In the bonus video for this lesson, I reveal a clever trick that I use to either find the right aiming line or verify that I am aiming properly. I also show you the way I practiced to eventually learn the auto-aiming method: www.patreon.com/posts/93884544

Aiming systems are an example of what we in the instructional design field call a scaffolding system. The idea of scaffolding is to allow you a starting point toward building up mastery so that you can eventually discard the scaffolding system.

@eamonryan6157

5 ай бұрын

That's deep! but actually makes perfect sense. As time goes on, angle recognition becomes more familiar, and instinctual. I love how you articulated the point, thank you.

@vohungnam3847

5 ай бұрын

damn that true

@cdsersd2d

19 күн бұрын

Agree. I use the "whatever it takes" aiming system...lol. 98% of my shots are instinct, but a few angles that I can't recognize, I use something similar to the SVB aiming. In the end, nothing beats instinct-reconition. Hit a million balls is the only real way to get better.

It's like Jazz- learn all the theory during practice, but internalize it so thoroughly so that your performances are informed yet still purely intuitive.

@elbenjas4003

5 ай бұрын

Beautifully said.

I believe that automatic/instinctual aiming comes from pocketing thousands/millions of balls.

@zanethind

5 ай бұрын

It really does

@kemillionaire2

5 ай бұрын

This is the correct answer

@scottisitoro3953

5 ай бұрын

Ok, but the average player misses more than not, so it becomes frustrating, annoying and soon lack of interest in this great game takes place. Those thousands/millions of pocketed balls never happen. I can honestly state (come to Chicago-land, look me up for serious $$ 9 ball) that after playing 5-6 times in my life (I'm about to turn 62) prior to April, 2023 (now practice daily), my gam; breaking, follow, draw, right/left english has amazed a former Tour player near me to the point where I am always a threat to run out. His words, "Scott, there's no safe place against you anymore." Conclusion: Don't rack, break then pound balls all over.. Drills, short cuts, then longer, then practice 3-4 ball outs, 5-6, scatter 1,3,5,7 and9 at one end; 2,4,6 and 8 at other. This has been ridiculously important in my development. Why? You see I'm forced to spin the cue every shot back and forth. I love this game, I wake up (yes, I still have a job) thinking about who I'm about to play, where to play safe against a given player, etc. Opponents are nicknaming me "Big Time" not because I'm 6'4", but because I practice tough shots over and over, then make them in match play. Keep pocketing fellow players !!!!

@MonkeyD.Usopp434

5 ай бұрын

thank you for the advice! i'm a relatively new player but I'm trying to power through all the missed shots and am now just excited about my development!@@scottisitoro3953

@john_vin

5 ай бұрын

@@scottisitoro3953 You are taking it out of context.I am replying to the video. No one said to just pound balls over and over.There should be meaningful practice LOL

I've been a "feel" player for decades (I'm 67 years old) but, as I get older I never know how I'm going to feel from day to day or match to match. As a result, I need to warm up a few minutes before starting a match, whereas 20-30 years ago, I got out of my car ready to play.

I can relate to the concept since the experience I have playing pool allows me to. However, my skill with rail shots is not nearly good cause systems in those are very important. Require much more practice to be executed by the feel. Also, for all the beginners, the good stance and stroke techniques are absolutely necessary to build that feel cause otherwise you won't know what and why worked or failed. Keep practicing.

Makes a lot of sense! Thank you!

I have heard many great players say to aim while standing. For me, this helps my alignment to the shot line. I do a system for this. But once down its focus on the aim line and contact point

I honestly feel like ghost ball might just be the best aiming system/method ever but again you gotta work with what you're comfortable with at the end of the day. Also a pree shot routine and visualizing the shot before you make it and walking into the shot lined up really helps as well like you mentioned in the video actually

Good video, and btw nice new table. Aiming goes away the better you get & it becomes a feel game to getting shape as your subconscious & perennial vision take over and the all wanted state of flow to take over to play lights out. Cheers

Dr Dave in shambles rn

ESTOS SON LOS VIDEOS QUE ME GUSTAN... EXCELENTE EXPLICACIÓN SHARIVARI... GRACIAS MAESTRO!!!! 👌👏👏👏❤️🎱

100% agree, there are too many variables in every (most) shot for any simple enough aiming system to work.

