Secret Pool Tip to Improve Your Shots – Introduction.
I was going to say that this Secret Pool Tip isn’t really a secret but it is. The reason that it is a secret and can vastly improve your game it’s that nobody actually talks about it.
When it comes to aiming most people are talking about the cue ball to object ball relationship. How to line up the cue ball and object ball.
The secret tip has nothing to do with aiming systems such as the ghost ball, parallel lines, center to edge, fractional aiming, or any of the other that you may have heard about.
Those aiming systems or guides have their place in pool but I will come back to them in another article.
I have first-hand knowledge of a situation where learning this technique alone improved the play of one of my students.
The best thing about it is you don’t need to change your Technique.
How big are those Pool Table Pockets Anyway?
My secret pool tip is concerned with the pocket and the ball entry. The shape and size and most importantly the portion of pocket that you can see from the object ball’s location.
Width of pool table Pockets varies from 4″ up to sometimes five and a half inches but the thing to realize is that we can change the angle of most pool shots by aiming into a different portion of the pocket.
This means that we can almost manufacture a better angle on a shot that looks completely straight by aiming to either to the left side or the right side of the pocket opening.
Most players know this and are able to take full advantage by changing the angle of the shots so long as they are reasonably close to the pocket.
Pool Aiming and the Pool Players Brain.
The human brain works best when it aims towards a particular point rather than a range of points in a given opening.
Aiming at the pocket is just not precise when it comes to shooting pool.
This is easily demonstrated by looking at the kicker in an American football game or an English rugby game. His goal is to pass the ball anywhere between the posts to score extra points.
The kicker will pick a precise spot that they want to aim at rather than just anywhere between the two uprights.
This gives the brain a definite spot to focus on rather than a range of vague angles.
The View of the Pocket Changes Depending on the Position of the Object Ball.
When you are facing a pocket for instance from the spot to the corner pocket you have a good view of the entire pocket opening. In this instance it is logical to aim towards leather or plastic at the center back of the pocket.
Now let’s take a similar distance shot down the side rail say from the right-center pocket to the right corner pocket. Only a small section of the pocket drop is visible.
As you look down the line of the shot into the pocket opening you cannot really see the open section and I will certainly not be in line anymore with the spot on the back leather.
In fact if you aim at the same place you will miss the pocket and hit the side rail about 6 inches or so above the pocket.
Which Part of the Pocket Should I Aim Towards?
So when you aim these shots you should be aiming at the left-hand corner pocket facing that is the entrance to the pocket on the left side.
On sharp angle shots to the right, you need to aim at the right corner facing
This is now our aim point, which in fact may be a completely different angle from the leather at the back of the pocket.
In conclusion, the human brain works more efficiently when aiming towards a definite point.
So pick one spot and then aim at the spot.
It’s important for you to visualize this exact spot when you are imagining your shots Prior to execution.
