The aiming system used by the world’s most successful players in all cue sports is the “Three Court System”. Simply put, it’s the purest, most scientific aiming system out there, and it’s based on pure geometry. There are really only three cuts you need to learn to master pocket balls. They are: ¼, ½ and ¾ cuts. All other cuts are slight variations on these three.

In geometry, the degree of the angle that these cuts represent are:

¼ = 49 degrees

½ = 30 degrees

¾ = 14 degrees

The basis of this aiming system is to imagine that the object (OB) ball has four equal cuts, starting with a perfect cut in the middle representing two halves of one ball and then to the left and right of the ½ ball cut, thus creating the ¼ Slice and ¾ Ball.

How do we use these references in a game?

Recognizing the degree of angle the (OB) must take to enter the desired pocket, we simply need to cut it using one of these three “lines” as our reference.

It is extremely important to understand this: in a perfectly spherical object, the only absolute reference is its edge. Absolute from the point of view of the observer, that is to say, that in our example, it is from the point of view that the (OB) looks from behind the cue ball (CB).

So here is the magic. From your (CB’s) point of view, the left and right ends of the (OB) represent perfect ½ ball cuts in either direction. In other words, by aiming your (CB) directly at either edge of the (OB), you’ll send the (OB) at a perfect 30 degree angle. Therefore, if you analyze the angle correctly (which you will with practice), you will always hole the ball. The same rules apply for all other slice shots in a game, whether ¼, ½, or ¾, or slight variations thereof. Once you start estimating the angle correctly, it’s simply a matter of using the outer edge of the (OB) as a reference.

So start by learning the ½ ball cut and work your way up from there. This system works and that is why all the best professional pool players use it.

To speed up the learning curve in this system, I recommend the pool aim trainer. It teaches you how to see these angles.

SOURCE: How to Play Great Pool, by Paul Turner (Inventor of the Billiard Aim Trainer)

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