CTE and FEEL

A common question that comes up regarding CTE aiming: is feel (conscious adjustment) involved? This can be problematic, as there are multiple contexts to this question. So first lets back up and talk about aiming in general.

As we all know, humans are imperfect by nature. That is, it is nearly impossible to line up a shot exactly on target. You are always going to be off by some margin. It could be a thousandth of an inch, but often much more. Good thing the pockets are bigger than the balls! That said, the game of pool relies on these imperfections. If we were able to execute shots with robotic precision, this would no longer be a game, right?

Now in the general process of aiming, we get down on the shot and take note of where we are aimed. If we see that we are off, we have a choice here: we can make a small tweak to correct the alignment, or we can stand up and start over. The choice boils down to our own comfort zone.

So now the question: does CTE (Pro One) specifically require feel? Regarding geometric alignment only, if we were able to execute with robotic precision, feel would not be part of the equation. CTE is a visual system and the eyes are always using objective references. The variance in what the eyes see is very small and constantly refined. Most variance takes place in the body and stroke. Through practice and experience we bring our body and stroke inline with what the eyes see, minimizing the need for adjustment.

Outside of geometric alignment, some level of feel is always going to play a factor due to our imperfections and other factors such as rails, cloth, humidity, cling, where the CB is going, etc. Taking the entire shot into account, we always add judgement based on our own experiences to pocket the ball and get whitey where we want it. CTE does its part by giving you objective visuals to connect you to center pocket.

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  • Skeptic

    How can any system “robotically” define all possible cut angles using only a few “objective references” (CTE and aim points)? Doesn’t “visual system” really mean you learn to recognize the cut angles by practice and repetition, just like every other method? Isn’t it just another way of saying “by feel”? Doesn’t the fact that you can only describe the system with made-up terms like “visual intelligence” mean it isn’t really “robotic”?