Force or cue impulse on cue ball is purely experiential. Force and spin combined creates different paths in many cases that can only be predicted from experience. Spending a day at the table with just the cue ball and one other ball can train the instinct . . . with that table! Different sized tables, things change. Adjusting on the fly takes some time. Temperatures, humidity, noise, all these variances end up changing an internal sense of what's going on. Some system learning can help, for sure, but the variable is inner trust in a feeling. Otherwise uncertainty will make for puny, anemic shots when daring is called for. I think anyway.

I think we should not relie on feeling because many factors affect it like mood, and muscle memory. Instead, we should follow the technique, use it like a formula then your shot will be stable

Some people just have a natural ability to understand the feel and physics of the game, and some/most people just do not, and likely never will, no matter how much practice they put in. We all know these types of players. Pool is a game that always came natural to me. Trying to teach somebody how to "feel" the shot is nearly impossible. Either they get it, or they don't, IMO.

I agree 100%

What cue do you shoot with? Thank you

All great points. At some point towards the end I thought “well, he could sum it by just saying Use the Force Luke!” And only half kidding. I notice that feeling like when I’m down on the shot and just feel right. Unfortunately also know when I feel wrong but shoot it anyway. I’m working on stopping that last one, stand up again and recalibrate, just as you show here.

@charlesmertes3109

4 ай бұрын

My playing partner who is a big Bruce Lee fan just like me always says"be like water my friend"and I told him"it's easy enough for Bruce And you, but not so much for me"

Sharivari what type of cue stick you’re using ??

Thanks again for being clearly about aiming system which sometimes turn to be ignoring in terms of utilizing it in your 🎱games. But that is important to keep this in mind...

Offtopic. Whitch cue are you using? Digging the all black cue😄. Great content as always! Cheers!

@Sharivari

5 ай бұрын

It's the Mezz Avant DLS.

Experts do have an „aiming system“, ie know-how about potting balls. But they automatized it by extensive practice (HAMB) and become unable to explain what they are doing by this very process; this is generally the case for experts in all domains. The aiming system must be compatible with the physics of (almost) elastic sphere collisions (= ghost ball) and, yes, it also has to account for cut/spin-induced throw and deflection. Beginners should start with centre ball shots and seek their way to see the „ghost ball“ (which is difficult). This will allow them to get down into the correct shot line (part 1, aiming). Delivering the cue and the cue ball along that shot line - ie part 2 of the shot (shooting) - is another issue and, I agree, the far more difficult one. Focus and work on staying on the shot line, especially during the final back swing, the shot and, crucially, also after hitting the cue ball (Sharivari has a video on this key topic). Imho, the game will not truly start before you master playing the object ball precisely to any destination including pockets (fully analogous to learning to play a musical instrument).

Are you concern if the cue ball is sliding before contact?

Maybe I’ve seen your videos way too much but wasn’t this one already up? It feels familiar. I will say aiming systems are a great way for beginners to get away from casual bar playing and dial their game in BUT if you’re reading this as a beginner he is right. You must develop a feel for the shots too. Compensate for throw and the cloth. Find a really good set of drills and just work all angles. You’re gonna be blown away when you can step on a table and you may envision a ghost ball but FEEL from reps will allow you to add touch. Like a ball player throwing a ball. There’s always an element to play here.

Mental edge is worth the time and money!❤

Aiming systems like ghostball are operative in the majority of the shots and it's a massive help for beginners and intermediaites players. But of course, if you already have played that particular shot 10 000 times, you don't really need to rely on the ghostball because you know how to play the shot : it's called experience. XP replaces aiming systems progressively but you can't gain experience if you don't use aiming system first. Aiming system is the path to gain XP.

I guess the advice here is practise practise the same shot with different spins and you build a knowledge base. Am just starting this process and I have 4-6 spin shots now in my bag that I can consistently do. But its a long process. But to advance I have to master this or I stick to just top, middle stun and draw shots which is not enough to beat better players.

