importance of dominant eye

[pottr]

I've still got way too much of my reptilian brain ruling me

[tomwalker147]

Oh Jack i'm sure you told me that when breaking off you divide the last red into 8ths before playing the shot?!

[pottr]

Damn, you've rumbled me... My outrage was too clear an attempt to cover my tracks and keep the SYSTEM all to myself

[tomwalker147]

Damn, you've rumbled me... My outrage was too clear an attempt to cover my tracks and keep the SYSTEM all to myself

At least everytime we lose a frame this year we can just blame the system and not our flawed techniques

[Terry Davidson]

my eyes are on object ball when i deliver, but its so quick that i dont spend more than 0.5 seconds looking at the object ball

while i feature i look at every thing, but as i slowly bring the cue back, i keep looking at the cueball, and in the slight backpause i look at object ball but also an indirect look at the pocket then i deliver the cue.

Damn...no wonder you're having problems. PJ Nolan, a very respected coach in Ireland , says he tells his students when they are finished feathering to stop the cue at the cueball (address position) and lock their eyes on the object and then do the final backswing. Some coaches recommend doing it at or near the final pause at the end of the backswing, either before, during or slightly after. It sounds to me you are doing it once you start delivering which is too short a time to focus properly on the object ball, never mind the looking at the pocket bit. Lock the eyes on the object ball and keep the upper body absolutely still.

On the fractions of object ball thing, I think Steve Davis used this in a coaching book or video years ago however if you poll a whole bunch of really good players they will tell you they rely on their experience to determine the potting angle. I think it's very hard to determine let's say a 1/4-ball cut because it could be a fraction of either side of that and on a longer pot to a closed pocket you will likely miss. If someone says they recognize ALL the angles on every type of pot on the table you should maybe take that with a grain of salt.

I am not really sure which method I use but I think it's some form of ghost ball which was the method I used when I was learning on a pool table (club had only 2 snooker tables and a beginner wasn't allowed to play on them). Nowadays I think I just rely on my experience and I know as long as I stay still I will make the pot or at least rattle it.

One other point which potter and tom have said but it bears repeating. You shouldn't be getting down on a shot and dividing the object ball into sections. You should just pick a spot where you want the cueball to end up and in practice if you miss set the shot up again and try it until you are successful. This game takes major amounts of practice and every good player has put in his practice time (maybe except pottr who might be naturally gifted and never practices).

[pottr]

On the fractions of object ball thing, I think Steve Davis used this in a coaching book or video years ago however if you poll a whole bunch of really good players they will tell you they rely on their experience to determine the potting angle. I think it's very hard to determine let's say a 1/4-ball cut because it could be a fraction of either side of that and on a longer pot to a closed pocket you will likely miss. If someone says they recognize ALL the angles on every type of pot on the table you should maybe take that with a grain of salt.

Yeah, polite way of saying they're talking absolute bollocks

This game takes major amounts of practice and every good player has put in his practice time (maybe except pottr who might be naturally gifted and never practices).

Whilst it is true I don't practice anymore and for some reason my technique still holds up... I can assure you it took a hell of a lot of practice to get this natural.

[tomwalker147]

I'm actually unaware of which is my dominant eye? Is there anybody else who actually hasn't given it any thought before?

[markz]

I'm actually unaware of which is my dominant eye? Is there anybody else who actually hasn't given it any thought before?

That's the one you watch your pint with lol

[Little Reggie]

hello

i have a question regarding dominant eye and its importance!

okey!
today i pot 100 straight blacks off its spot ( straight shot ) and cue ball distance 10 inches. i played 100 shots while the black pocket was towards my right side of body and i got 99 out of 100 pots.

i tried from the other side of the table, same distance black off its spot. now from this side of the table the pocket was towards my left side. i got 85 out of 100 pots.

little information about where i cue, and dominant eye :
i am right handed player, i cue in the center of the chin, and i am right eye dominant but i never use my dominant eye, i just know that my right eye is dominant.

NOW:
i asked a friend of mine just becaz i wanted to know the theory behind this.
my friend is right handed player, got his left eye dominant . but he missed when the pocket is towards his left and he pots better when the pocket is towards his right

CONCLUSION:
after thinking ... i realized maybe , maybe becaz the right eye is closer to right pocket we get it, and if its dominant it makes it favorite , and thats why i missed few pots when the pocket was to the left of my body, which shows that my left eye which is not my dominant is closer to that pocket


i would like to know the theory behind this. ofcourse if the pocket is to one's right side of body , then its closer to right eye. and the pocket will be closer to the left eye if the pocket is to the left side of one's body.
but the difference is that which eye is the dominant eye


now i thought of few questions in relation to this problem?

if you favor the right side pocket since you are right eye dominant. should one be lining up with right eye?
and if you miss pots when the pocket is to the left side of the body, and ofcourse you are right eye dominate, would you line up with left eye or right eye


sorry guys, it might be confusing but i just wanted to see how others think about this problem theoretically

If you are R eye dominant, you do use your R eye, you have no conscious choice over the matter. Whether that R eye is over the cue or to the L or R of the cue, such that your brain consistently compensates for the 'eye to cue separation' matters not because you are using your R eye. You can train your brain to use the left eye with patching and by placing your cue way to the left of chin, helping your optic brain to use left eye information. Trust me, I did this, ala Ronnie and it was very interesting in terms of cueing and potting. It takes a lot of time however, so it is something not to be trifled with. Long potting and power definitely improved and the most accurate/powerful pros use opposite hand to eye; they cue 'inside' the chin in general. Ronnie, Judd, Robbo to name a few.

