Why are strights shots a lot harder than angled ones?

[Ramon]

Mmm interesting, this is making me think about stuff not considered before. I can just about remember learning the reverse side shot off the black. One of the hardest shots I've ever played as it felt so weird to me hitting left hand side screw. First memories are cueing badly across the across the ball. I think (but I'm not even sure) that I learned to cue dead straight on this shot but with my alignment adjusted to the left hand low spot on the cue ball. I guess there is some stuff we learn that is almost subliminal?

tbh, i think when it comes down to this kind of stuff, thr is no theory that applies to everyone.

Each player is different, my friend .

It's the question which way you're more comfortable with .

Anyway , gonna take off.
Time to get things ready and go to work.

Good night guys .

[ace man]

Straight in pots are missed more than one would expect because players will usually try to do more work than normal with cue ball. More screw, more top, stun run...screw back with reverse side in case of straight in black even. These sort of shots where you have limited options as far as cue ball positioning is concerned...they do tend to put a bit more pressure on your cue action.
Also say during break building you wanted to keep a simple angle, but you messed up now you're straight in, can't get to the ball you wanted. Poor positioning also doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

[vmax4steve]

Cuz blind pocket has nothing to do with my theory . when it comes to play the shot from a blind pocket , It's the choosing the right angle which makes the shot more dificult. Most plyers miss that kind of shot even though , they cue stright . this simply cuz they choos the wrong angle . estimateing the right angle when it comes to blind pocket shots , is far more dificult.

It depends a lot on head position and which eye you sight the shot with. I find cut back blacks easier from the yellow side of the table than the green side as I sight with my left eye, so from the green side the cue is under my left eye so the pocket is out of sight, but from the yellow side as the cue is under my left eye the pocket is still (depending on the angle) somewhat in the peripheral vision of my right eye.

This is how hand/eye works between the dominant or sighting eye and the submissive eye when two targets are in the field of vision. The brain can check both on a subconscious level because it's getting information from both eyes, but when one target is out of sight concentration is needed to focus on just the most important one.
So for me when object ball and pocket are in the field of vision it's easier than when the pocket is blind, easiest of all should be the straight shot, if it's not then you have fundamental aiming or cueing issues rather than anxiety over target fixation.

[Byrom]

Straight in pots are missed more than one would expect because players will usually try to do more work than normal with cue ball. More screw, more top, stun run...screw back with reverse side in case of straight in black even. These sort of shots where you have limited options as far as cue ball positioning is concerned...they do tend to put a bit more pressure on your cue action.
Also say during break building you wanted to keep a simple angle, but you messed up now you're straight in, can't get to the ball you wanted. Poor positioning also doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Best answer for me I totally agree - if someone has a map to show me where centre ball is that would be useful too

[DeanH]

Straight in pots are missed more than one would expect because players will usually try to do more work than normal with cue ball. More screw, more top, stun run...screw back with reverse side in case of straight in black even. These sort of shots where you have limited options as far as cue ball positioning is concerned...they do tend to put a bit more pressure on your cue action.
Also say during break building you wanted to keep a simple angle, but you messed up now you're straight in, can't get to the ball you wanted. Poor positioning also doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Best answer for me I totally agree - if someone has a map to show me where centre ball is that would be useful too

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/planck/multimedia/pia16873.html

[Byrom]

Thanks Dean - its in there somewhere I know

[Ramon]

It depends a lot on head position and which eye you sight the shot with. I find cut back blacks easier from the yellow side of the table than the green side as I sight with my left eye, so from the green side the cue is under my left eye so the pocket is out of sight, but from the yellow side as the cue is under my left eye the pocket is still (depending on the angle) somewhat in the peripheral vision of my right eye.

This is how hand/eye works between the dominant or sighting eye and the submissive eye when two targets are in the field of vision. The brain can check both on a subconscious level because it's getting information from both eyes, but when one target is out of sight concentration is needed to focus on just the most important one.
So for me when object ball and pocket are in the field of vision it's easier than when the pocket is blind, easiest of all should be the straight shot, if it's not then you have fundamental aiming or cueing issues rather than anxiety over target fixation.

excellent point.

you do actually realize that you are agree with me, do'nt you .

