Missing Pots To My Left

[Wilko]

I'm a new poster but a regular reader. I have been having some issues with pots to my left. 3/4 pots to 1/2 ball pots are fine but as they get thinner and especially going into a blind pocket I tend to hit them thick, really thick. Sometimes I will miss thick by a foot or so. I have worked on these for about a month on my pool table at home and can't seem to figure out what's causing me this issue. Its a fairly recent issue and a couple of years ago I could pot them in from all over the table.

A bit about me...

I am right handed. I have a dominant left eye. I cue and sight with the cue a touch towards the left side of my chin. I would consider my self a decent player, with a high break of 129 in match play. I hit the white pretty well.

I am assuming its how I approach these types of pots. I have issues with middle pockets also and I know for certain its how I approach the middle pocket pots. I'm working on it...

Any advice would be much or appreciated, thanks.

[tedisbill]

Could do with a video of you playing really. Hard to say without having a look.

[vmax4steve]

Missing on the thin side would be a cueing issue, cueing across the ball leads to a thinner contact on the object ball, so it sounds to me like you're lining up the pot for position purposes rather than making the pot.
Make sure you see the contact point on the object ball for the pot when stood up behind the shot, putting it into your short term memory, telling your brain what you intend to do; even if you have to walk around to get right behind it, something that a lot of players do on those thin ones.
Thinking of position can subconsciously lead to looking at a contact point that will give you position but miss the pot, so be certain that you see the contact point of the pot before you get down into your stance.

[Wilko]

Thanks for the speedy relpies. I don't really look at the contact point, rather where my top should be pointing. So on a half ball pot I look at the edge of the object ball. On the thinner cuts I look at a point outside the object ball edge... This could be my downfall. I will try taking a few extra seconds to eye up the object ball contact point from behind it. Cheers.

[DeanH]

Missing Pots To My Left

"top"
do you mean where the top of the ghost cue ball would be ?

[bolton-cueman]

think he meant tip

[Wilko]

Yeah I meant tip. Cheers autospell.

[DeanH]

Missing Pots To My Left

thanks for that, was wondering

[markz]

Thanks for the speedy relpies. I don't really look at the contact point, rather where my top should be pointing. So on a half ball pot I look at the edge of the object ball. On the thinner cuts I look at a point outside the object ball edge... This could be my downfall. I will try taking a few extra seconds to eye up the object ball contact point from behind it. Cheers.

Wilkow, only my opinion but love the fact you are a 129 best break player. You must have worked hard to get to that standard. Just do the simple thing and set the shot you are struggling on 20-40 times to learn the shot via failing first then analyzing what went wrong and working the shot out till you got it. Repetition is what the games about.

[Wilko]

I set them up and hit probably about 100 - 200 a day. Probably hit another 100 straight in shots just to check my cueing and the straight in shots tell me I'm cueing well. Its a relatively new problem and one I've never really had before. Cuts to my left are usually my stronger pots. I feel it is how I'm approaching the shot. I must be losing the line of aim as I step in and drop. Its just a pain in the backside to be missing them consistently. When I try to hit them thinner I over cut and rattle them. Vmax gave me some advice to concentrate on the contact point on the object ball. I think this serves the purpose of clearing your mind, concentrate on the pot and rely on memory. I have also just stopped looking at the pocket to find the contact point and just focus on the back of the ball... Seems to have improved my post but it is very early days. After a few more days of trying I will have a better idea of if it's working.

[tomlimcj]

abit of hijack, but can u check if your body is facing to the left or right slightly? i know there is a textbook stance and people usually say straight foot pointed diagonally out on the line of shot, other foot to the side and slightly in front, etc. but when u go down, sometimes u could be facing abit too much to the left or too much to the right. so your drawback would seem abit out of line, and even if you deliver straight, because your body is already out of position, your shot would always go left or right of what you aim. i have a similar situation as you but as much as i try to be consistent with the drawback and delivery, i was always cueing left and right. on good days, i would be bang on straight. too much inconsistency there and i must stress, i have not paid attention to my stance and how i line up. i juz make sure the cuebutt is on line behind the shot all the time. but i figured if i am standing incorrectly, then the other factors, if consistently bang on, i will still miss...

[itsnoteasy]

Tom have you considered a TUCA ? Will help you make sure you find the centre and are pushing through straight.

[Shockerz]

Tom have you considered a TUCA ? Will help you make sure you find the centre and are pushing through straight.

Another nice one I was shown for seeing if you are pushing through straight which found me out:

put the white on the line between the middle pocket and the blue.

Cue up with your tip touching the white (it must be touching).

Push it into the opposite corner pocket.

If you're not cueing straight you will be amazed how hard this is.

When I did this I got the first 6 and though I must be fine. I was then told to hit six into each corner pocket to check and it found me out.

It was a good one to practice for a while and a good checker!

[itsnoteasy]

Byrom showed me that one Shockerz, I think I potted my first two or three if I remember correctly, then it all went wrong lol, it's a tough one.

[tomlimcj]

Tom have you considered a TUCA ? Will help you make sure you find the centre and are pushing through straight.

I have a makeshift. I cut the lid off a lipbalm stick and place it on hard paper with a few valley folds to mimic the height on a stun shot, a deep screw and top spin. I can push the lipbalm cover, no problem. but im quite sure i cannot resolve my issue without being on an actual table.

I like Shockerz recommendation. And Im quite sure I should be able to get some results with that one. Let me go try it out and I'll update over the weekend!