[highestbreak50]

Damn...no wonder you're having problems. PJ Nolan, a very respected coach in Ireland , says he tells his students when they are finished feathering to stop the cue at the cueball (address position) and lock their eyes on the object and then do the final backswing. Some coaches recommend doing it at or near the final pause at the end of the backswing, either before, during or slightly after. It sounds to me you are doing it once you start delivering which is too short a time to focus properly on the object ball, never mind the looking at the pocket bit. Lock the eyes on the object ball and keep the upper body absolutely still.

On the fractions of object ball thing, I think Steve Davis used this in a coaching book or video years ago however if you poll a whole bunch of really good players they will tell you they rely on their experience to determine the potting angle. I think it's very hard to determine let's say a 1/4-ball cut because it could be a fraction of either side of that and on a longer pot to a closed pocket you will likely miss. If someone says they recognize ALL the angles on every type of pot on the table you should maybe take that with a grain of salt.

I am not really sure which method I use but I think it's some form of ghost ball which was the method I used when I was learning on a pool table (club had only 2 snooker tables and a beginner wasn't allowed to play on them). Nowadays I think I just rely on my experience and I know as long as I stay still I will make the pot or at least rattle it.

One other point which potter and tom have said but it bears repeating. You shouldn't be getting down on a shot and dividing the object ball into sections. You should just pick a spot where you want the cueball to end up and in practice if you miss set the shot up again and try it until you are successful. This game takes major amounts of practice and every good player has put in his practice time (maybe except pottr who might be naturally gifted and never practices).

tnx for your reply

today i focused, and i found out that i do not look at pocket
this is what i do
in address position, i do a front pause i look at cueball spot where i am about to strike, then when i pull the cue back i look at object ball ( while featuring ) . i do a front pause and i watch the cueball spot once again, i keep looking that spot on cueball and slowly bring the cue back, i do the final backswing and i do a back pause , and during that backpause i switch my eye on object ball and deliver the cue

i read pj nolan's pdf
he says, 2 types of pauses, front and back.
front pause: once you are in front pause, switch ur eye on object ball and keep looking and deliver the cue
back pause: when you pull ur cue back, u pause and switch ur eye on object ball

however he recommend using both pauses such as :
do a front pause and look at cue ball , and backswing and a pause then switch ur eyes to object ball

i think i am doing what he has recommended. i also tried to do a front pause and while the tip is close to cueball and i have a front pause i switched my eyes on object ball and kept looking and pulled the cue back and delivered, but felt so uncomfortable. bcaz i have never tried this way

which one should i be doing terry?
tnx

[Terry Davidson]

I've found the longer you focus on the object ball while you are still at either the front or rear pause the more likely your rhythm and timing will be better. I believe this is age related and players over 35yrs or so should focus on the OB at the front pause to give them a longer time to focus like a laser on the object ball (don't try to imagine BOB or a ghost cueball).

PJ recommends either way but I believe he teaches the front pause method to new students or less skilled players. As I'm older I use the front pause and I've found when I forget to do that my rhythm and timing go to crap. It might take you a little while but I would recommend you try the front pause in solo practice until you either feel you have it mastered or feel you can't get it right.

Also, don't worry about your dominant eye as sighting the ball will become natural no matter which eye you use with enough practice. The worst thing you can do is try and force it because that will alter your set-up which is much more important that which eye you are using. As long as the shot looks right when in the address position you should be OK.

[highestbreak50]

I've found the longer you focus on the object ball while you are still at either the front or rear pause the more likely your rhythm and timing will be better. I believe this is age related and players over 35yrs or so should focus on the OB at the front pause to give them a longer time to focus like a laser on the object ball (don't try to imagine BOB or a ghost cueball).

PJ recommends either way but I believe he teaches the front pause method to new students or less skilled players. As I'm older I use the front pause and I've found when I forget to do that my rhythm and timing go to crap. It might take you a little while but I would recommend you try the front pause in solo practice until you either feel you have it mastered or feel you can't get it right.

Also, don't worry about your dominant eye as sighting the ball will become natural no matter which eye you use with enough practice. The worst thing you can do is try and force it because that will alter your set-up which is much more important that which eye you are using. As long as the shot looks right when in the address position you should be OK.

tnx i am 25 years old. so i might try what u just mentioned. a front pause and keep looking the object ball, and pull the cue back and deliver. i feel this is abit too long for me, i mean after the front pause, u r never gonna look the cueball again ! and while your eyes are on object ball, u have to pull the cueback which is very hard, but i will try it

i am either looking at object ball problem or grip problem.

by the way one thing i experienced today, maybe you know it, but if not then you should try.

i remember u said earlier that you keep putting left side and u cant fix it. i spent lots of hours this week figuring this issue. finally i found that if you remove the pinky finger (little finger ) from the grip, then while deliverying the cue the cue wont turn to right or left, the grains stay perfect centre. so at the moment i am also working on this too, but i cannot play with 4 fingers, abit of hard work but gotta fix it somehow. i really hope u dont know about his, caz i will be happy if it fixes ur game. but i am sure u know it

one more unrelated question here: ( not sure if i open another thread for this )
so while working on my grip i also realized that while in address position the palm of my hand isnt touching the cue. i see lots of top pros and good players, palm is touching while they are in address position. is this something very important that i am missing?

thank you heaps for helping people
once my game is fixed, i will be over the moon

[Dave_marsy]

Well said mate and I'm with you......do what comes naturally and keep practicing