westcoast said:

this is a good article about the benefits of exercise for Parkinson's

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/10/08/more-physical-activity-may-mean-slower-parkinsons-disease-progression/

Click to expand...

Nice article. Anybody interested in the latest can look up the SPARX2 and SPARX3 clinical trials.

The reason I asked is that when you use draw along with the sidespin, the effective amount of sidespin increases during each inch of cue ball travel to the object ball. That continues until the cue ball starts rolling smoothly or it hits the object ball.

With follow and side, on the other hand, that spin multiplying effect is much less, as the cue ball is rolling smoothly much sooner.

fastone371 said:

What are they considering random though. solids and stripes or different numbered balls in different positions?? Just playing devils advocate here, one could argue that it is random because different balls were in different positions even though the stripe/solid layout was the same. Or maybe just swapping solids for stripes could be considered random.

Click to expand...

I guess they don’t spell it out in the rules. But it is clear that there is a difference between rotation games and eight ball. In rotation the non random advantage can come through numerical placement. In eight ball it is suit not number. It is kind of easier to see than legislate. Drafting rules of any sort is hard.

Like obscenity though, you know non random shenanigans when you see it. Sometimes rules drafting and legalistic interpretation doesn’t work that well, and the next innovation comes quicker that the next rule change. You need a king/ dictator to make a ruling. Sounds harsh, but a strong tournament director makes a difference. Kind of like Augusta National and Cliff Roberts. “ We don’t do that here…” often provides a better atmosphere than, “ Well, the rules policy committee needed to issue a decision but they haven’t taken a vote yet so the rules committee hasn’t addressed this in the rule even though the last rule amendment created an ambiguity that the subcommittee to the executive committee was supposed to refer to the rules policy committee for consideration by the rules committee and then the board.”

Just saying. Simple but not always easy.

Bob Jewett said:

How far is the cue ball from the object ball, and how hard are you shooting?

Click to expand...

Mostly concerned with banks off the long rail, so the CB-OB distance is almost always less then 3.5 diamonds.
I regard the CB speed I use as moderate, but the degree of rail pushback that I get with varying cushion incident angle corresponds very closely to what Jack Koehler terms as "hard." So probably a bit on the firm side.

When hitting centerball I get good results with backhand gearing english. Trying to explore if the amount of gearing english with draw or follow needs to modified. Since draw and follow minimize collision induced throw, does that mean the gearing english should be lessened?