Laser Sharpen Your Billiards Aiming
Star Wars comes to billiards with the new laser markers that make
a lot of homemaker tasks easier. The laser beam is housed in a
device that looks like a tape measure or a flat can-like
container. Both project a perfectly straight line on any surface
without leaving a mark.
Lasers are handy for hanging pictures and laying tile, but wait
until you see what you can do with one on a pool table!
Correct a Defective Center ball Hit
Knowing you are hitting the exact center of the cue ball is
imperative to a good stroke and accurately hitting your object
ball. Even if you have to rely on English for a specific shot,
you need to know you hit your exact target on the cue ball.
Most of us know that when we miss a shot and it bounces off the
horn of the pocket, it is because we were off just slightly on
the pinpoint we were targeting on the cue ball or the object
ball.
This is the last spot you have control over to make the shot you
are planning.
So how do you know you are aiming at a pinpoint and not a
dime-sized spot on the cue ball?
Let the laser show you.
Set up the laser this time on the end rail so it points down
table from diamond to diamond.
You should probably use a stool to get your laser up to rail
height without the potential of knocking it onto the floor
because it was sitting on the rail. You will be shooting from the
other end of the table towards the laser.
In either case you will have a thin red line that runs the length
of the table.
That is your target line for a shot with the cue ball. Also
notice the laser runs the line up to the top of your cue ball,
When you line up the shot make sure your cue is aligned with the
red line.
A double check on your aim is to quickly glance up from the spot
on the cue ball. If your shooting eye is directly over your cue
which is aligned along the target line, you will get a flash of
red as it looks directly into the laser.
When you pull the trigger you should see the cue ball roll right
down the red line, bounce off the end rail and return down the
red line to hit the end of your cue.
Just because you have it redlined, doesn't mean you have to
stroke the ball hard, just accurately.
Straighten out Your Cut Shots With A Laser
Following the little red line also works well with cut shots and
placing that laser behind a corner pocket can give you many
practice opportunities.
To start with, set up the laser so it points straight out from
the center of the pocket at a 45-degree angle and directly into
the side pocket. Now, take a mirror you can stand in the side
pocket and point it so the reflected laser line lines up with the
original from the laser.
Center an object ball on that line.
The line will fade out beyond the object ball, but you can
imagine the line's position on the target side of the ball. But
with the mirror, the reflected line will go right up to your
object ball and reflect the line up the contact side of the ball.
Use that line to establish the contact point for your cut shot
into the corner pocket.
This is where you need to use care. See the line in your mind.
Its location is something you want to memorize. It is your
contact point.
Now try a shot.
Once you get this down so you can consistently deliver the object
ball into the center of the pocket, shift the laser and mirror to
change the angle to 30 degrees.
The possibilities are endless; try as many angles as you can,
move the ball along the line to change the distance. Try a full
table length cut shot. Try the same shot angles with a side
pocket.
Just follow the red line, you will be amazed at how good you can
get.
Over time, you will find yourself looking for the pinpoint of
your target and not just a general spot. If you set this drill up
correctly, you will find center ball hits become a lot easier and
you will resist over cutting or under cutting your cut shots.
Reg Hardy, The Monk’s Apprentice has been working with lasers;
you can learn a lot about your stroke using a thin red line.
The use of lasers to improve billiards skills is a neat topic.
I’ve dealt with it a lot more extensively in the new e-Book,
Billiards Basics Blueprint along with the basics of stance, grip
more on aiming and the mental game of billiards.
Check it out ==>Billiards Blueprint It is more than you would
expect.
Hardy is publisher of www.BilliardsCrossing.com , the net’s only
members only site dedicated to billiards.
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