Cueing Off center of white

[Maverick]

ive been playing for many years now,and my greatest problem is when in start addressing the shot on the white i cue on the left hand side of the white.the left hand side of the white looks center to me.i am a right handed player being left eye dormant.i cannot find center of white

ive tried everything asked many top players but nobody seems to give me the advise that can correct this age old problem.Even travelled to World Snooker acadamy in Sheffield to help with problem was unsuccessful(i was asked to apply intentional right hand side which will bring my cue to to center)

my game over the years has evolved with this flaw(shots have to be altered to accomdate the left hand side) but its evident in all games that i play,when i miss a shot its always to the extreme right of the pocket due to the left hand side

im from south africa and unfortuantely we dont have the expert coaches,im 35 years old playing from the time i was 17,and have been playing with this huge flaw.i really want to correct it but dont know how

your kind advise and input will be greatly appreciated

[Particle Physics]

I have also noticed a tendency to push the cue from my right side to the left side of the ball. I play cue under chin, central, and I believe my brain is subconsciously slanting the cue over due to right eye dominance. I've started patching my right eye, to increase the strength of the left. I do it for 2 hours at a time, and hope to see an improvement in symmetrical sighting in a couple of months. This should be useful for driving, other sports, and life in general.

It it's any comfort, I know Hendry suffered this problem too and it ruined his game for many years, so it can affect all players. Some coaches use tools to train the player to cue centre, measuring devices on the table. And you can buy a training cue ball for not a lot. Line up a shot that is absolutely straight on, hit the centre of the training ball where it's marked. Repeat ten thousand times; bingo.

[Saint Michael]

Cueing Off center of white

Get a training ball. They are only cheap. They have them at craftsman. Also a good practice routine to make sure you address the ball in the centre is to play the following shots. Place the white on the cushion near each corner pocket. Practice playing shots along the cushions on all sides of the table if you get my drift. You'll be able to see in the first two to three inches if you're putting the side on as it will either come away from cushion slightly straight away or if putting other side on it'll bounce off but then check itself to stick if that makes sense. Better with a training ball for that practice routine. An old pro used to do that practice routine for ten minutes before each practice session. When I asked him what he was doing. He said it gets is aim and cueing straight. I tried it and it worked. It really helped

[sydneygeorge]

ive been playing for many years now,and my greatest problem is when in start addressing the shot on the white i cue on the left hand side of the white.the left hand side of the white looks center to me.i am a right handed player being left eye dormant.i cannot find center of white

ive tried everything asked many top players but nobody seems to give me the advise that can correct this age old problem.Even travelled to World Snooker acadamy in Sheffield to help with problem was unsuccessful(i was asked to apply intentional right hand side which will bring my cue to to center)

my game over the years has evolved with this flaw(shots have to be altered to accomdate the left hand side) but its evident in all games that i play,when i miss a shot its always to the extreme right of the pocket due to the left hand side

im from south africa and unfortuantely we dont have the expert coaches,im 35 years old playing from the time i was 17,and have been playing with this huge flaw.i really want to correct it but dont know how

your kind advise and input will be greatly appreciated

Greetings from Australia Maverick,
I suffer from the same problem as you and I have been making good progress correcting it by playing the CB down the line starting on the brown spot,hitting centre ball 3/4 power,yes you have heard this all before no doubt.
Now the difference is, also hit the CB left and right of centre,this deliberate off centre aiming seems to teach you how to recognise centre. I picked this up from Nic Barrow's Snooker Gym.
I am also spending a lot of practice time hitting long straight blues,trying to follow the CB into the pocket and with each miss I adjust my stance etc,all this is working for me.
Regarding the Dominant Eye theory, may I suggest you disregard it totally, keep your cue centre of chin, use this as your non negotiable base.
If the Dominant Eye theory worked we would all be walking, driving,piloting aircraft etc with our faces turned to favour our so called D.E. but we don't, we look straight ahead because our brains do all the required adjusting for us.
I have potted 7/10 consecutive long blues with the cue under both my left and right eye,this is confirming for me that my brain is compensating.
Hope this helps.

[nrage]

ive been playing for many years now,and my greatest problem is when in start addressing the shot on the white i cue on the left hand side of the white.the left hand side of the white looks center to me.i am a right handed player being left eye dormant.i cannot find center of white

ive tried everything asked many top players but nobody seems to give me the advise that can correct this age old problem.Even travelled to World Snooker acadamy in Sheffield to help with problem was unsuccessful(i was asked to apply intentional right hand side which will bring my cue to to center)

my game over the years has evolved with this flaw(shots have to be altered to accomdate the left hand side) but its evident in all games that i play,when i miss a shot its always to the extreme right of the pocket due to the left hand side

im from south africa and unfortuantely we dont have the expert coaches,im 35 years old playing from the time i was 17,and have been playing with this huge flaw.i really want to correct it but dont know how

your kind advise and input will be greatly appreciated

Left hand side on short range or hard shots tends to make you miss to the left, not the right. The reason, when you hit the left of the white it jumps/skews/squirts to the right, hitting the object to the right of the intended spot, sending it left. On longer, slower shots the left hand side can result in swerve, making the white hit the left of the intended spot and sending the object right - but it's less likely these are the shots you mean?

