A simple technique is described that provides an improved nearside-farside (NF) method for elastic scattering amplitudes. The technique, involving the novel resummation of a Legendre partial wave series, reduces the importance of unphysical contributions to NF subamplitudes, which can arise in more conventional NF decompositions. Detailed applications are made to a strong absorption model and to a ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}{+}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ optical potential at $E_{\mathrm{lab}}=145\mathrm{}\mathrm{MeV}.$ We also discuss ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}{+}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ at $E_{\mathrm{lab}}=480,$ 704, 1120 MeV, and $\alpha {+}^{12}\mathrm{C},$ $\alpha {+}^{40}\mathrm{Ca},$ both at $E_{\mathrm{lab}}=1370\mathrm{}\mathrm{MeV}.$

• Received 3 December 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.66.044610