Why isn't the Trump technique and Set-up now the Textbook Standard?

[Leo]

The recieved wisdom in the past was to play with the cue middle chin, down the groove and then angle the cue to make the cue look straight to the dominant eye or to simply learn to adjust the shot to a cue that didn't look straight to the dominant eye; making a consistent angle offset each time. But the great players of today go right underneath the eye, often moving the cue to one side of the chin or even up the face as in Mark Allen. The centuries we are seeing put in by the top pros is testament to improved technique. There are some so and sos on here who will argue that snooker hasn't changed one iota in the last 50 eyes, you just get down and pot balls apparently. Of course, even the greatest potter and breakbuilder of all has been busy changing his technique over a long career and it's those changes that have kept him up to speed. So there's no reason why we should not look for improvements and tweaks or at least try them.

I'm a dead in the middle player yet I'm left eye dominant and wouldn't dream of changing the way I sight.

[Master Blaster]

I'm a dead in the middle player yet I'm left eye dominant and wouldn't dream of changing the way I sight.

If you don't need to, you don't need to. I'm not saying I need to either but I'm going to spend a while experimenting with it just to see.....

[GeordieDS]

I'm a dead in the middle player yet I'm left eye dominant and wouldn't dream of changing the way I sight.

And you shouldn't as it's what you've become used to

[jrc750]

If you don't need to, you don't need to. I'm not saying I need to either but I'm going to spend a while experimenting with it just to see.....

But why ???

[Master Blaster]

But why ???

Maybe I'm half cat....
Just gotta find out if there's more.

[OmaMiesta]

It all comes down to what you practice with more, you can still utilize an unorthodox technique if you practice with it long enough. I started off with middle chin and was doing okay for the most part but would find myself shooting across the line a lot more often. I then took about 6 months experimenting with different positions under my chin/eyes and found that shifting the cue under my left dominant eye helped me see the angles much clearer. But during the transitioning in between I completely lost my form all together until I finally stuck to one thing.

[vmax4steve]

We've had the dominant eye question many times before in the coaching threads, argued about it over and over. I myself believe that the brain chooses one eye only to sight the line of aim; because it is getting information from two eyes that are about three inches apart, in order to see one straight line it has to choose one eye over the other so it shuts one down on a subconscious level to sight the line of aim, while both are open and seeing and relaying information on depth, distance and angles etc.

This is how clever the brain is, it does it for you on a subconscious level.

Now we all have a dominant eye, but that eye is not neccessarilly the one used for sighting the line of aim. You look at any of the top players and you can see that only one eye is used when over the cue. The cue maybe centre chin on some players but the feet are placed in such a way that the head is slightly turned to one side to get the cue running more under one eye than the other, not directly underneath but definately closer to one eye than the other.
It's difficult to spot in some players like John Higgins and Steve Davis, but as all players close one eye when looking to see if a ball will go past another I think it's safe to say that only one eye is used to sight a straight line of aim, otherwise we would all keep both eyes open when doing the same, and none of us do.

To overide the eye the brain chooses to use, just to copy a certain players stance is, IMO, the wrong way to go. Sure you can switch eyes, I can do it myself and play with a square stance sighting with my right eye, but it feels wrong all the time even though I can make it work, and the danger is that you can unknowingly fall between the two and end up sighting with both eyes and therefore not see the line of aim where it really is.

[Master Blaster]

We've had the dominant eye question many times before in the coaching threads, argued about it over and over. I myself believe that the brain chooses one eye only to sight the line of aim; because it is getting information from two eyes that are about three inches apart, in order to see one straight line it has to choose one eye over the other so it shuts one down on a subconscious level to sight the line of aim, while both are open and seeing and relaying information on depth, distance and angles etc.

This how clever the brain is, it does it for you on a subconscious level.

Now we all have a dominant eye, but that eye is not neccessarilly the one used for sighting the line of aim. You look at any of the top players and you can see that only one eye is used when over the cue. The cue maybe centre chin on some players but the feet are placed in such a way that the head is slightly turned to one side to get the cue running more under one eye than the other, not directly underneath but definately closer to one eye than the other.
It's difficult to spot in some players like John Higgins and Steve Davis, but as all players close one eye when looking to see if a ball will go past another I think it's safe to say that only one eye is used to sight a straight line of aim, otherwise we would all keep both eyes open when doing the same, and none of us do.

