my question is, l used to be a great 8 ball pool player and 3 or 4 years of bad health made me stop playing as much as l like, and now l am healthy again l have started playing properly again, but l am trying to do shots l used to play easily but seem to miss-cue alot and find my accuracy is way off, how can l sort this out and also how can l sort my nerves out at county matches etc??
any advice would be great. what do you look at just before striking ball??
well getting some great , l actually use a 7.5mm tip and as for english/spin l have not problem except every now and then l miscue, usually when l need it lol, my cue is fairly new it is an o'min professional and l think one problem is l had a great reputation years ago of being unbeatable lol, but these days l seem unable to beatable anyone lol. well county players anyway, l am not talking muppets that have just picked a cue, and my tip a change every few games, always like new tips, well used to, not sure what l like or want now lol.

Well how did u get good to start with???

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

But to the bit about missing the ball & where to look, l generally bend down to eye level & line it up & then PUSH it with the cue. l can not stress this enough!! Do not stab it, ur cue should go forward & then up, not forward & back really quickly, this is the reason for about 75% of screwed up shots, the other 25% is just un coordination or in-attention

and nerves l can not help with, l meditate which helps me concentrate but most people say thats wierd =D

Honestly besides the practice u may need to work on or change ur mechanics. l stopped playing due to work & living situation for about 3 years took me a good 6 months to start finding the fine tuning again. one of the biggest thing l did was completely change how l shot on the break, old way just did not work for me anymore. also bring a trust friend along when u play, have the look at things like dropping ur elbow, follow through, anything u may be doing.

other then that play as much as possible, & play hard shots. get ur self used to the control again its like riding a bike u never forget how, but do have to get used to it again.

when shoting l try to focus more on where l want the cue ball to go less on where im going to hit the cue ball. (not saying l dont think about it but when l make contact my focus is down the table) as far as nerves, get into the game again & nerves will go away.

Well since u mentioned a number of issues l will try to address them one at a time. Miscueing, this is a simple one, check ur tip, make sure it is scuffed & well chalked, no black marks where the chalk might not be sticking. Also, if you're just getting back to the game, do not go putting HEAVY english on the ball. This could be part of why ur miscuing as well as being off.
Accuracy off, how do u play, if you're a power player, always smashing the ball & using a lot of english, then keep in mind that ur cue is going to flex at impact. so a shot with heavy right english will actually push the ball to the left. as an example of this set a ball on the foot rail, cue ball above the headstring. aim directly at the object ball with heavy right or heavy left english, u will find that u do not strike the object ball head on but rather just barely graze it.
There r probably a myriad of things u used to compensate for automatically, but in ur time off u may have let go some of those finer points. also, how u stored ur cue over time may be adding to ur problem, if u kept it in a cold damp corner of a basement for example.

For starters, I'd look into changing the tip on ur cue(s), work with a softer stroke, & not use heavy english. also, if u do not have one, a tip shaper is a wise investment. l personally like willard is shapers, they make 2 sizes, dime & nickle, l use the dime on my 12.5 & 12.75 shafts, & the nickle on my 13 & 13.25 shafts but feel free to experiment & see what works for you.
Good luck getting ur game back

like everyone says practice alot,pay attention to your stroke,nice and steady and make sure its level that may account for the miss-cue ,you can practice that by laying a bottle(like a beer bottle) down on the table or any surface and stroke into the opening without hitting the bottle.Im not sure of ricks to practicing accuracy except just look at your shots and shooting alot..i too stopped playing for a while and getting used to making shots was the hard part ..good luck..

The middle of the pocket that l see & not the middle of the pocket..often times u find yourself aiming wrong by thinking or picturing the middle of the actual pocket..when lining up the shot, look at the pocket u actually see or the ''open mouth'' looking back at u & then shoot into the middle of that ''mouth''.if u find yourself over cutting that is probably the mistake u might be making..on a real long cut try this.it works for me & maybe for you...visualize the tip of the cue being extended all the way to the object ball.adjust ur stance so that u split the tip on the object ball & on the side that u want to hit it to cut it to the side u want it to go to..on an almost straight on cut l go a full tip..hard for me to depict this to you, but if u can ''see it'' (what l am trying to tell you) try it..but #1 look for the middle of the pocket that u see & not the middle of the pocket...actually probably more important ''stay down'!!..good luck!..rack them!!....good practice is just to throw all of the balls out & then just shoot balls in no order...when u get to the last five..run them in the remaining sequence!!..