Using your instinct is the best aiming system you could have

On the final shot of the video, when you hit with inside/left spin. You say you have to aim fuller, because you're hitting harder, but wouldn't the inside spin throw the OB more toward the bottom rail? So shouldn't you aim thinner? What's the main factor in you deciding that you have to hit fuller? I understand using your instincts, but those are trained out of an understanding of the physics of the CB and OB behavior.

@Sharivari

5 ай бұрын

The quick answer: When you are hitting hard, deflection is the dominant force and the spin won't throw the OB. The long answer: watch the video again starting from 6:10 and then watch this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/o6GgvM-DY9TTp6g.html

whats your cue?

Nobody talks about the ball fading away out of existence at 6:00.

@Sharivari

5 ай бұрын

In case you are wondering what that is: I always want to make my videos look pretty. This means removing cables, tripods, and also fixing lighting problems. In the topdown view I have very uneven lighting on the one side. So I took the left pocket, and overlayed it on the right pocket. That way it looks similar. But I obviously didn't do a good job on masking the pocket properly.

@onemoremisfit

10 сағат бұрын

The ball disappeared into the pocket but its shadow was still on the table next to the pocket.

Is that a tan line on your hand from using a glove, outside pool? 😅

I met a guy once who could break and run racks with a house cue and I was asking what was his aiming system and he told he was just going by feel

The best reason to have an aiming system it to communicate it to teammates. Center to edge I in my opinion the best way to communicate pool information

Beautiful said and I think it is the first time I hear the truth. This is why I do hate pro players who take over a minute on each and every shot in tournaments.

What's weird to me is I can come in cold make most everything then miss shots that are maddening. Probably in carefree at first then start to care more about winning and tense up.

Some very good points made here about aiming. This is exactly why the Poolology aiming system is designed to help players recognize shots quicker than old-school trial and error (HAMB). The end goal of using Poolology is to get the player just seeing the shots and knowing how to hit them without having to use a system anymore.

I find in theory and in practice by yourself aiming systems are great if you put the time and effort in until it becomes effortless..you are shooting racks without thinking about it.. but in the game there are no guarantees.. win some/lose some as everyone knows. If it was that easy it wouldn't be a game! 👍🎱

@cdsersd2d

19 күн бұрын

Yep. There's a big difference between practice and playing real tournament games on a table and lighting you're not familiar with. That's why in the long run, no aiming system is the best. Aiming systems can get you through some dry spells on certain shots. But your brain will later pick up those angles and you will eliminate the aiming system. At least that's the way it worked for me.

@allgood6760

19 күн бұрын

@@cdsersd2d I agree.. no substitute for experience 👍🎱

100% correct, best aiming system is to shoot a million shots and learn how to pocket balls by manipulation. You can pocket balls with spin that wouldn't normally be possible. This is why playing someone is not practice, you have to hit balls by yourself over and over.

The less I think the more I sink ❤

Totally disagree. Any intuitive must have the base not by just "trial and error" way. A simple system (specific here the ghost ball) is a must for newbie to know where to shoot to. And when you don't need the system is when you are too familiar with the angle of the shot. Which come by repeatly and systematic training. But above all, the straight stroke is very important and have to accomplish first otherwise you will not have faith in any aiming way.

Agree and disagree. The line cueball takes to pocket the object ball is still the line that goes through the ghost ball spot. You adjust the line slightly by how hard or how much spin or the amount of throw possbly happens, which is mostly based on experience and repetition. You still can’t completely throw the ghost ball theory out of the window.

@cdsersd2d

19 күн бұрын

Most good aiming systems have some validity to them. But after you've hit so many balls, instinct becomes more reliable. Ghostballing assumes that everyone can visualize the contact points exactly where they need to be. On occasion, I do use ghostballing or the SVB method to confirm my instincts. Agree with you that for me...I don't completely throw out these systems. But well over 90% of my shots are pure instincts. When you watch pros play, you might notice on occassion that they will study the angle on a few shots. I think many of them will use an aiming system to align with their instincts. Just my opinion.

