"Aim Small" on the Cue Ball

[TheThaiger]

The end result of mass hysteria?

What is the "orthodox snooker" explanation of the the obviously increased friction between cue ball and object ball during kick shots? Pixies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUw0sd_NfA

Did you see this match, Bob? Stephen Hendry is commentating here. He said words to the effect of "It's amazing how often kicks disappear when you're hitting the cueball cleanly" numerous times throughout the match, including the early stages of this clip.

If it's good enough for the greatest player to ever pick up a cue, it's good enough for me.

 

[lastdimetaker]

I find that the point of contact on my tip dictates where i hit cue ball, i feel the hit and get immediate feed back rather than watching reaction of cue ball. I see diagrams of cue balls for applying spin but i use a similar diagram of my tip in my mind for instance if i want to draw cue ball i use top tip. This gives me more accuracy on the vertical axis. Just something that i think goes with the smalller target theory ..

 

[Patrick Johnson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUw0sd_NfA

Did you see this match, Bob? Stephen Hendry is commentating here. He said words to the effect of "It's amazing how often kicks disappear when you're hitting the cueball cleanly" numerous times throughout the match, including the early stages of this clip.

If it's good enough for the greatest player to ever pick up a cue, it's good enough for me.

Does "cleanly" mean something in Britain? It doesn't in the US.

pj
chgo

 

[Bob Jewett]

Does "cleanly" mean something in Britain? It doesn't in the US.

pj
chgo

Maybe it means "without chalk." That would be cleaner.

Even Stephen Hendry is allowed to be wrong.

For The Thaig the question remains: how do you think an unclean hit (whatever that is) increases the friction between the cue ball and the object ball? I know this is an unfair question since you do not seem to believe in or to see the value of billiard-related knowledge, but please try to answer it anyway.

 

[alstl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUw0sd_NfA

Did you see this match, Bob? Stephen Hendry is commentating here. He said words to the effect of "It's amazing how often kicks disappear when you're hitting the cueball cleanly" numerous times throughout the match, including the early stages of this clip.

If it's good enough for the greatest player to ever pick up a cue, it's good enough for me.

I believe the Brits refer to skids as kicks. My guess is he was saying when you are striking the ball good you will have fewer skids. I've found dirty balls cause more skids than anything, but I'm far from Hendry's speed.

 

[TheThaiger]

Lol. Crazy Americans. Kicks are kicks and skids are skids. Try learning English.

Bob Jewett, whoever he is, telling Stephen Hendry he's wrong about the game. You simply could not make it up.

 

[TheThaiger]

Maybe it means "without chalk." That would be cleaner.

Even Stephen Hendry is allowed to be wrong.

For The Thaig the question remains: how do you think an unclean hit (whatever that is) increases the friction between the cue ball and the object ball? I know this is an unfair question since you do not seem to believe in or to see the value of billiard-related knowledge, but please try to answer it anyway.

I've answered it several times, but will do so again, for the terminally proud.

Kicks occur in snooker because the player does not hit the CB sweetly. Again, the BBC, the world's most prestigious broadcaster, with 23,000 staff and infinite resources and cutting edge equipment, have analysed shots that have kicked in super slo-motion, and you can clearly see the CB bouncing like crazy prior to contact with the OB. It cannot be seen with the naked eye.

You're wrong, Bob. Take it like a man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JqBiMgC2Wg

 

[TheThaiger]

Does "cleanly" mean something in Britain? It doesn't in the US.

pj
chgo

It means whacking it good. Clear now?

We don't let physicists play the game over here, and we have no end of great players.

Do. The. Math.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

TheThaiger:
..."hitting the cueball cleanly"...
...If it's good enough for the greatest player to ever pick up a cue, it's good enough for me.

Me:
Does "cleanly" mean something in Britain? It doesn't in the US.

TheThaiger:
It means whacking it good. Clear now?

We don't let physicists play the game over here, and we have no end of great players.

Do. The. Math.

So it doesn't mean anything, but that's good enough over there.

Got it.

pj
chgo

 

[backplaying]

I believe the Brits refer to skids as kicks. My guess is he was saying when you are striking the ball good you will have fewer skids. I've found dirty balls cause more skids than anything, but I'm far from Hendry's speed.

I have found slow rolling a ball with any inside seems to make the ball skid more than any other shot.

 

[backplaying]

I disagree with you professor Jewett .