What many players do'nt realize is , Whether they play an stright shot or not is completely irrelevant. No matter what kind of shot you play, you're gonna have to cue stright and strike the center of CB, otherwise you miss the pott. ( assuming the player does center ball striking and using no side of cours ).

When It Comes to center ball striking, to view ( find ) the center of the ball , remember it and mark it in your mind , is the easy part. because you're not blind.
Striking the CB exactly At That point , is the hard part.
how come ??
because at the time of striking the CB your eyes are focused on OB. therefor if you do'nt cue stright and accurate, you do'nt hit the center ( the point ) which you have already marked in your mind just before you fliked your eyes to the OB . This will turn in putting sum unwanted side on CB and you miss the pott.

The accurate cueing is the result of hand / eye coordination. in order to Achieve a accurate hand / eye coordination, your brain should be able to give your hand the command to follow your eyes. once you have 2 diff points in your sight, your brain is Not able to decide which one your hand should follow . (eventhough both points are at the same line) ..
In other words, he get confused ( your brain is going to doubt ) , and this turns in lack of confidence at the moment cuz lack of confidence and pressure are the result of dout . Once your brain douts about what he's gonna do, you gonna feel more pressure during cueing. All which eventually turns into an cueing error .

Why do you think these pros on TV , stop playing soon as they hear sum kind of noise (Mobile phone Or .........). Cuz at the moment that a mobile goes off , his brain have to think about 2 diff things at the same time . ( their brain get distracted / confused ).

anyway , i love the way you look at the game my friend and enjoy to have a chat with my Mentor .:snooker:

[dcrackers147]

[QUOTE=Ramon;920635]excellent point.

you do actually realize that you are agree with me, do'nt you .

What many players do'nt realize is , Whether they play an stright shot or not is completely irrelevant. No matter what kind of shot you play, you're gonna have to cue stright and strike the center of CB, otherwise you miss the pott. ( assuming the player does center ball striking and using no side of cours ).

Most club players will naturally hit left or right of the cue ball without realising and have in fact taught themselves through repetition how to turn balls in as sometimes side can "help the pot". These players generally have short twitching actions and get found out on straight true cueing shots.

[vmax4steve]

Why do you think these pros on TV , stop playing soon as they hear sum kind of noise (Mobile phone Or .........). Cuz at the moment that a mobile goes off , his brain have to think about 2 diff things at the same time . ( their brain get distracted / confused ).

There's a part of the brain that's part of the fight or flight reflex that makes the body react to sound in the same way as hand/eye, when a sound is heard the body reacts either towards or away from it, especially so when in the heightened state of a match. Another reason why silence is a big part of snooker etiquette.

[Cue crafty]

This is fascinating stuff. I'm glad that like every good idiot should, I shut up when I realised I didn't actually know what I was talking about. : )

[rimmer10]

I believe it's purely psychological because you actually have more margin of error on a straight shot

[Shockerz]

This is fascinating stuff. I'm glad that like every good idiot should, I shut up when I realised I didn't actually know what I was talking about. : )

Mate, we're all in that bucket.

The more I talk about these subjects the less I realise I know!

[Dynamics]

I'd say it's psychological but also alignment too. If you have an angled easy shot where it's easy to pick out the angle, your body will naturally align to the shot so to keep the cue arm in the same position relative to the body. But with a straight pot players sometimes align the body consciously to not interfear with the straight shot, and not falling in naturally their alignment is off and the cue isn't on the line of the shot. Also on a straight shot you have to see the line through the white and object ball which often amateurs don't do. They get down without doing so and the cue isn't on the line of the shot. Sometimes you have to give the shot more care and see through the line to get the shot.

[narl]

on dead straight shots I look to the pocket for that very reason, the hand will follow the eyes

Tried that today and it seemed to work, just ignored the object ball and tried to pot the white and it flew in

[thai_son22]

Tried that today and it seemed to work, just ignored the object ball and tried to pot the white and it flew in

Yep i do something similar. I am for the object ball then look where I'm aiming at the back of the pocket lol then when I'm happy the white goes through both, they fly in