The really sad thing is about what you try to teach : nobody can understand still reach that level when you don't need aiming systems and play with feel. When you stand into the position of the shot, your legs includes all of the effects that will happen with the CB and OB.

I have usually no idea am even playing pool

99% of players play on inferior tables unlike pros. Its ti 2:15 me someone posted videos for us.

You couldn't be more wrong, just because you couldn't find a good aiming system that works don't mean ALL aiming systems fail. When you are down on a tough shot and $1000 is riding on the line there's a lot of pressure. I'll play anyone my speed or a bit better that plays only on feel all day, a mechanical player will beat a by feel player in the long run

i can’t play without aiming

Master CTE pro one and you’ll be Better off in 5 years then not using anything at all I promise u that

I taught Efren .

@scottisitoro3953

5 ай бұрын

You taught an Efren Jones., not the real Reyes...spanker

I'm actually a better player than Sharivari but he teaches well and is on the right path. In a year he will be a 700 Fargo.

I mean, good for you you don't need a system, but I've never been better than after I started using one (poolology). To each their own, and claiming no one should use a system is... Reductive.

@Sharivari

5 ай бұрын

It's great to hear that a system like poolology has been beneficial for you. My main message was about the evolution of a player's skills. I agree that aiming systems can provide valuable references, especially for beginners or those working to have a verification system. However, my point was that, ultimately, the goal for any player should be to develop a level of skill and intuition where they can make accurate shots based on their experience and feel for the game, without the need for a system. This doesn't mean systems aren't useful; they can be crucial step in the learning process. But as you develop, the aim is to reach a level where your understanding of angles, speed, and spin becomes second nature. So, in essence, we're both acknowledging the existence of systems for learning and growth, but I am also looking forward to a stage where one's skill transcends the need for them. Every player's journey is unique, and I appreciate your perspective on this.

@momo9594

5 ай бұрын

I wouldn't say that his point is reductive, we all need to start somewhere of course, I've got to a point where I want more from my game: position play, safeties, etc ... And aiming système hold you back at this point.

@micha-42

5 ай бұрын

@@Sharivari cheers man. I'm a maths person, I enjoy objective certainty and have a hard time trusting or "feeling". For my brain, the transcendance you mention will probably never happen, and surefire ways of deducting the contact point are much more effective.

@cdsersd2d

19 күн бұрын

@@momo9594 - Exactly! That's why the SVB and other aiming systems don't make sense. As soon as you introduce english, squirt, cue deflection, etc.....the entire aiming system goes out the window. FACT....pro players have been running out racks and racks using old equipment with high deflection shafts and had no problem doing it. When you have so much deflection, aiming systems don't work. Even low deflection won't work. Low deflection is not the same as NO deflection. You still have to adjust. The brain will adjust for throw, deflection, english, etc automatically after hitting a million balls. This is why any great player can pick up a house cue and run racks. Their brain will automatically adjust to the situation for aim, felt speed, deflection, etc.

Too much stuffing instead of potatoes!

Isnt this just Dr Dave's "the aiming system of pros" video? You also have "how pros aim" in the thumbnail just like Dr Dave's video. You also touched on the same points that Dr Dave did: cut induced throw, proper alignment, aiming with sidespin and the importance of lots of practice. Except Dr Dave's video was better structured into digestable sections, and his video examples were much more effective in conveying his point. I understand taking inspiration from other peoples videos. But it makes more sense to learn from their presentation style and video making experience rather than lifting the content of their video and turning it into an 8 minute ramble.

@Sharivari

5 ай бұрын

I haven't watched his video yet. Just saw the thumbnail and got the idea for this. But if we are talking about the same stuff it's a good thing.

Oh my God too much talking 😢

What waste of time. You explained this in first one minute. The kept repeating the same point. Just explain what to do correctly. If you can't do this, then what's the point of watching.

Or you can take the feel and guesswork out of it and use CTE! @stanandlandonshuffet

@haies09

5 ай бұрын

Pro One 😊