I think contact area (specifically how much contact area) has a lot to do with how the cue ball reacts when struck by the tip. I KNOW that there are things that I can do and control better with a larger tip than I can with a smaller tip. Conversely there are certain things that can be done better with a smaller tip. Just about every competent pool player is aware of this and chooses to use a 12.5 to 13mm tip when playing pool. I wonder why this is if (as you say) it makes no difference. Why do you play with the tip you use and what size is it? Would you be willing to play with a 9mm tip instead?

I remember when Oscar was using a 9-10mm tip on his cue. I suggested he might want to move up to at least a 12mm tip if he was serious about winning tournaments. Guess what he uses now? It ain't 10mm! :smile:

I agree with you here Jay. I remember when a few of us including Billy Johnson was using 14mm shafts playing on barboxes. Much easier to keep from miss hitting the cueball and throwing a ball out of the hole.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

TheThaiger:

Kicks occur in snooker because the player does not hit the CB sweetly.

Which apparently means nothing, unless "sweetly" is defined differently there.

Again, the BBC, the world's most prestigious broadcaster, with 23,000 staff and infinite resources and cutting edge equipment

None of which means anything.

have analysed shots that have kicked in super slo-motion, and you can clearly see the CB bouncing like crazy prior to contact with the OB. It cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The cue ball bounces on every shot whether it kicks or not - it often can be seen with the naked eye. Bouncing clearly has nothing to do with kick.

Hitting the cue ball "sweetly" or "cleanly" (or "cutely" or "angrily" or any other random adverb) has no bearing (or meaning) either.

pj
chgo

 

[TheThaiger]

TheThaiger:

Which apparently means nothing, unless "sweetly" is defined differently there.


None of which means anything.


The cue ball bounces on every shot whether it kicks or not - it often can be seen with the naked eye. Bouncing clearly has nothing to do with kick.

Hitting the cue ball "sweetly" or "cleanly" (or "cutely" or "angrily" or any other random adverb) has no bearing (or meaning) either.

pj
chgo

Stop being obtuse. If you think a poorly timed shot has no bearing on the reaction of the balls, you're even more deluded than i thought.

Snooker; a professional, credible sport, with history and tradition. Media attention and regular input from retired pros. Top class analysis, demonstrable and proven. Growing. A thoroughbred.

Pool; amateurish, back of the fag packet, have-a-go heroes, keyboard know-it-alls. No media coverage, ex pros cashing in on "secrets". A fractured, ego-driven farce. A plethora of quite extraordinary extraneous misinformation. Dying. A mongrel.

Trust is earned. I'd need a good long look at your game before taking any notice of what you continue to spout as 'fact'. I don't think you have any understanding of the game at all.

Prove me wrong with a video of you playing. You know, actually playing the game, instead of doing what you usually do; namely, lickspittling nobodies, shilling erroneous 'conventional wisdom' for your chums, or providing no end of superfluous physics-based geekery.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

TheThaiger:
[Snip rant about those crazy Colonists...]

Still no hints about what "cleanly", "sweetly" (and now "timely", I guess) mean? Shouldn't a product of Britain's elite cue arts training environment be able to at least explain how he hits the CB?

pj
chgo

 

[Neil]

Stop being obtuse. If you think a poorly timed shot has no bearing on the reaction of the balls, you're even more deluded than i thought.

Snooker; a professional, credible sport, with history and tradition. Media attention and regular input from retired pros. Top class analysis, demonstrable and proven. Growing. A thoroughbred.

Pool; amateurish, back of the fag packet, have-a-go heroes, keyboard know-it-alls. No media coverage, ex pros cashing in on "secrets". A fractured, ego-driven farce. A plethora of quite extraordinary extraneous misinformation. Dying. A mongrel.

Trust is earned. I'd need a good long look at your game before taking any notice of what you continue to spout as 'fact'. I don't think you have any understanding of the game at all.

Prove me wrong with a video of you playing. You know, actually playing the game, instead of doing what you usually do; namely, lickspittling nobodies, shilling erroneous 'conventional wisdom' for your chums, or providing no end of superfluous physics-based geekery.

Snooker???? You mean that game the guys with little balls play across the pond? That game that is dying over there?? Yeah, some of those guys came over here and tried to play with the guys with big balls, we sent them home after they found out they couldn't "hang" with us.

 

[Neil]

Still no hints about what "cleanly", "sweetly" (and now "timely", I guess) mean? Shouldn't a product of Britain's elite cue arts training environment be able to at least explain how he hits the CB?

pj
chgo

Those are the "go to" words when you don't really know what you are talking about.:wink:

 

[HueblerHustler7]

One of the most important (and most overlooked) ways to improve your game is also one of the simplest to understand and do: hit the cue ball more precisely.

