I thought I’d try the aiming without aiming thing again Friday night in my weekly pool night at the bar. It didn’t work that well for me before, but maybe tonight…..

The first few games didn’t go that well, although I did win a couple. My opponents weren’t that tough so that helped. I just wasn’t playing too impressively.

As the night wore on I started to make some much better shots. My brother usually comes by for some games on Friday, and I had him shaking his head at a couple long 8 ball banks that I made to win some games. (I love it when he shakes his head). 8^)

As my play started to get better and beter, I remembered that I was going to try the no-aiming thing. I had just naturally reverted back to my tried-and-true method of shooting that I have established over the years.

As I approach a shot, I first mentally draw a line through the object ball to the pocket where I want to sink it. I then take note of the spot on the object ball where that line exits, so I know exactly where I have to hit the object ball with the cue ball to send it towards the pocket. I then focus my attention on lining up my shot on the cue ball to get the correct aim, and where I want to leave the cue ball for the next shot.

At this point I drop my head down over the cue to actually finish aiming and take the shot. I realized that it was at this point also that the aiming without aiming best works for me.

In the past, there would be a little anxiety as I took the shot as to whether I had the angle right, or If I hit the cue ball too hard, or if I didn’t have the right english, etc. When I let go of this anxiety and just let my subconscious mind take over, the ball usually did the right thing.

So, instead of letting the mind take over the shot completely, I lined everything up as I always have and just trusted in the mind to take over the actual physical part of taking the shot. It worked pretty well. I played better than I have in weeks and I enjoyed the games I was playing more.

This, of course, ties into what Paul Rod Turner said in the last blog post of controlling the mind. As I have said before, once you play pool for a few years and have made just about every shot hundreds of times, the game becomes 95% mental. When you’ve got your head together you play much better pool than when you are upset or distracted.

I make it a point to get myself into a relaxed state before I start to play pool. I find that I always play better this way than when I am riled up about something. If I start to get anxious during a game – then I put the magic weapon to work.

Do you have a magic weapon that helps you get back on track? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment and let the world know what yours is. I’ll reveal mine in a future blog post. Until then, good luck on the table!