Lesson 4 – Aiming
Aiming to pocket a ball in snooker or the pool games relies on stance as much as the visual aspect. Sighting at the cue sports is like sighting with a rifle. The most important point to remember is when aiming you must keep in mind at the point of firing the shot you must be looking at the target. In the cue sports the target is the object ball. The following technique was taught to me when I was very young and was never upgraded through the subsequent years, as it proved to be simple and successful.
“Step into the shot from directly behind the cue ball along the line of aim and position your feet while sighting over the cue ball at an area on the object ball that, when connected on by the cue ball, will send it on the line to the pocket. Place the bridge hand and align the cue tip firstly on the area on the cue ball that you intend to strike with the cue tip, and secondly seeing the cue ball on to the object ball that will send it on line to the pocket”.
Having decided on your shot selection and where you want to strike the cue ball you can set your stance and bend over with your chin just touching the cue for good sighting. You are now ready to begin cueing. The only parts of your body that move when you are cueing are your cueing arm from the elbow down, but keep the wrist firm, and your eyes. First thing is to check your cueing and make sure that you are going to strike the cue ball where you intend to. If all is good, raise your eyes only, to the object ball, re-checking for the second time that your sighting on to the object ball is still correct. Continuing your cueing lower your eyes to the cue ball to re-check for the second time that you are going to strike the cue ball where you intended to. Raise your eyes to the object ball again checking for the third time that you are sighting correctly. Then, with your cue tip back to the cue ball, stop your cue for a brief pause, drop your eyes to the cue ball for the third and last time, making sure that your tip is still on the intended area of the cue ball, before raising your eyes to the object ball for the fourth and last time. This whole procedure has taken no more than 10 seconds.
Remember: When the time comes to play the shot, your eyes should be on the object ball.
I can recall my father at the end of his exhibition nights giving a few tips to the local players. On his sighting technique he would tell them that there were three things to have in mind while sighting:-
- “When sighting the object ball, you are saying to yourself, am I hitting this ball in the right place to send it on the path to the pocket”?
- “When sighting on the cue ball, am I hitting it on the area that I intend to with the cue tip to get it to go where I want it to go after making contact with the object ball ready for the next shot”?
- “Finally, while your eyes have been concentrating from the cue ball to the object ball, you always have the feeling in mind regarding your cueing arm, as to how hard or soft you are going to play the shot”.
It is important that you spend as much time as possible going over this lesson and the preceding lessons leading up to the next lesson.
