Two Views of Joe Tucker’s 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer
Finding Center Cue – John Biddle’s View
I liked this product right from the start. It arrived only a few days after I ordered it, it was inexpensive ($14.95), and I received 2 of them when I was only expecting one. Also, there was a DVD included with the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainers that was an excellent introduction into why and how you should use the product.
3rd Eye Stroke Trainer
The 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer is made of not-quite-rigid white plastic and comes in 6 easy to assemble pieces, even if you don’t watch the video. Multiple pieces make it easy to store in your bag without damaging it. There are detailed instructions covering everything except the extension arms. These two pieces, which double the length of the “goalposts”, aren’t mentioned anywhere, a curious omission since they seem to have a quite useful purpose (assuming I’m using them as intended).
Putting the 3rd eye together took all of 30 seconds and it snapped right onto the ferrule of my stick. Optionally you can use the little plastic “dunce cap” (my name: that’s what it looks like) that was included to slide the 3rd eye over the tip the first time you put it on. You won’t need the “dunce cap” again.
The purpose of the device, explained in detail and with clarity on the video, is to readjust you eyes to what center ball and a straight stroke really are. We (nearly) all have binocular vision, with each eye’s input accounting for some portion of the composite image the brain uses for the sight picture. To the extent that the input from the eye not over the stick is used, the picture will be off from reality.
There was a DVD included with the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainers that was an excellent introduction into why and how you should use the product.
The 3rd eye stroke trainer, by making it impossible to stroke crookedly without hitting the ball with the “goalposts” helps you to see if your stroke is aligned perfectly with the center of the ball and along the line to your target. If not you’ll see and/or feel the “goalpost” on one side hit the cue ball.
By adjusting your stroke so that you are aligned properly, and then by doing this enough to get your eyes to start to see this new alignment as the “correct” one, you can straighten out your stroke.
You only use the 3rd Eye to practice straight in shots, though you can easily put follow or draw on the ball if you wish.
On the one hand this is easy, since the actual steps are easy to follow. You can even do it without a pool table if you have a cue ball and a table of some sort of the right height. On the other hand, you’ll probably need to do this quite a lot before your brain will substitute the new, correct, sight picture for the old one which has felt right but been wrong for all this time.
For beginners this device would be extremely valuable in helping them get a straight stroke quickly.
The other issue I had with this device is one which I think affects more experienced players. When shooting I concentrate on the object ball for a number of seconds as the last thing I do before shooting. With the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer on my stick, I kept looking at it, making sure I was stroking straight, and lost my concentration on the object ball.
For beginners this device would be extremely valuable in helping them get a straight stroke quickly. For more experienced players I think it probably will work if given enough time and effort, but you may find it quite distracting. The risk is quite low, at $15, there’s a lifetime warranty, and the potential benefit is very high if your stroke isn’t perfectly straight. I give this device a rating of 7 out of 10.
Finding Center Cue – Bob Czaplinsky’s View
My good friend and teammate, John Biddle, asked to me test out this unusual device that attaches to the shooting end of your cue stick. He explained the basic premise of how the device works, and I decided to give it a try.
Anyone reading this review think that a straighter stroke would benefit you?
I placed the device on the end of my cue and set up a cue ball on my pool table. It felt a little clumsy at first, but once I got used to having the “3rd Eye Stroke Trainer” at the front of my cue, I began to stroke my cue at the cue ball. The main thing that I noticed was that if my stroke wasn’t very straight, I would strike the cue ball with the device. This was the first benefit that I noticed: I had to concentrate on a very straight stroke. Anyone reading this review think that a straighter stroke would benefit you?
Once I worked out this part of the lesson, I then noticed how I was able to see (and strike) “dead center” on the cue ball. This may not seem important to you, but once you give the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer a chance to work for you, it is very possible that you may discover that you have not actually been hitting dead center on the cue. This was the second benefit of trying this tool: I was able to find “dead center” on the cue ball, with accuracy. Once you actually see where dead center really is, you will be able to repeat this action with accuracy!
Once you actually see where dead center really is, you will be able to repeat this action with accuracy!
I am not a pro player, but I work very hard to improve my game. I believe that any tool that helps to improve your shooting skills is worth trying. Learning to be a “high level” player is simply a product of using all tools available that help your game. Improvement can be measured. Try to improve on at least one shot every day that you did not do well with the day before. My advice is to give this inexpensive device a try and watch for results that may surprise you in your next match!
Happy shooting!
If any of you out there have experience with this, or even a competing product we’d love to hear about it. Just leave a comment and let us know what you think.
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2 Responses to “Two Views of Joe Tucker’s 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer”
Jack Shepherd
- October 25th, 2009
I like the 3rd eye, and it certainly helps to hit the cue ball in the center of the vertical axis, but I think it is a mistake to conclude that this is the final answer. Hitting the cue ball in the center does not necessarily mean the line of aim is precisely correct One could have a “straight stroke” but aimed either to the right or left of the correct line of aim.
John Biddle
- October 25th, 2009
Jack, the clearance between the side rails of the 3rd Eye and the cue ball are quite small. If you bring the cue ball toward the cue ball at an angle, a common problem I’ll readily admit, the rail will hit the ball. If you come in on an angle without hitting the rails, it means that you’re moving the cue along a line different than the aiming line. You can hit the center of the cue ball that way, but won’t make the shot because you’ll be hitting the ball away from the direction you want it to go.
Joe Tucker recommends learning to use the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer on straight in shots, and I think by doing that, you can groove the stroke to the spot on th cue ball (the center) that you want, every time. Once you can do that, adjusting to put english on the cue ball will be something over which you can much finer control, since you have such a solid reference point.
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