Do you aim by diamonds or the edge of the object ball? And why are masse shots so hard to get right?

Hi Chuck, I am not quite sure what you mean by aim by diamonds if you would like to expand on that I will gladly expound upon it the best I can.

Other than that I use a variation of the edge of the ball aiming system called exact equal opposites, which means that if I am cutting a ball to the right a piece of the the right side of he cueball will contact the exact same piece of the left side of the objectball. For example 1/4 on the right side of the cueball will contact a 1/4 of the left side of the objectball.

I find that this system is easy to visualize without needind to get extremely specific with picking spots you just see the balls overlap until the object ball will travel down the desired path to the pocket. This helps to build a repeatable catalog of shot pictures in your mind to be called up when needed, your mind will extrapolate any minor variations required to pocket your chosen shot, you just have to get it close. The more shot pictures in your catalog the closer you will be.

I also believe that most people spend far to much time trying to find an exact aiming system, when learning to fine tune their alignment to the shot would be much more productive in their development. I truely believe that most pro's don't aim any better than you or I, they just align more consistently than we do and can repeat this action endlessly the exact same every time.

As far as masse shots and why they are so hard to get right, there are a vast amount of variables to take into account and they are constantly changing, such as the cleaness of the balls and cloth, friction of the cloth( dirty high nap fuzzy cloth will have alot more friction than newly installed simonis 860), tip placement on the object ball, consistency of stroke, tip type and shape, elevation of the cue, distance, and many more variables. Top masse shooters like trickshot artists and three cushion players, don't even consider these variables as they could never account for them all, they have just learned how to adjust the result of a shot by watching the ball reaction of the previous shot, and most importantly they have shot that shot(or one like it) millions of times and have a very detailed shot picture in their minds.

Hope this helps and any other questions feel free to ask. If you are ever in my area or if I am headed your way for a tournament or table job we can get together for a lesson and I can explain this and ore in person for you.

Bern

The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well
John D. Rockefeller

The diamonds I am talking about are the dots going around the table at regular intervals.

Hi Chuck, are you talking about banking or kicking or are you talking about a system to aim regular shots with the diamonds. I apologize in advance for my confusion with your question but if you let me know I will try to help.

Bern

Just a system to aim by the diamonds on the table.

Hi Chuck, The only shots that I use the diamonds for are banks and kicks, i don't use them to aim with on regular shots, I use the exact equal opposite aiming system Jimmy Reid teaches although I can teach several systems that is the one I prefer personally.

As far as using the diamonds for banks, the aim spot on a one rail bank is always half the distance between the object ball and the pocket if you stun the object ball into the rail. Now that is a very simplified system as there are alot of other factors such as speed, spin, and angle that come onto play when banking and my suggestion to you would be to have a lesson with either myself or Fast Larry so that you can begin to understand all of the subtlties involved in banking.

Bern

I, personally, have never used the diamonds on the table for lining up shots. When I was playing heavily I just instinctively knew where to aim and what english to apply to be successful in banking. I would think, however, that the diamond system would help me greatly in kick shots so maybe I need to get up to speed in that area.

I have heard that oriental/asian players rely heavily on the diamond system so I am sure that I am missing out on something here because there are some damn fine oriental/asian players out there today.

[ Edited by imax on 2007/7/31 20:05 ]

Hi imax, pool is a game best played by feel. It is wonderful just to see the table clearly and feel exactly how to hit a kick or a bank, but on the days that your struggling and your feel is off it is nice to have a system to fall back on.

I have many times seen a single shot turn a match around and if knowledge of a diamond system makes this difference it is worth all the effort to learn it.

Knowledge is power and power creates winners!
Fear is created by a lack of knowledge!

Bern

Any advice on books to read or DVD's on the subject?

The books I would advise checking out are (1. banking with the Beard - a terrific book about banking and all it's variables, it will require alot of time to process all of this information. (2. "Little Joe Villapando's POOL I.Q. volume 1 dvd - this video is a tremedous source of knowledge for kicking accurately and consistently, it is very well presented and a high quality video.

Besides this you could also make arrangements to get one on one personal instruction from myself, Larry or Danny on the subject.

Thanks

Bern

What are the sizes of the pockets on the 6x12's in your area. Most American 5x10's seem to be 4". We are using the 2 l/8" ball with numbers, are you all using the 2 l/16" ball with no numbers.

Hi Dandydan, the pockets on our 6x12's are 3 3/4" on standard tables and 3 1/2" on pro tournament models and we play with 2 1/16" balls.

Unfortunately our last snooker club just closed down
and their is really no place left to play this wonderful game here in Windsor on a 6x12 and 5x10 are also hard to find for practice or play.

If you know anybody looking for a 6x12 or 5x10 for their home or poolroom I know of several in good shape looking for a loving home. Feel free to PM me

Thanks

Bern