Re: For anyone with shotmaking consistency problems (long, but valid)

OK.  This all sounds well and good, and I have no doubt that you've made
significant progress and contributed this to the group in good spirit...

But when you say you're improved tremendously, I'm curious as to what your
base line was. IOW, give us a better idea as to what level you played at
before and what kind of runs you're getting now?  IOW, what kind of scores
are you getting at 14.1, EO, Fargo, or even 9ball playing the ghost, on good
9ft tight equipment?

Lou Figueroa
thinks it sounds good, but is a bit simplistic

"bschrom" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I'd like to share the story of how my game improved tremendously
> overnight.  I've been playing for about 10 years.  I'd made a lot of
> improvements in that time, but I was constantly plagued by poor
> shotmaking consistency.  One night I would run a few racks, and the
> next night I would miss a bunch of shots by an inch.  Frustrating as
> hell!  I even gave up the game for a year because of this.  So what
> was the one thing that changed my game for the better?  PROPER
> ALIGNMENT.  I know this doesn't sound like anything profound, but
> before you dismiss it, hear me out.  I always thought that my stance
> and alignment were fine...like many of you with problems probably do.
> I just thought my stroking arm was having the occasional problem of
> not going in a straight line.  WRONG!!!  The fact is, my body was not
> "perfectly" aligned with my line of aim.  I'm not talking about the
> awkward, beginner-like, stance you see where the body is contorted all
> over the place.  I'm talking about a body alignment that is 1 inch or
> less out of line with your exact line of aim.  Even with this small
> deviation, you are fighting your stroke...and you could very likely
> miss.  I was simply being sloppy about bending down to make the shot.
> I would stand behind a shot and see the "approximate" cut angle that
> it was.  Then, I would plant my feet and bend down in a way that might
> not have been the same as the last shot...and many times I would miss
> the shot that I know I'd made countless times before.  The problem
> with my approach before was the word "approximate".  Pool is a game of
> precision.  Don't even think about bending down over the shot until
> you see what your "exact" line of aim should be to pocket the ball.
> Once you see your "exact" line of aim, plant your feet around that
> line so that you're balanced.  Now, hold your stick out in front of
> you vertically, with your bridge hand formed on it,  as if you were
> going to stroke at the ceiling.  Now here is the key.  Swing your
> upper body and cue stick "straight down" the exact line of aim of your
> shot.  DON'T bend down over your shot haphazardly or swing in from the
> side.  Come straight down the line of aim.  DO THIS ON EVERY SHOT.  It
> doesn't matter if the ball's a hanger or not.  There's nothing worse
> than missing an easy shot that you know you should make.  Now, I know
> there are some great players out there who will argue that they make
> small aim adjustments while they're down over the shot.  That's fine.
> But I would rather err on the side of precision than sloppiness.  Try
> to pick your exact line while standing and then follow it straight
> down to the shot.  I know I'm getting long-winded here but this
> revelation has finally freed me from 10 years of poor consistency
> TORTURE!!  Here's a simple drill that you can do anywhere that will
> show you what I mean.  Hold your cue vertically with your bridge
> formed and walk up to a corner in your house where two walls meet.
> Align your body and stick with that line where the walls meet.  Now
> practice swinging your upper body, eyes, and stick down that line so
> that your stick stays precisely on the line.  It's harder than it
> sounds.  Bear with me, because I'm getting to the end of this freaking
> novel I'm writing!  I adopted this method of lining up my shots about
> two months ago.  I haven't had a bad night of shooting since.  I
> discipline myself to align this way on EVERY shot.  The results speak
> for themselves.  I have to admit I'm late on doing this.  Many top
> instructors teach this method as the only "right" way.  They're
> probably "right".  If what I've written so far hasn't convinced you,
> consider this...About a week after I started doing this I decided to
> try a few shots with my eyes closed.  I had heard some pros say that
> if you're properly aligned, you can sink balls with your eyes closed.
> I set up 10 or 11 shots.  All of them were full table-length shots
> where the object ball was about half way between the cue ball and
> pocket.  They were of varying cut angles...everything from straight in
> to about 70 degrees.  I got set up for these shots as described above,
> and after bending down, I shut my eyes tight.  Every shot except one
> went dead into the center of the pocket.  The one I missed rattled.
> The sound of table length cut shots going in dead center while I had
> my eyes closed was practically orgasmic..."practically".  By the way,
> my friend told me they went in dead center...I didn't peak.  If you've
> read this far, thank you.  I have to believe that there are others out
> there with consistency problems that they attribute to their stroke
> and not their stance or alignment.  Always check you're alignment.  It
> "straightened" me out and made me love the game again.  Take
> care................by the way, I have to credit the drill I mentioned
> above to Todd Leveck, from his book, "Aiming On The Cutting Edge".
> This was a good book, by the way, and I learned a lot from it.