You know when you shoot a cue ball straight into the far rail, and it comes straight back to your tip? Yeah, mine doesn't do that. When I autopilot shoot this shot, I'm hitting with a tiny bit of right English. Not enough to affect most shots, but I can't make a ball if it's several feet away from the pocket, the inadvertent English throws off the shot.

What gives? Am I pulling my grip hand in towards my body as it comes forward? Am I sighting incorrectly? I've heard mention of trying to use your dominant eye, but I'm right-handed and it's my left eye (my chin is over the stick when shooting). Also, setting up the one-ball with the "1" illustrating the vertical axis makes it easier for me to see what to hit, so I think it's more an eye thing than an arm thing...or maybe that "1" shows that it's a concentration thing?

Any help appreciated.

Have you tried compensating and see what happens. If you think you're missing the center of the ball by a hair, move the tip a little and see what happens. You're never going to have perfect mechanics and pool is a game of compensations. A lot of players have shots that they miss one way most of the time, they take note of those things and incorporate it into their games.

When I'm working out a shot, I'll frequently tell myself "I miss this ball a lot on the thin side, hit it a hair thicker".

Besides, you're probably making this cue ball travel what, 12 to 15 feet up and down the table? You're not going to hit that perfectly very often.

My 0.02

Yeah, tried that.... But I'm hoping there's a solution that doesn't involve looking at the cue ball (instead of the object ball) while pulling the trigger.

Your lower arm should hang from your elbow like a pendulum, with nothing but straight forward and back motion. My guess is that you're tensing up during your stroke and throwing it into a bit of a sidearm motion.

You can test this by watching the shaft of the cue at the bottom edge of your peripheral vision as you stroke/ warmup stroke, and look for any side to side motion of the shaft. The shaft should be directly under your dominant eye.

This can also result from your stance being off center, and having your stroke arc sideways to compensate.

Thanks, guys. Went out last night and worked on it for an hour, got nowhere.

Then I started aiming for the right goalpost instead of the center of the pocket. Ball started going in like it had eyes.

I'm shooting better than I ever dreamed I could. It is such fun. It's even more fun than when I started winning at poker. Not sure why, but it is (and I'm not even gambling on pool).

My guess is your right hand is moving closer to your body during the stroke.

Couple things to try.

1) set up your phone or camera somehow and record your stroke from behind you. Slow-mo will help you see if your hand moves left as you hit the shot.

2) Move your right hand back a couple inches. Hold the cue closer to the butt.

3) Hold the cue with less grip pressure. A huge majority of players hold the cue way too tight. Only hold it tight enough to keep it from slipping during the shot. If you are used to holding it tight, this will not feel right, but it is and it takes awhile to get used to.

Thanks, buddy. Don't think my crappy phone has the capability to discern something that slight. If its only a problem on long shots, it can't be that big/noticeable a flaw.

Same thing with my grip. It, also, is only too tight on long shots. Guy on YouTube suggests gripping with only your two smallest fingers on these shots, and that does help. Tough to break decades-old habits, though.

Gonna try the butt grip. Makes sense. Thanks again.

Wow, gripping near the butt helped WAY more than I expected on those long shots! Thanks, Suit!

Bad beat story from last night. League match. Each ball you make is worth a point, except the 8-ball, which is worth 8 points (winner gets 15 points, loser gets one point for each ball he makes). I'm playing to 69 pts, my opponent has to get to 73.

First FIVE racks, I'm stuck with the wrong suit (ie, I'm stuck with stripes when I'd much rather be solids). Four of those racks, I'm up after the break with an open table, and no shot on the suit I want. I even had to play a safety once. Ever try playing safe in that spot? There's nowhere to hide.

Needless to say, my higher-ranked opponent took a commanding lead in the match. When he got to 58 points, he was on the hill. I needed to win the next three racks.

I win the first (with the wrong suit!)
I win the second.
He is SHOOK.
I feel like King Kong. It's hill-hill, and as I'm stepping up to break, I tell myself, "He's not getting back to the table.

I break, they scatter.

The eight ball is making a bee-line for the side pocket, following two other balls. But they should get out of the way in time.

"Get in there!", I shout, much too loudly and disruptively.

The eight falls (and yes, that's a win in this league; and no, I didn't scratch).

"Yeah!" Again, way too loud for the bar we were in. I even jumped up in the air, something else i never do. But I've never made the 8 on the break in a game that meant something...and this game was HUGE! And to cap off a three-rack comeback? Against a higher-ranked opponent?

Then I got the bad news: winning this way is only worth 8 points, not 15. So the match isn't over yet.

"What??? I thought it was hill-hill?"
"Not if you win that way."
"So I just made the gwme-winning, match-winning Shot Of My Life, and you're saying it meant nothing?"
"(shrug) Do it again, that's all."

Yeah, I didn't do it again. Nothing fell on the break, opponent chose his suit (again) and inevitably won (again!).

But he and his teammates fell over themselves telling me what a great match that was. The teammates said they enjoyed just watching it, as if we had put on an exhibition for these bar league players on how this game should be played. That was pretty cool.

No problem. I've been at this game a long time. Glad to help. Specially guys that want the help and don't make excuses for why they choose their way instead of trying mine. It never hurts to try.

That is a bad beat. But then again, even if they gave you the choice to spot the 8 and keep shooting or take the 8 points and re-rack I think we would all take the 8 points and smack em again. It would have to be one wide open table not to. Now if you make a ball on the break you only need 7 balls to win. Bad roll.

So you've met my teammates?

I've given up on encouraging them to learn what they're doing wrong.

Your teammates and 95%+ of the rest of the pool players out there. One of the guys I looked up to when I first started playing more seriously taught me that. He said "I don't like to try to help anyone anymore because no one wants to listen and learn. They all want to tell me why they did it the way they did it rather than realize they could improve by listening." But I would actually listen to him so he would sit with me and we'd watch other ppl play and he'd tell me what he would do in the spot they're in and why. I've never learned more about this game from any other source. A guy that you know can run out every time he gets to the table tries to help you out... You listen.

Brag. Always dreamed to be as good as him and his son and after a few years I actually got to play on a team with them both at the year end tournament and we won the Masters division. I also won the Masters singles around that same time. Might just be something to opening your mind after all. GL YTF. Next time you head south maybe I can meet up with you and Hot Toddy for a few games.

Oh yeah, since I've gotten bit by the pool bug, I've been very eager to get down there and see you guys.

Started this thread because I couldn't make a long, straight-in shot, and thought tiny bits of English was the reason.

Read a tip today on straight-in shots: aim for the top of the object ball (or the bottom, if yuou prefer).

Not only did the shots start dropping, but I was splitting the pocket.

Try doing your 'aiming' before you even get down on the shot. That will take you to another level in and of itself.

shorten your bridge an compact you stance an then you can loose up your stance once you build the mussel memory of hit the center ball. But for one Make your bridge 2" from the cue ball. it will feel abnormal but you will make much more precise hits. keep you arm an elbow tucked in. Make sure your bridge hand is strong have someone try to move it, they shouldn't be able to easily.

let me know if i can elaborate for you or how this work,