaxm...27/KjCnZSVjBrw

In this video (or an earlier one) he even hints that a top pro mentioned that he also uses the same method.


That said, I have also has similar trouble 'loosing' the spot, some nights even before I get down on the shot. I think the key factor may be the amount of shadow on the ball, or more specifically what that causes me to do wrong when I aim.

I think that when the ball is clearly lit it's easier to see the height of the middle of the ball, this is important because the 'spot' used for aiming should be on this midline and not to above or below it. After all, the contact point between the balls will be on the midline unless you jump the white.

I think when there is more shadow, I start aiming (unconsciously) with a spot above the midline, and that's where the trouble starts. When I do this, I start hitting them 'thick' because the ball is narrower above the midline. Then, I start to compensate (again unconsciously) and hit them thin. After enough bad pots my confidence has sunk and I cannot trust my aim, and I start to adjust while down on the shot, and from there it all goes to pot (pun intended).


Some pros, Steve Davis in particular on his blog:
http://www.myspace.com/stevedavissnooker/blog/529887886

Talks about 'covering' the object ball with the white as he aims, this is the 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 ball method, as these refer to the amount of ball covered by the white.

Of these, 1/2 ball is particularly useful because you have a definite point on the line of aim (the line the cue sits on, the path of the white ball) which is the edge of the object ball.

The line of aim for 3/4 passes through the object ball 1/2 way between the edge and centre. But for 1/4 ball, it passes outside the object ball, by 1/4 the width of a ball.

I tried for a while to use these guidelines adjusting for cases which are thicker and thinner but I just couldn't get on with it. I think I would need to practice with it a lot more to get to the level I currently have with the spot on the ball method.

[sprogbasket]

Thanks Nrage,

Very informative and much apreciated.

I wonder if those who use the ghost ball method of sighting ie quarter ball pot , half ball pot etc encounter the same problems with shadows.


I suspect they wont be as severley affected as it is rare to have a whole object ball in shadow. It seems easier to aim to superimpose the cue ball onto an area of an object ball in partial shadow than to hit a specific point of an object ball that is in shadow.

I do know some of my fellow players did not seem to be affected in the same way by the lighting as I did.,,,perhaps this is why.


regards Sprogbasket

[nrage]

Ultimately we're all doing the same thing, just in different ways with different levels of conscious effort for each part.

If you think about whats actually happening when you and I 'try to hit a spot' we are consciously finding the spot but sub consciously letting the brain determine the line of aim in order to hit that spot.

To do that the brain has to calculate the position of the ghost ball, or the overlap (3/4, 1/2, etc) required to hit the spot and that gives it the line of aim. This is quite a complex task which we just 'do', much like catching a ball.

In the ghost ball method the player is doing more of that consciously, they estimate the coverage required to produce the angle need, or perhaps to hit a 'spot' I am not sure.

When I tried to use it, I could not get away from using the spot as it was too deeply ingrained. The only time I managed to pot without thinking about the spot was to set up a 1/2 ball black off the spot and just concentrate on line of aim to edge of object ball, and nothing else.

So, if you could recognise a 1/2 ball 'in the wild' so to speak, and then learn how to modify the line of aim to produce specific angle adjustments I guess you could pot without the spot or ghost ball at all. I'm not sure if that's what Steve Davis talks about doing, or if he has a ghost ball or spot in there somewhere.


I like the spot method because it's simple, you just concentrate on the spot and nothing else, and you let the brain do the heavy lifting. It feels more 'natural' to me and less mechanical.

To improve you then need to pot a lot of balls, and refine the brain's ability to find the line of aim. To do effectively you need to first reduce errors due to bad cueing and to give the brain feedback. To do that you stay down on a pot until the object ball drops or misses. This should give it both positive feedback when it goes in, and negative feedback when it misses.

Another thing I think is important is to listen to your 'gut' feeling, if/when you get down on a pot and the angle doesn't feel 'right' this is the brain telling you something is wrong with the picture it's seeing. Stand up, take a 2nd look at it, and get back down. If it still doesn't feel right resist the urge to correct mid-stroke, simply play the pot as if you're 100% happy with it, and stay down and learn from it.

I believe this is what Mark Williams was doing in the Uk Champs when he was missing long pots, he kept taking them on, as in his words they were the 'correct shot to play', and he played them as if he was 100% certain of them, and you could see him trying to analyze the result afterwards.

[Terry Davidson]

Only one point to make here regarding the lighting or lack of it.

If the lighting is good enough that you can determine the correct line of aim while standing behind the shot then there is absolutely no problem except for one thing.

That is, if you determine the correct line of aim standing behind the shot and DROP YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT DOWN then there is no problem as long as you don't question yourself and 'micro-adjust' when you are down.

Think about this. If you are getting down on the shot correctly and then CLOSE YOUR EYES and play the shot then you will pot that shot over 70% of the time AS LONG AS YOU DON'T MOVE THE BODY AT ALL.

Although good lighting helps it is not as vital as you seem to think it is because you should be able to pot balls with your eyes closed anyway.

Terry

[stephenm2682]

so does that count out the look at object ball last theory then as it doesn't matter where you look?

[nrage]

so does that count out the look at object ball last theory then as it doesn't matter where you look?

.. no, because the other theory is that your hands follow your eyes. So, if you look left, the hands un consciously try and steer the cue ball left.

If you close your eyes, now that's slightly different and means you're not guiding the hands at all.

[sprogbasket]

Use the Force Luke , use the Force !

Unfortunately I am not a Jedi knight yet.

I appreciate what has been said but it is still quite disconcerting when, after years of conditoning to aim at a particular point on the object ball , I have to play "blind" and trust my stance and cue action without recourse to my sight.

Regards Sprogbasket