To overide the eye the brain chooses to use, just to copy a certain players stance is, IMO, the wrong way to go. Sure you can switch eyes, I can do it myself and play with a square stance sighting with my right eye, but it feels wrong all the time even though I can make it work, and the danger is that you can unknowingly fall between the two and end up sighting with both eyes and therefore not see the line of aim where it really is.

1% of the population sight with both eyes, SD being one of those people allegedly. It's rare but it does crop up. The reason most folk use the passive eye to enable depth of field and the dominant eye to aim is the simplicity of the mechanics for the optic nerve and brain. In the rare case someone loses vision in one eye, the brain automatically switches to the other eye afterwards. Occam's razor again.

Now if you force the brain to use one eye over the cue, it will, so that the task can be completed. It's just a twist of the head and the left eye comes in to play (for R eye dominant players). As for going centre chin, the cue down the nose, then the brain must now constantly get the incorrect angle to the cue from the eye-line each shot and adjust for that incorrect angle in players who have one dominant eye. Players from years gone by have done this but what's the point of building an incorrection into sighting and having to maintain the perfect fault when you can simply go under one eye? The best players of today all go under one eye, top coaches recommend it and the huge number of centuries and maxis in each season now prove that going centre chin is a silly method.

[vmax4steve]

As for going centre chin, the cue down the nose, then the brain must now constantly get the incorrect angle to the cue from the eye-line each shot and adjust for that incorrect angle in players who have one dominant eye. Players from years gone by have done this but what's the point of building an incorrection into sighting and having to maintain the perfect fault when you can simply go under one eye?

Like Ray Reardon did I suppose

[Master Blaster]

Like Ray Reardon did I suppose

[ATTACH]17858[/ATTACH]

Yeah, in the 70s. Neil Robertson now hits more centuries by himself than all the pros did over a single season back in the 70s. Not having a go but sport moves on.

[alabadi]

I then took about 6 months experimenting with different positions under my chin/eyes and found that shifting the cue under my left dominant eye helped me see the angles much clearer. But during the transitioning in between I completely lost my form all together until I finally stuck to one thing.

i've been in this situation since i made the change about 4 months ago, my game suffered terribly at one stage i couldn't pot a ball more than a foot from the pocket.

i questioned myself why bother if its going to make me play worse, however after thinking about it i stuck at it to see if i could get it to work and now i'm seeing shoots of promise. i'm playing better, seeing angles better and my short game has improved quite significantly.

slowly but surely its progressing, so i'm sticking a it until it becomes permanent.

[Master Blaster]

i've been in this situation since i made the change about 4 months ago, my game suffered terribly at one stage i couldn't pot a ball more than a foot from the pocket.

i questioned myself why bother if its going to make me play worse, however after thinking about it i stuck at it to see if i could get it to work and now i'm seeing shoots of promise. i'm playing better, seeing angles better and my short game has improved quite significantly.

slowly but surely its progressing, so i'm sticking a it until it becomes permanent.

That's great to hear mate, I know you've spent years trying stuff and it's paying off now you say. Brilliant.

[vmax4steve]

Yeah, in the 70s. Neil Robertson now hits more centuries by himself than all the pros did over a single season back in the 70s. Not having a go but sport moves on.

Maybe so, but that's due to table conditions and sod all to do with using the dominant eye as you are suggesting. This is a completely natural way of sighting and has been since cue sports were first invented, along with the boxer stance.
Trump is doing nothing that's revolutionary or new.

[ace man]

If a player cues under one eye, it usually is his dominant eye, but in some cases it may not necessarily be that way.
For example, Selby cues under his left eye mostly. However, when he looks to see if there is a passage for a ball etc., he appears to close his left eye and look with his right only?
Whenever I need to check for such things, I will always use my right eye. But I play centre chin, always have. Tests reveal however that my right eye is very dominant.
To play truly under my right eye, putting the cue to the right side of chin would not be enough, I would need to cue under my cheek bone!!!
Attempting that would ruin me for good. I'm sticking with centre chin. Good enough for Ding, good enough for me.

[alabadi]

If a player cues under one eye, it usually is his dominant eye, but in some cases it may not necessarily be that way.
For example, Selby cues under his left eye mostly. However, when he looks to see if there is a passage for a ball etc., he appears to close his left eye and look with his right only?

I do that too