Object balls go slightly to the left

[SirPeter]

Hi,

Ive noticed that why I miss a pot the object ball is slightly going towards the left. I think its my sighting (however I could be wrong here!). Watching a few youtube movies it showed me that my left eye is stronger. What do I do with that info?

Ow I forgot to mention that im an absolute noob in Snooker, less then 50 hours of play so I miss almost every shot. Even the dead straight shots near the pocked I miss and its frustrating the hell out of me

[SirPeter]

Arg no edit allowed in first post?

O well, wanted to clear a few typos'. Also wanted to say that I got a small 3 ball biljard table (1 meter by 2 meter). Does anyone got any good practice tips that I can do with that table?

[Terry Davidson]

SirPeter:

I can guarantee you missing the pots to the left all the time is definitely not associated with your preferred eye at all. It means you are not delivering the cue straight and most likely are cueing right to left a bit (from the ferrule perspective) which means the cueball is being pushed slightly to the right and then cutting the object ball slightly to the left.

To resolve this video yourself and try and get a few shots from directly behind the cue or second best directly in front of the cue and watch how the cue moves when you deliver. You should find the grip hand is moving to the outside a bit.

As for exercises on your table, I have no help there.

Terry

[nrage]

As Terry says, a video will show you what you're doing wrong, especially if you can play it back in slow motion.

Something else to try. When you get down on the shot how close is your cue tip to the white? It should be as close as you can manage it, without accidentally touching it. Check it before the final backswing, focus your eyes on where you want the tip to hit, and make sure the cue tip is in line with that spot. Then bring your eyes up to the target/object ball, draw the cue back slowly, and push it through until your hand hits your chest.

[asbjorng]

Are the dominant eye-thingy completely irrelevant to all aspects of snooker? Just curious, I'm a newbie myself.
Sorry if I'm interrupting something.

[nrage]

I can only speak from personal experience. I tried for about 3 months to cue under my dominant eye, only to find that my other eye was 'dominant' using another test. So, perhaps I am one of the few with balanced eyes, but I think it's more likely that my brain favours one eye for short range and the other for long, and on most shots uses both eyes to some degree or another.

I thought my problems stemmed from this, but as it turned out all my problems came from a cue action where my grip hand was coming away from my body on delivery, and back in again. It was only moving a small amount < 1 inch and it was happening fast, in 1-2 frames of a video in slow motion, but it was happening just as I made contact with the white.

The end result was putting long blues to the left of the pocket, almost all the time.

So, I gave up on the dominant eye thing, I now cue directly under my chin, but I notice my head has a slight twist to it, perhaps due to the position of my shoulders, or perhaps I have naturally found the correct place to cue so that my eyes work together.

The thing that made the most difference to my game was not anything to do with my eyes, it was the cueing fault/problem. I would start by looking for one of those, and leave the eyes till much later in the process.

[asbjorng]

Informative. Thanks, yet again, nrage

[T.C.]

I can only speak from personal experience. I tried for about 3 months to cue under my dominant eye, only to find that my other eye was 'dominant' using another test. So, perhaps I am one of the few with balanced eyes, but I think it's more likely that my brain favours one eye for short range and the other for long, and on most shots uses both eyes to some degree or another.

I thought my problems stemmed from this, but as it turned out all my problems came from a cue action where my grip hand was coming away from my body on delivery, and back in again. It was only moving a small amount < 1 inch and it was happening fast, in 1-2 frames of a video in slow motion, but it was happening just as I made contact with the white.

The end result was putting long blues to the left of the pocket, almost all the time.

So, I gave up on the dominant eye thing, I now cue directly under my chin, but I notice my head has a slight twist to it, perhaps due to the position of my shoulders, or perhaps I have naturally found the correct place to cue so that my eyes work together.

The thing that made the most difference to my game was not anything to do with my eyes, it was the cueing fault/problem. I would start by looking for one of those, and leave the eyes till much later in the process.

How did u discover this? with Terry Griffiths? someone else or on your own?

[Terry Davidson]

asbjorng:

The 'dominant' or 'preferred' eye came about as a result of Joe Davis cueing underneath his left eye. What most people don't take into account is Joe was almost completely blind in his right eye.

So for today's player I would recommend everyone set up to centre chin and that's to keep the entire set-up on line and then if they happen to believe in a preferred eye (or have significantly weaker vision in one eye) then turn the head slightly to the left or right to bring the cue more underneath the sighting eye but NOT completely underneath it.

For myself, my right eye is significantly weaker than my left and I'm right-handed, so I turn my head slightly to the right so my nose is pointed roughly about 30degrees to the line of the cue and my left eye is more over the cue but no exactly over it. This has the added advantage of not straining my neck muscles.

Terry

[Giggity1984]

How did u discover this? with Terry Griffiths? someone else or on your own?

I agree with most on here that the dominant eye theory explains away a multitude of sins, and is in fact irrelevant.

However, to discover your dominent eye, http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom.htm

Take it with a pinch of salt though. It can't make a difference! your brain will compensate if your cueing under the other eye! It's just what you're used to and comfortable wih!

[nrage]

How did u discover this? with Terry Griffiths? someone else or on your own?

On my own, with advice from Terry Davidson. I took my HTC desire and Joby gorillapod with mobile attachment. I set up a long blue, placed the white on the baulk line so there was a direct line from the yellow pocket, to the white, to the blue, to the black pocket. Set the camera up over the black pocket, so it could see the line. Then filmed myself playing 20-30 long blues (I actually used red balls). I downloaded and installed AviDemux (FREE) to rotate and crop the video. I downloaded and installed Kinovea (FREE), to play the video back in slow motion, plus it can move frame by frame, and has a handy zoom tool which I used to focus on the white, tip, and grip hand. I watched my cue tip and my grip hand, and I watched where the white struck the blue and the resulting path of the blue/red. You should be able to see the yellow pocket behind you in the video and you can use that and the white as a reference for where/how the cue should travel. I would also recommend doing it in a well lit room, I am lucky that my social club has a whole wall of windows which let in a lot of light during the day .. so I went on the weekend and filmed it then.

[Terry Davidson]

nrage:

I think you should really consider getting yourself certified as a coach. You are giving some great advice on here and especially in the recent past have stolen my thunder (no problem, I'm OK with that).

I recommend either NIC Barrow's Master Coach or else Terry Griffiths' coaching course. The IBSF/Snooker Gym by Nic will also accredit you with the WPBSA now that they've reached agreement (or at least I believe they have as Nic is sending me a new certificate blank as soon as he gets back to the UK).

Terry

[nrage]

Hmm... I have wondered if I should think about doing something like that.

But, I think I need to be a much better player first, because a lot of people believe (rightly or wrongly) that someone has to be able to do what they're coaching, in order to coach it properly. Plus, I already have a full time job and not enough spare time to play snooker (among with all my other interests/hobbies), let alone learn to coach it and then actually coach people. It is definitely something I will do, eventually.

I'm glad you think my advice is good, and that you don't mind me handing it out .. as most of it was yours, Nics, or someone else's to start with. Over the course of the last year I have been reading, watching and learning as much as I can about this game we love, and in the course of that trying and experimenting with all the things I have learned. I think this process has helped me as a player, and also as a coach (if not in name/certification) to see what might help others as well as to know/realise where other people are coming from, and what sorts of things they are struggling with, as I've recently been there myself.

[Terry Davidson]

I think you have most of the knowledge and a good coaching attitude so if you can find the time I think it would be well worth your effort, not only for your own game but it will also help put a little extra cash in your jeans (tax free too!)

Terry