What is “eye pattern,” and what are generally recommended “best practices” for eye pattern before and during the stroke?

For more information, see: “Eye Pattern Best Practices,” (BD, July, 2025).

“Eye pattern” refers to how you move your eyes before and during a shot. Concerning generally recommended “best practices,” see stroke technique advice. In particular, see steps 1-4 in the stroke “best practices” document. Regardless of which eye pattern you choose, it is important to have quiet eyes when aligning your cue with the desired line of aim, and during your final delivery. A good generally recommended eye pattern is:

1. Look at the OB while getting down into your stance, and look at the CB as the tip gets close.
2. Look back and forth between the CB and OB with the cue still to verify tip position and aim alignment.
3. Look at the CB during any warm-up strokes. Alternatively, look at the CB during forward stroke and the OB during backstroke.
4. Stop at the CB and do one more tip and aim check with the cue still.
5. Lock your focus on the OB before the final stroke. Alternatively, if you have a long backstroke pause, lock the focus during the pause.
6. Keep your focus along the shot line during and after the final stroke, resisting the urge to turn your head or get up to see where the OB is going.

The following videos demonstrate many good and bad habits relating to eye pattern:

A very important part of the pre-shot routine is to focus on the OB target as you come down into your stance (for more info, see the DAM aiming advice page). This helps guide you straight down along the correct line of aim. Obviously, you need to change your focus to the CB as the tip approaches the CB to make sure you don’t foul and to make sure your cue is being aligned accurately. The CB is still in your peripheral vision as you drop, so both balls help guide you to an accurate alignment.

The reason why most top players in all cue sports focus on the OB before and during the final stroke is:

1. The distant focus helps you maintain the desired aim since you can clearly see what is called the aiming “shot picture” at the OB (where your line of aim is relative to the OB that you see while “aiming while standing“).
2. The distant focus helps you deliver the cue more straight toward your target. This is the case in other sports like with free throws in basketball (with focus on the rim), bowling (with focus on the arrows down the lane), baseball pitching (with focus on the target over the plate), horseshoes (with focus on the stake), and darts, archery, and shooting (with focus on the target), where you always want your final focused gaze to be at the distant target. This helps maintain straight aim and helps ensure straighter implement delivery in the target direction. Although, analogies with other sports are far from perfect (see more below).
3. Focus on the OB helps ensure you keep your head and body still during and after the stroke, instead of looking up from CB focus to see where the CB is heading.
4. With OB focus, you can better diagnose and learn from each shot since you can more clearly see the direction the CB heads and where it hits the OB, without needing to move your eyes or head during the shot.

Having a low stance, with your chin close to or touching the cue, offers advantages with eye pattern since the eyes or head do not need to move as much between CB and OB focus with both balls more in the middle of the field of view.

One exception to focusing on the OB last is elevated cue shots. With those shots, CB focus during the final stroke is usually more effective.

Some top players are also successful focusing on the CB last. Either technique can be mastered; although, OB focus does offer the slight advantages listed above. The most important element, regardless of which technique you chose, is to maintain still focus during the final stroke. For more info, see quiet eyes. An example of a top snooker player who focusses on the CB last is Stephen Hendry. Here’s a good discussion on the topic with snooker great Neil Robertson:

Can it help some people to focus on the cue ball last (CBL) instead of the object ball (OBL)?

Definitely. As long as you have still focus (see quiet eyes) and keep your head and body still during the stroke, what you focus on during the stroke is not so important; although, as pointed out above, there are slight advantages to focusing on the OB during the stroke.

If your stroke fundamentals are not solid, or if you do not trust yourself to stroke straight and hit the desired contact point in the CB, it can certainly help to focus on the CB during the stroke. But if your stroke fundamentals are solid, consistent, and trustworthy, then focusing on the OB during the final stroke does offer slight advantages.

There are also certain types of shots where CB focus might be preferred. When the OB is close to the CB, it doesn’t matter much. For finesse safeties, where you are rolling the CB very short and controlled distanced, CB focus can be helpful. For highly elevated shots, most people prefer CB focus. For kick shots where even a trace of unintentional sidespin is a killer, CB focus can be more effective. For a power break, many people prefer CB focus.

Why do athletes in other sports like racquet sports, batting sports, and golf focus on the ball being struck with the implement instead of the ball target?

In dynamic racquet and batting sports, where the ball is moving, it is much more effective to focus on the moving ball (instead of where you want to send the ball) because you need to predict where the ball will be at the moment of contact and react very quickly. In pool, the CB is stationary so you know exactly where it will be at the moment of contact, and no fast reaction is required. Concerning golf, your gaze direction is very different for the target (looking along the desired line or landing zone down the fairway, or the cup or flag on the green) as compared to the ball (looking straight down). If you are looking at the target, you will not be able to accurately strike the ball with the club. This is analogous to elevated shots in pool like jump shots, where the gaze direction at the CB is very different from the gaze direction at the OB. With elevated pool shots, most people are more effective focusing on the CB during the final stroke, especially if the target ball is far down table. If you are looking at the OB during the stroke, you might not get an accurate hit on the CB, which is so critical with elevated shots, where even a tiny tip placement error can result in a miss.

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