How to Aim Pool and Snooker Shots
Most missed pots are missed before the cue moves. Aiming is a set of habits you can learn: where to look, how to line up and how to commit.
1. Find the ghost ball
To pot an object ball, the cue ball must strike it at the right spot. Picture a ghost ball touching the object ball, on the line from the pocket through the object ball’s centre, extended behind it. Aim the centre of the cue ball at the centre of that ghost.
2. Get down on the line
Stand behind the shot first, looking along the line from the cue ball through the ghost ball. Then lower your body so your chin is near the cue, with the cue directly under your eyes. This is why snooker players put their head almost on the cue: from above, the angle is distorted; from the cue line, it is clear.
Cue & Chalk’s eye-level camera reproduces this: it sits just above the ball height behind the cue ball, with a narrow field of view, so you see the shot the way a player does. The overhead view is great for planning; the eye-level view is for aiming.
3. Pivot, don’t shuffle
Once you are down, you should only move the cue with your arm. If you shift your body after lining up, the cue line changes. In the game, the fine-aim arrows move the line in small steps for the same reason.
4. Follow through
Pause at the end of the stroke with the cue still pointing down the line. If it veers, your aim was off, and that is useful information.
Common aiming errors
- Cut shots: thin cuts look easier but are the most mis-aimed. Re-check the ghost ball.
- Over-hitting: too much power makes everything less accurate. Aim to pot with pace only just enough to arrive.
- Eyes jumping: look at the object ball on the final stroke, not the cue ball.
Once potting is solid, add spin to control where the white ends up.