The LOOK systemSEEing even more.© Gwenn

LOOK: problem!• Missing shots when shooting

firmly?• Getting unwanted English

although you‘re hitting the dead center of the cueball?

• Difficulty to hit the center of the pocket although you are perfectly aligned with vision center over line of shot and somesuch?

• Sometimes hitting the wrong side on almost straight-in shots?

• Have a tendency to sometimes hit the far corner of the middle pocket?

• The more difficult the closer the object ball is?

• Usually hitting one side too thick, one side too thin?

Sound familiar?!

LOOK: system!• We‘re naturally aiming across the

blue line of contact points.

• Because our eyes rest on the target, we have a natural tendency to position the cue off line.

• This direction goes from our perceived center of the cue ball through the aim on the object ball. This leads to unwanted English on the cue ball.

• For certain speeds and distances, the effects of deflection will cancel out the error in angle.

• Many people intuitively try to compensate this effect by using „gearing English“, slightly understimating the effect of spin induced throw in the process. This can work well for a certain range of shots.

Line ofSight

Object BallDirection

RequiredCue Action

Tendency todirect cue

Eyes Correctionangle

cueball centermisestimate

LOOK: distance• The effect maximizes the smaller the

distance between cueball and object ball is.

• For very long distance pots, this effect can be neglected except on ultra thin cuts.

• For distances within one diamond this effect can be huge, so that the eyes flip between two different views of the shot. One is your line of aim, one your required cue action.

• On tight-playing tables or if you try to cheat the pocket, correcting this error decides on whether you will make the shot or not.

• For long almost straight in shots this effect decides on whether you will hit the „correct side“ of the object ball.

big matter!

small matter!

But hey, what‘s an inch …… at billiards …!

LOOK: uncorrection• Gearing English: If you compensate

this effect with gearing English, you are training yourself to underestimate the effects of cut induced throw and spin induced throw.Furthermore you will find it difficult if a shot without any english is required.

• Tip Shift: If you only correct the tip of the cue to the correct starting center point on the cue ball, you will nevertheless end up with English.

• Cue Shift: Even when you correctly realign your cue, if your elbow placement does not move along with it, your cue will jerk off line during the stroke, again producing unwanted English and deviations in cue ball direction.Tip shift only.

Angle still remains.

Cue shift only.Wrong elbow placementwill cause deviation duringstroke.

back of cuewill jerkalong this line

Tip Shift: Cue Shift:

LOOK: use eyes• Since we have two eyes, both these

lines can usually be seen if we align our vision center (and body) with the line connecting the contact points, also for very thin cuts.

• An exception are thin cuts when cueball and object ball are extremely close.

• The example shows the configuration for a left eye dominant player. The vision center is shifted slightly to the left.

• So both lines can be sighted without moving the head from its alignment when we are down on the shot.

• We need to be clear which of the two lines is our line of aim, and which one is our line of cue action.

Line ofSight

Tendency todirect cue

Eye

Correctionangle

Vision CenterEye

LOOK: use elbow• We then realign our elbow/shooting

apparatus when down on the shot to point exactly into the line of stroke, which can be checked without moving our head away from our line of sight.

• When we are sure that both lines are properly aligned, we send the cue stick smoothly down the line of stroke.

• You usually do not need to compensate for throw which results from a naturally rolling cue ball:

Because you cannot actually „see“ the back of the cue ball. Hence you have to guess where the contact point on your cue ball really is and by trial and error, and thus have learned to misjudge it. This tiny misjudgement already compensates for throw from a naturally rolling cue ball.

line ofsight

requiredcue action

tendency todirect cue

Eye

correctionangle

vision center

Eye

correct lineof stroke

correct cuealignment

LOOK: double!• Some people also aim contact point to

contact point, if judging long distances, with their dominant eye.

• For convenience, looking „short distance“, their other eye „helps out“ for short distance sighting.

• This is fatal, since they will misjudge the „center“ of the cue ball.

Example:• The aim is sighted between contact

poins with a dominant left eye.• The center of the cue ball is sighted

near distance along the cue with the right eye.

