I encourage those who like the side pocket to set it up and try it in real life. Looks easier on paper!
I like the idea but I don't think it lies right for these safeties.
In your black line diagram the hit is a little fuller than half ball but the cue ball is going about 40% further.
The object ball couldn't be held to the rail as drawn, it would bounce out past the 8.
The red diagram might be possible if you can kill the speed enough with inside spin.
Bieber's looks possible but tricky, leaving an object ball within 6 inches of the rail.
If you let the other guy have a look at the 4 it might go in the side, corner, or off the 8.
I might play safe like this... if I'm gonna play an iffy safe then they're at least gonna hate the shot.
It's not easy, requires a thin hit + a little inside to tighten up the angle going towards the foot rail.
But the 5's position near a corner makes it the biggest ball to hide behind.
And a lot of good things can happen if you don't quite get there.
- They're frozen to the foot rail
- They're frozen to the side rail
- They're treetopped over the 5
- The 4 ends up where you naturally scratch in the side if you cut it in the corner.
- You accidentally overcut the 4 into the hole and have a shot on the 5.
Sadly I didn't save the cue table, just the image I'd have to recreate it... I'm just too lazy haha.
Here's what I do to match the layouts nicely... I guesstimate the layout on the cuetable website
and take a screenshot. I open it in photoshop.
Then I take a screenshot from the video (I think Old Nine Baller took care of that)
and paste it on top in photoshop, reducing its transparency to 50% and stretching it to match.
Then I go back to the cuetable layout and adjust as needed until it's correct.