Putting top spin, bottom spin or side spin has no effect on where the object ball will go.
The speed of impact when the cue ball hits the object ball could make the object ball follow a slight different line.
Walrus 3d summed it up very well. Just to add, a healthy amount of topspin or backspin on the cueball reduces the amount of object ball throw, and in some cases, quite a bit. The speed of impact also typically affects the amount of throw, with higher speed tending to reduce it, but there are cases where it has no effect (when the balls end up "gearing," i.e., rolling across each other, during impact).
When using side spin you need to make sure you hit a rail other wise side spin would be point less.
Generally, yes. Some exceptions are:
- Occasionally, because of an interfering ball, there's not enough clearance to cut a ball into a pocket with the usual method, or the interfering ball forces you to cut it too much. Sidespin induced throw can correct for that if only a modest tweak of the object ball's direction is required.
- Some people use sidespin, namely outside english, to cancel the effects of throw resulting from the cut angle itself. While this can present some new problems (squirt and swerve and increased sensitivity to tip placement), it produces a truer or "natural" cut angle.
- I doubt that anyone actually does this. For one, few people know about it. But for any amount of topspin or backspin put on the cueball, its direction after impact with the object ball and after natural roll sets in, can be figured with a relatively simple geometric construction. However, in some cases, friction between the balls can alter the predicted direction considerably, more than the effect of throw on the object ball. Another construction can tell you how much inside english to apply to negate this and "true up" the cueball's direction.
Jim
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