The CueTrack, a "perfect stroke pool trainer", looks promising. It provides a stable platform to solidify, enhance and refine the stroking and alignment of a pool cue.
I found the teaching and professional endorsements on this product to be impressive and am eagerly awaiting my CueTrack. I plan to field test the unit in a living laboratory environment with my classes this fall and will report on the results here at About.com.
Inventor Tony Mattina graciously took some time from a busy schedule to answer some questions this week about the CueTrack and his personal quest for a better instructional method.
Matt: Tony, thanks for joining us for an interview. Please tell our readers about your 15-year quest to better your pool stroke and teach others. How did this epic journey begin for you?
Tony: I was playing pool in tournaments and leagues and while I played a decent game, my passion for Straight Pool drove me to be a better player. I had trained with local instructors in the past, and they helped me with my fundamentals, basic pool shots and strategy. I was happy with my game, but I wanted more.
I sought out an instructor that was a former professional. I knew his game was great, but wasn't sure of his teaching methods. To make a long story short, his teaching methods were incredible. I thought I knew what a straight stroke was, but I didn't. Every time I got down on a shot, I was misaligned and my stroke had to compensate by moving the cue outside-in to get the cue back into alignment with the line of aim. You can imagine how well I did with a cut shot?
If you are not aligned to the proper line of aim, you are adding degree of difficulty to the game that does not need to exist. You have to constantly be your own pool trainer to reevaluate a shot to be sure the result will be favorable and ultimately remove doubt from your mind.