• So the tip placement is always off to the right, resulting in unwanted right English.

• People who do that usually have learned to compensate for that with a stroke which includes moving the shoulder.

line ofsight

requiredcue action

Eye

Eye

correct lineof stroke

correct cuealignment

Vision Center

right eye sightingwrong cue placementwrong line of stroke

LOOK: where is center• Some people also aim through the

„center“ of the cue ball through the contact point on the target.

• This obviously creates a problem with short distances, since the line of cue action needs to cross the line of aim by far.

• Taking throw into account, the line of cue action will cross the line of aim by an even greater amount for close distances.

• If you‘re right handed, broad-shouldered, and have to cut a ball into the left corner pocket, you may notice a tendency to hit the ball too thick, since if you aim like this chances are, that your shoulder and elbow will refuse to bend this far to the right. That‘s because there‘s you in the way.

line ofsight

requiredcue action

EyeEye

correct lineof stroke

correct cuealignment

LOOK: normal• So when going down on the shot

we assume this normal position.

• Our vision center is aligned with our line of sight.

• Our cue and shoulder/elbow are aligned with the correct line of stroke.

• Any additional modification which has to be made for the kind of shot we are executing, should be made afterwards.

• For almost straight in shots, shots which are very close to the pocket or power shots with very clean balls, most of the time no additional modifications have to be made.

line ofsight

requiredcue action

Eye vision center

Eye

correct lineof stroke

correct cuealignment

LOOK: throw• To compensate for throw, we have to

hit the ball thinner.

Throw maximizes …:• … for slow stun shots,• … for half ball hits,• … for sticky balls.

• Small distances between cue ball and object ball result in partial stun shots, because the cue ball cannot pick up natural roll after the hit and before the carom.

• Cheap balls tend to be made from softer material, which again is more sticky and thus leads to more throw.

• Freshly polished Duramith balls tend get thrown less than half as much as not-so-clean standard balls.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 20 40 60 80

Angle

Thro

w

LOOK: unthrow

Stun +++

Power shot +

Natural Roll 0

Draw -

Three step throw eliminator:

1. Memorize throw for a medium distance natural roll with small cut angle (it‘s a slight nothing, you will notice it only for sticky balls).

2. Memorize the amount of correction needed for a slow half-ball stun shot of two diamonds distance. That‘s the maximum you‘ll need. Also look, what that correction looks like from only one diamond distance. (It appears bigger for short than for longer distances, because of the size of the balls. You have to move more to achieve the same change in contact point.)

3. Whatever you need to correct, is within these limits.

Estimate your shot according to these limits and develop intuition for it.

Slow +++

Medium +

Hard 0

New & Clean 0

Used & Dirty +

Worn & Sticky ++

Shot Type

Shot Speed

Ball Condition

Hard 0

Soft +

Ball Material

LOOK: throw awayCaveats:

• Is my shot very close? Then I might need to plan for stun, instead of roll.

• Is my shot very long, but will pick up roll anyway?

• Am I stunning it, but playing with more speed than usual? It throws less!

• Do I use lots of draw? I might need to aim fuller than for natural roll.

Learn to kill the cue ball at any distance, to achieve a standard medium slow speed stun shot. Remember what it exactly feels like. Use it, tons. This ball will pot the same, no matter what.

• During warm-up, check out the conditions of the balls, and adjust.

• Check with natural roll on freshly polished Duramith balls to make sure it‘s not your aim.

LOOK: right!

• All of a sudden, your aiming for left and right angles will feel the same.

• Unwanted English will be gone, if your stroke has been straight.

• You will hit the center of the pocket if you plan to.

• You will pocket equally well, no matter whether you play hard or soft shots.

Get the LOOK

Simply try not to mix up these lines ever again, you retarded piece of carbon cue stand!

Shoot a million balls and try to develop an intuition, so you have an instant intuitive „configuration“ for any type shot.

Practice LOOKing for those two lines and estimating your required correction for different distances and angles between cue and object ball.