need help aiming cue ball

[sidespin]

Help!!!!!
In search of the golden grail, the yellow brick road, a miracle.
Can’t seem to develop my ability to pocket object balls, to aim the cue ball correctly
No matter how hard I may try. I tried most the aiming systems
Ghost ball (one day I can picture the correct angle and spacing and the next I could not pocket a ball if the pocket is ten feet wide. As the angle between the cue ball and object becomes more acute the difficulty to picture the correct alignment becomes harder to detect)
Monk clicks (have problems guesstamateing the correct numbers of clicks and shooting from side of cue ball)
Contact to contact method, (keep losing the contact point as the distance between balls increases and have problem sighting for side of cue ball as instead of center of ball)
Imaginary pocket (not that accurate)
Is there some method or system that works best in all situations, that’s very accurate.
Are there any training aids that really work, tried ghost ball trainer without much luck.
Is there any way to practice to help develop a good eye for pocketing balls?
I don’t want to carve up my cue stick yet into toothpicks but getting close to it.
Getting frustrated trying to learn, what good is position play when you can’t pocket a object ball 20 inches from a corner pocket.
How did you develop the skill to pocket balls successfully?

Thank you
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[pooltchr]

Are you sure it's an aiming problem. There are actually only two ways to miss a shot. One is faulty aiming and the other is a problem with the stroke. Since you can see the correct spot some days, I suspect you know how to determine where you should be aiming. It may be that you are not sending the cue ball to the spot you think you are sending it to. Find someone (a professional instructor would be your best choice) to observe your stroke and allignment. I have found with the majority of my students, once they are using the proper stroke consistantly, their percentage of shots made improves dramatically.

[heater451]

I believe that pooltchr is on the correct path, in advising you to get your stroke checked out. The only thing that I really wanted to add, since you express concern about playing the position, is that you pay close attention to the "final" stroke.

I've witnessed many people, myself included, miss shots that were most likely caused to fail by "trying something". That is, if you are shooting a (relatively) easy shot, but you complicate it by attempting a particular position, then the delivery stroke is likely to suffer. I usually refer to this as "changing-up"--the pre-delivery strokes may be perfect, but then there is a "change-up" in stroke mechanics.

The change in mechanics is usually symptomized by a tensing of the body and grip, and normally degrades an otherwise satisfactory stroke into a 'punch' or 'poke'.

There are some other things to pay attention to, such as using a pause, to settle and re-check yourself midshot, but I will leave that alone for now.

Basically, "follow through".

Oh yeah, and "don't forget to breathe".



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[sidespin]

i went back to trying contact to contact method of aiming,
as lease i have a firm target to aim at, even though i am using the side of the cue ball instead of the center. seem to be getting better results, just have to get use to aiming this way. with the ghost ball method, i am shooting at empty space trying to visualize a non existent cue ball
one day i can picture it perfect the next day forget it.
especially as the angle increases it becomes very hard for me to get it right. i realize stroke is important i been practicing with the coke bottle method of strokeing my cue
in and out of the bottle opening to develope a straight hit.
thank you for response, if there are any ideas on aiming methods which are better and easier i would like to hear about them, what method do most of the player use?

may the stoke be with you

[heater451]

Aiming systems and styles is one of the topics that rears it's head a lot on the forum. You will find plenty of folks who will tell you that a system will do nothing for you without the stroke to back it up, which is true enough, but I think it helps you to learn to aim, and then you will develop the proverbial "feel" for aiming well. --Note, I didn't say "correctly", as aiming is actually something that I feel is an inherent ability with all of us, and their are several ways to 'tune in'.

I have a few things posted on my tripod site: http://heater451.tripod.com . However, I pretty much just look at the contact point, and make the cue ball go there. . . .I suppose this is similar or the same to what you mean by using the outside of the ball. I relate it somewhat to how you aim a bowling ball at a pin, in that you "just put it **there**".

Here's something to do: go shoot out a few racks, using one way of aiming. Note whether you have a tendency to under- or over-cut (most likely, the former). Then, try compensating your aim. After that, do the same thing again, except start paying very close attention to your stroke and hit on the cueball--don't worry about position at all. The focus should be on using the same pre-shot routine and the same speed for each stroke (warm-ups and follow-through), and pay attention to hitting, with the cue tip, EXACTLY where you think you should. It may help to use a bit of top, to try and stay on the vertical center of the cue ball, and just kind of 'slow-motion' strike the ball. However, if you do hit harder, focus even harder on where you're hitting, and remember whether you tend to under- or over-cut. Make adjustments as needed, until you have a consistency of hit.