Most of us tend to hit the cue ball with "high right" or "a little left" or "lots of draw" without paying really close attention to exactly where our tip is making contact on the ball. After all, "a little left" isn't really that much different from a little more or less, is it? Yes, it is - in spades.

The obvious reason is that small changes in where we contact the CB make significant differences in where the CB goes after making the shot. There are also less obvious, but maybe even more significant, impacts on the effectiveness of our stroke and even on shotmaking itself.

Ever notice that when you're "in stroke" it seems almost effortless to make the CB do things that you usually struggle more with? And that you can see and hit cut angles much more accurately, also with less effort? Hitting the CB precisely where we intend to is a big part of why this is so (I think the biggest part).

It isn't so much that things are really easier; it's that things are more often turning out just like we intended them to - because we're giving the cue ball precise "instructions", not just general "suggestions". This closer relationship between what we want and what we do also increases the speed at which we learn - in the same way that we learn to aim more quickly as our stroke gets more reliable: things happen the way we intend them to, so we can more quickly and accurately identify the source of problems and ways to improve.

The quickest way I've found to elevate my shotmaking and cue ball control, both immediately and permanently, is to focus more intently on exactly where I'm hitting the cue ball.

pj
chgo

P.S. This also has many beneficial "side effects", like being more aware of the straightness of your stroke (because you're looking at it), seeing more clearly the precise alignment of tip/CB contact point and CB/OB contact point (especially good for aiming with spin), etc., etc.

Great post, I recently realized this as well. I found that if I wanted to take my game to the next level I would have to start focusing more on the little things that are truly bigger than we imagine.

 

[Scaramouche]

Please be understanding of our UK participants.

Them Brits have their own dialect, talk about "bottle", "getting chuffed", and "putting their tin hats on", sending us off to the British - English dictionary to find out what the hell they are talking about.

And it bugs me that they put the emphasis on the wrong syllable when saying "controversy".

It comes from being on a tiny island, surrounded by a stew of languages, cut off from daily contact with the mass of proper English speakers here in North America.

Snooker commentators have a way of speaking that I call third person personal, as in:

"He is having exceedingly great difficulty potting the pink, Luca Brecel."
Most annoying to have to wait until the end of the sentence to find out whom they are talking about.

 

[TheThaiger]

Still no hints about what "cleanly", "sweetly" (and now "timely", I guess) mean? Shouldn't a product of Britain's elite cue arts training environment be able to at least explain how he hits the CB?

pj
chgo

If you really can't work out what 'hitting the CB sweetly (or cleanly) means, there's no hope for you. If and when you start paying more attention to the CB than the OB, you'll begin to understand. Coincidentally, that will be the day you start to improve as a player.

 

[SCCues]

One of the most important (and most overlooked) ways to improve your game is also one of the simplest to understand and do: hit the cue ball more precisely.

Most of us tend to hit the cue ball with "high right" or "a little left" or "lots of draw" without paying really close attention to exactly where our tip is making contact on the ball. After all, "a little left" isn't really that much different from a little more or less, is it? Yes, it is - in spades.

The obvious reason is that small changes in where we contact the CB make significant differences in where the CB goes after making the shot. There are also less obvious, but maybe even more significant, impacts on the effectiveness of our stroke and even on shotmaking itself.

Ever notice that when you're "in stroke" it seems almost effortless to make the CB do things that you usually struggle more with? And that you can see and hit cut angles much more accurately, also with less effort? Hitting the CB precisely where we intend to is a big part of why this is so (I think the biggest part).

It isn't so much that things are really easier; it's that things are more often turning out just like we intended them to - because we're giving the cue ball precise "instructions", not just general "suggestions". This closer relationship between what we want and what we do also increases the speed at which we learn - in the same way that we learn to aim more quickly as our stroke gets more reliable: things happen the way we intend them to, so we can more quickly and accurately identify the source of problems and ways to improve.

The quickest way I've found to elevate my shotmaking and cue ball control, both immediately and permanently, is to focus more intently on exactly where I'm hitting the cue ball.

pj
chgo

P.S. This also has many beneficial "side effects", like being more aware of the straightness of your stroke (because you're looking at it), seeing more clearly the precise alignment of tip/CB contact point and CB/OB contact point (especially good for aiming with spin), etc., etc.

This is one of the best posts I've read on AZ. Thanks for taking the time to post this very important tip on striking the cue ball.

James