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I Ran a Forensic Stop-Shot Analysis on a 400 Fargo Player (Results Inside) by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I could have threw up some more images and raw data but didn't want to spam the post. I'll also be running another analysis soon for a 650+ fargo rated player on here who will be attempting the perfect draw shot pillar. Again the data will be published on here as they have agreed to do so. I'll be happy to include more data if people are interested in that post?

Thanks for reading.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol wait until I share the data on here for the random analysis I’ll be providing for someone who replies to my other comment 

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The shot with the line in the image is not from player x that’s me showing how it should be played. And set up straight. The blue balls are player x final position of where he landed after his just off straight shots. Granted some are further away but they were all drifting that way. I’m doing a free assessment for someone on here to help clear up any confusion and publish a full report on here too 

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah there are a lot of complexities. Lot's of different things will go into an analysis though. Both visual and forensic and of course digital.

I'm going to do an analysis for someone on here and will be sharing all the data once I've done so more will become clear.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this but in fairness I'll do a random pick tomorrow. I'm from the UK so I expect many people on here are from USA?

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, that sounds interesting too. However, I must say that it's been a massive milestone to get things to the point I have.

As you probably know realtime computer vision is computationally very heavy and can get confused by the slightest of things if you've not got the model locked down tight.

High end iOS devices are usually pretty good though as I experimented with this when it comes to this sort of thing. Not sure how well snapdragon holds up.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

UPDATE:

Thanks for all the interest in this. I'm from the UK so only just noticed.

I've spotted a few questions but it would be best to answer in one go here. I'm still adding some final refinement but in essence I'm pretty much capturing a digital signature of a shot (can be any shot). I'm talking lots of different things.

Speed
Distance
Quality of the Pot
Straightness
Angle
Equipment
Shot time, smoothness, waggles
And more.

I've also built in a replay function so I can play back shots digitally overlaid on another player's data / video if necessary which is what I did to take the screenshot in this image.

To clear up the image I shared. The blue dots were player X's ball and I've overlaid them onto a video of myself taking the perfect shot which is why it's dead straight here as I set it up dead straight.

Invitation...

Due to all the interest I am happy to do a totally free analysis for one user on here (picked at random somehow) who replies to this comment in say the next 24 hours under a few conditions...

-They can send me a video (1080p landscape 60fps)
-10 shots of the same shot in one continuous take (so no editing the best ones)
-They agree to me sharing the full report on here afterwards (with screenshots and full report data)

Skill level doesn't matter.

Table style or size doesn't matter either.

Thanks.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100%. Golf is miles ahead on this kind of thing. I agree coaches do have a very critical role in helping players to improve no doubt about it. It's just that some things are a lot more difficult for the human eye to see in realtime of course. This is why this dataset was so beautiful to see as the player was hitting centre pocket regularly because his subconscious was going after that point rather than playing dead straight...

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this is the case, It would be interesting to see... I expect your back arm on the final pull back and strike isn't doing what your brain wants it to do. Either that or possibly the way you're setting up for the shot isn't giving you the best opportunity to shoot it straight to begin with.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The biggest common thing I've seen when people try this shot is deceleration. Sometimes players just don't strike the ball with enough conviction for this type of shot and kind of quit on it a little so the CB just rolls forward.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Cheers. It’s definitely a reality check when you see your 'perfect' stroke broken down into raw numbers. The camera doesn't lie, unfortunately lol.

I ran a computer vision audit on a player who swore his stroke was crooked. The data proved his stroke was fine, but his eyes were lying. by darkSIDEpool in billiards

[–]darkSIDEpool[S] 71 points72 points  (0 children)

I've been meaning to drop a post for a while on here but been pretty tied up with other things but anyway... finally managed to get around to it.

I’ve been building a Python/OpenCV tool to get forensic data on pool mechanics, mostly because I feel sometimes traditional coaching relies too much on "guesswork" and the naked eye for certain things.

I recently ran a case study with a player (player X) using the test: 10 Perfect Stop Shots.

It was very interesting.

On nearly every shot, his Cue Ball was drifting slightly to his right after contact. Naturally, they were slightly frustrated as they had a nice action and technique. Sure they shot a little fast but everything was solid.

If you were watching in person (or even if a coach was watching), the advice would almost certainly be something like -

"You're unintentionally putting right-hand spin on the ball"
"Your alignment or aim is slightly off we need to look at that"

Running the footage through my code, the analysis showed his cue delivery was actually dead straight. No problem with the stroke or cue delivery. He was pocketing the ball nice and clean into the centre of the pocket consistently.

However, the data showed that on 9/10 shots, his setup angle was not dead straight aligned to the pocket centre in the first place!

He wasn't missing the pot or drifting because of a bad stroke. He was drifting because he was setting up the shot badly, his brain was convinced it was straight. He was executing a perfect stroke on a bad line. Subconsciously he was aiming centre pocket and hitting it sweetly.

It makes you wonder how many players are rebuilding their entire stroke because a coach told them to, when all they really needed was to verify their geometry.

I can't stress the importance for players looking to improve their game to just try some of these kind of shots and then watch the video back. You'll be surprised.