BTW, I will make the obligatory remark about posting in the "Newbie" forum as well. This area was created more for people who have questions about the functions/features of the board itself. If you want more answers to your question, post in the main pool forum.

[HALHOULE]

CALL ME AT 510-581-3010. BE AT A TABLE, WITH A PHONE HANDY, AND I WILL RUN YOU THROUGH THE AIMING SYSTEM. THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THE INFORMATION.

[jjinfla]

You don't state how long you have been playing.

People claim a person needs a good aiming point while others claim you need a good stroke, stance and fundamentals.

To me it seems you need all of tht working together and that takes a good instructor and a LOT of practice.

What good is the best aiming principle if your stroke does not allow you to hit it? Or what good is the best stroke but you do not have a good aiming point? Without all of that working in harmony you are just being lucky when the balls go in.

Start by putting the CB on the spot and shoot it directly across to the side rail so that the CB comes back to the tip of your cue. In order to do this repeatedly you have to have good aim along with good form. The tip of the cue stays on the table and you do not jump up. Do this over and over until you can do it successfully 10 times in a row. Then shoot the ball the length of the table and do it until you can do it 20 times in a row. And I don't mean that the CB almost touches the tip of the cue. The center of the CB must touch the tip.

After you accomplish this task then you will be ready to START to learn how to play pool.

Failure to accomplish this task will put you with the rest of us ball bangers who play in the APA.

Have fun.

Jake

Still trying to learn to aim, and working on stroke also,
Purchase a little device to help with this, a sort of stroke trainer, it’s a plastic tube, which you stoke into.
Much like the coke bottle method. Just been playing pool
4 months, but do not have my own pool table. So playing time
Is restricted. To only a few hours a week. Upon reading instructions books on pool there is a split upon methods used in aiming it’s between the ghost ball, and contact-to-contact method. The prefer method is the contact-to-contact method. So giving that a try. Difficulty with that method appears twofold, finding the exact spot to hit and remembering the spot when you move back behind the cue ball, the tip on my cue stick is 13mm, and it covers a good portion of the object ball when I am trying to find the exact spot to hit. The second problem I am having with this method is lining up contact-to-contact points.
Since I am hitting center ball, I find myself sighting down the center of cue ball, while at the same time looking out of the corner of my eye trying the line up contact points the two do not seem to go together. The must a trick or way to accomplish this better. Any advice on how to do this better. Would you just divide the just divide the object ball in sections here? Full ball hit, 1/8 ball hit, 1/4-quarter ball hit, 1/2 ball hit, 3/4-ball hit, thin cut edge of ball. Instead of hitting contact to contact, just aim to center of cue ball to hit these fractions. Don’t know
This game can be very difficult the truth hits home when you miss an easy shot just a few inches from the pocket, when you are trying the best to sink that ball. Not giving up yet. Still open to any tips or help anyone can give me,

Thank you

[UbetterRUNout]

One way I like to aim for a shot when I go back to the basics or teach a friend to help his game it to set up in a sorta ghost ball set up, but instead if trying to aim to replace that ghost ball with the cue ball, try placing a small chalk mark half the width of the ball behind the objet ball, and in turn aim for that chalk mark on the table. You can get away with this in game play by lining up your shot with you cue, and leaving a small trace of chalk behind the object ball your intending to shoot in. if your having troubles seeing the chulk spot, then i would look through the shot on to the wall or something further in the distance in witch to aim to. I hope this helps you find a better way of aiming. There is a tip method out there, it goes by tip widths too, the more sharp the angle the further off center you hit the cue-ball, while aiming that cue-ball directly at the object ball. I don't have any way of posting a picture. If you would like to learn more of these two methods let me know.


Mike

[UbetterRUNout]

One way I like to aim for a shot when I go back to the basics or teach a friend to help his game it to set up in a sorta ghost ball set up, but instead if trying to aim to replace that ghost ball with the cue ball, try placing a small chalk mark half the width of the ball behind the objet ball, and in turn aim for that chalk mark on the table. You can get away with this in game play by lining up your shot with you cue, and leaving a small trace of chalk behind the object ball your intending to shoot in. if your having troubles seeing the chulk spot, then i would look through the shot on to the wall or something further in the distance in witch to aim to. I hope this helps you find a better way of aiming.