See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHcC...eature=related

So, are you 100,000,000% certain you're lining up to the left of the white?

Most cueing faults are a result of the dynamic portion of the action i.e. when you actually move the cue forward to hit the ball, not a result of the initial static setup. So, your eyes might be fine, you might be seeing and aiming center correctly.

The problem might instead be that you're moving the butt and hitting right or left on the stroke, or that you're not getting on the line of the shot correctly such that the tip is on the line but the butt is to one side or the other, meaning you're actually slightly across the line. In the latter case it will look like and actually be that you have the tip in the center of the white, and when it comes through it will actually hit the center, but as the line of force is slightly left or right, the ball will squirt (onto the line of aim in many cases) but with side on it.

I think the latter is the most likely, and a problem many players have. It's hard to detect because the white actually squirts down the line of aim fairly consistently. However, changes in power change the squirt factor meaning that soft shots will end up to one side and hard ones to the other side of the line of aim.

[Terry Davidson]

Maverick:

I don't know whether it's a typo or not but there's a flaw in your explanation and I'm wondering if what you say is happening is actually happening.

If you hit the cueball on the left then you will push the object ball to the LEFT of the pocket and not the right. Now it could be you are lining up to the left of centre of the cueball and your brain, being the wonderful device it is, is compensating during the delivery but because the delivery is more dynamic than the feathering it is over-compensating and you are actually hitting the cueball on the right which will then send the object ball to the right of the pocket.

So I think the first thing for you to do is to confirm what is actually happening and I'm afraid the only way to do this is with a video camera which you can download to your computer. Set up the camera over one of the top pockets, set up a long blue shot with the cueball on the baulk line. Now ensure the camera covers from 6inches (15cm) in FRONT of the cueball all the way to the top of your elbow and record at least 10 long blues at medium pace and use a 'stop shot' where you are stopping the cueball on the blue spot. Do not worry about potting the blue as the objective here is to find out what you're actually doing.

Now download a freeware called 'Kinovea' (there's a link to it on here or use Google) and then using Kinovea access the recorded video on your camera and use the frame-by-frame facility to look at each of the 10 long blues. What you are looking for is:
1. Does the tip of the cue appear to be at the centre of the cueball in the address position?
2. Does the shaft of the cue move sideways at all during the backswing (I mean here any movement no matter how small).
3. On delivery does the shaft of the cue stay on a straight line with no sideways movement at all?
4. Just before the tip strikes the cueball does it appear to be right at the centre of the cueball?
5. At the moment of strike (or as close as you can get to it in a frame) is the tip still at the centre of the cueball?
6. A couple of frames AFTER you've hit the cueball is the tip of the cue still on the centre line of the cueball?

Frame-by-frame is really freaky and will show a player ALL his faults and believe me there's not a player in the world (even Ronnie) who won't have some flaws in the delivery although usually a professional's flaws will be a lot less dramatic. As an example, I can hammer a long blue into the top pocket and screw the white back to the baulkline perfectly yet when I look at the delivery in frame-by-frame my cue goes to the left after the cueball has been struck (luckily) and I've also analysed a few of the top pros using this technique and have also noticed the cue normally goes to the left a bit in a right handed player, opposite for a lefty. So it will look ugly to you but only check for those 6 questions i've asked above as all the rest is mere noise.

Terry

[alabadi]

I had this problem for a long time although i didn't realise until a coach mentioned that i am addressing the cueball slightly left.
I m right handed with a dominant left eye too.

i didn't believe that i was aiming slightly left because to me it was centre, the coach gave me a routine to check if i am lining up slightly left, so here's what you do.

place the cueball on the brown spot and addrsss the white to play up and down the spots but instead of using the normal open bridge use a loop bridge, if you don't know how you can go on YouTube and check how this is done usually the bamerican pool players favour this.

anyway once you have addressed the white in the centre the way you see it at the front pause lay the butt of the cue down on the table it should rest on the cussion now without moving the bridge lift your head slightly you will definitely see if or how far you are aiming left and you can then make adjustments.
i was told the same as you to aim slightly to the right of what i perceive is centre, with a lot of practice i can now find the centre of white, however i do still cue across the cueball from right to left however this is a technique issue.

keep practicing you'll get there in the end

alabbadi

[NorthWestJunior]

I have the exact same problem. It has little effect on me when playing soft shots in and around the pack but as soon as I opt for power it throws the cue ball right off.

[joejoe]

I have the exact same problem. It has little effect on me when playing soft shots in and around the pack but as soon as I opt for power it throws the cue ball right off.

i have a same problem too,other than the basic stance.i switch to 58"from 57"(im around 5"11"),it help me when i opt for power.

[alabadi]

There is one other thing that a coach told me when I had this problem, he told me to step further to the right by angling your right foot out to the right instead of straight in line with the aiming line.
It worked for me to an extent especially in the beginning .

Alabbadi

[alabadi]

There is one other thing that a coach told me when I had this problem, he told me to step further to the right by angling your right foot out to the right instead of straight in line with the aiming line.
It worked for me to an extent especially in the beginning .

Alabbadi