A Nine Position Pool Aiming Practice Routine

Establish the coordinate model before setting balls

Use a clean ball pair of equal diameter, a permitted ordinary stroke and enough room for a comfortable stance. Example cushion-nose rectangle: 8×4 units representing a 100×50-inch bed; origin lower-left. A 2.25-inch example ball has radius 0.09 unit. These illustrative dimensions are not every table’s specifications. Scale by the actual bed and ball radius; leave a shot untested if reach or room clearance is unsuitable.

Pocket center P=(8,4), object center O=(6,2.8). The ideal object direction is u=(P−O)/|P−O|. Tangent ghost center G=O−0.18u≈(5.845651, 2.707391). The center-to-center separation is one full ball diameter, not one radius. A pocket is an opening, not a guaranteed point target; actual facing acceptance and throw still need observation.

Build a repeatable shot alignment before adding distance or cut demand.

Recreate nine starts without guessing angles

For each signed rotation θ, rotate u by θ to form the incoming direction v. Set cue center C=G−dv for d=1.4,2.0,2.6. The three rows therefore keep approach angle constant while changing distance. Rotation signs label geometry, not a universal left-eye or right-eye instruction.

Keep O fixed. Place only the cue ball for the active row; the nine starts are alternatives, not nine cue balls on the table. Use an off-table sketch, measured references and a photograph; do not mark cloth without permission. The rounded coordinates are setup approximations, not claimed measuring accuracy.

Record 45 attempts and three separate observations

Use no deliberate sidespin and a familiar repeatable delivery. Shoot five counted attempts at each of nine starts: 9×5=45. A struck miss, scratch, unexpected spin or poor delivery remains an attempt. An unstruck safety interruption is marked untested and is not secretly replaced with a successful retry.

For every attempt write pocketed yes/no, observed miss side relative to the chosen pocket line, and whether setup or delivery departed from the plan. Thick/thin should be assigned only when the observation supports it; otherwise write uncertain. No process note changes the pocketing count. No postimpact cue-ball route is promised.

Work the row totals without diagnosing from a tiny sample

The worked total is 9+12+6=27 makes out of 45, or 60%. That is an example of accounting, not an expected score or permanent aiming diagnosis. Keep each of the nine cells visible; an overall total can hide a changed stance or one difficult position.

Choose one reproducible weak cell for the next session, first checking the geometry and delivery. Do not adopt a new system after every miss. Rest or end when the routine cannot be maintained; completion is not more important than safe deliberate attempts.

Mirror later, then test recognition

For a separate mirrored session reflect every center by (x,y)→(x,4−y), including the object and ghost centers, and use pocket (8,0). Do not merely change the pocket while leaving the original balls in place. Forty-five attempts on each side make ninety planned attempts across the two sessions, not a required single-session workload.

After several comparable records, shuffle the nine row cards before each block to test recognizing the shot instead of remembering the next one. Keep shuffled results separately labeled. A small sample or an unverified setup cannot prove that the reference is wrong or that a technique change caused improvement.

Separate aiming from delivery observations when the misses do not explain themselves.

Compare an optional ferrule observation without adopting a named method or altering the cue.