Preshot routines?

[rolldarocks]

What are your preshot routines? Please include if your looking at the cue ball or object ball while shooting. Are people using the ghost ball aiming, parallel aiming, railroad track, or fractions(fullball 1/2ball /1/4ball etc.)?Sorry if this has been posted already. Just looking for some different approaches.

[skor]

You should use all methods, in some shots you don't need all of them but you need to know how to use them all.
How you aim is an individual thing, two people don't see the same.
the pre-shot routine is more imortant. when I approach a shot, first I'm checking the pockets options, where can I pocket the ball, then I check if I can get to my next ball from any of the options, If I can't get to a good position then I'll start to look for a good safe shot, once I know what I want to do, I'm thinking on how to do it, check the natural tangent, do I need to hit the CB with top, bottom or side spin and in what speed do I need to hit the cue ball. Once I got all these figured out I approach the shot, aim, take a few practice strokes and then stroke the CB.
How I aim? sometimes I just "feel" the spot on the OB that I need to hit...
the ghost ball technic is probably the best way, because it you only limit your self to full, half and quarter ball, you'll miss a lot of shots!

[dags_lax]

I just "feel" the spot on the OB that I need to hit...

Gotta say that works for me as well. Obviously I am aiming but it is just happening on a subconscience level.

When I have to think about where I am aiming that means I am struggling and should just unscrew my cue and pack it up for the evening.

[sonnic]

To me they are all pretty much the same and like Dags i just pick a spot on the OB and hit it in. I picked ghost ball but I really do them all.

You should look at the OB Last but before you shoot, on your practice strokes be looking at the line from the CB to the OB so look back and forth untill you see the line clear as day and then when you are making your final stroke ALWAYS look at the OB NEVER the cue ball!!! I use to ask myself the same question but if you look at the CB it would be like looking at your hand when your throwing a dart at a dart board. Now obviously your going to be aiming at the target witch is the Board in darts and is the OB in pool.

[DZ314]

My run outs have all come when I am not using any aiming method other than my own two eyes. Sometimes I will spot and pick the contact point on the OB to use as reference, but after that the shot is aimed with my eyes.

[nathar]

Here lately I have been using the fractional method. When I first started learning this technique I was shown that a certain fractional hit will produce a certain angle. IE: A 1/2 ball hit will produce approximately a 155 degree angle and a 1/4 ball hit will produce a 135 degree angle. While we can't stop the game to break out a protractor, on certain shots that come up repetitively it can be a good aiming reference. Right now on some shots it just seems easier to me to be able to aim for a percentage of the ob rather than a very tiny spot on the table or on the ob. Plus on some shots, like long soft cut shots into the side pockets, the ghost ball aiming system just isn't very effective. Most of the time I can compensate for the throw, but sometimes I just can't get the ball to drop even though I hit it exactly where I thought I needed to. Well I have been informed by the person showing me this fractional system that when we get closer to the end of the lessons that he will show me a part of the system that has compensation for contact induced throw built in. :D

In the system I am learning, and I have only just started learning, the hits have been broken down into fractions of 1/16ths of a ball. Personally I don't see myself being able to acurately descern the difference between a 3/16 ball hit and a 1/4 ball hit, but I am still learning things which make this system worthy of attention. Especially when it comes to safety play and banking. I picked up the book Banking With The Beard. The fractional theory is also used in this book. After just the first few lessons my banking abilities have increased many times over, and I attribute a lot of that improvement to the aiming and banking systems in the book. Not to mention that the fractional aiming system can be combined with the diamond systems to determine certain angles. Although I haven't quite gotten that far yet.

Anyway, I still use the ghost ball method for a lot of shots. I just think that being open to all methods of approaching a pool table(except for the extremely absurd of course) is extremely important to improving your overall game. 8)

[txplshrk]

I have to agree with Dags Lax, Sonnic, and DZ314. You have to just know where the sweet spot on the object ball is, and be able to hit it perfect. All the other stuff is good to practice and see different angles and english and such, but if you can't hit the right spot on the OB it will never go in. Also you must have a really good stroke! That is how all my run outs have come about.