To guage the quality of a player, what shots to you watch for?

The stun follow
The stun with outside, to-and-through the center of the table
Inside, double the corner
Outside, double the corner

Draw back at the wrong angle with outside, natural off the cushion (need a WEI diagram on this one, and I don't know what others call it)

I suppose any of the standard pattern (star patterns? ) in 9-ball.

Freddie <~~~ misses all of them

Killing the cue ball with inside english. Only a top player can do it. JB

I'd have to agree with these comments. When that cue ball is floating around the table under control with a confident stroke, creating angles, you got a game. Banging the cue ball into other balls and rearranging the table by turning the rock loose is a no-no.

Best,
Mike
 
A player that uses center ball most of the time, stop shots, stun follow for short distances and while his game isn't flashy he's always on the right side of the ball making every rack look effortless without using much English or drawing attention. It's this lull you to sleep kind of player that'll snap you off every time.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
 
If I feel that somebody is watching me I start doing three rail banks,wild kick shots, three ball combiations banks. After a minute, they don`t care to watch me anymore and walk away from my area. Missing the position for the next shot is also a good way of getting rid of the spying pool police.
 
Id say a definite sign of a ringer is someone using slow drag to kill the cue ball and slow drag with outside to kill a cut and hold position along the rail. Very few people use that shot and it's a weapon in certain situations.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Can you explain how that works?

If you're cutting a bit to the right, a little right english will hold up that CB so that it barely moves. First time I saw somebody do that, it was a wow moment. I couldn't believe they could make a cut like that while sticking the CB. Now it's just another thing, but I still suck. :thumbup: Most of the things discussed in this thread are things I do.. okay, maybe more like things I don't do. :o
 
A player that uses center ball most of the time, stop shots, stun follow for short distances and while his game isn't flashy he's always on the right side of the ball making every rack look effortless without using much English or drawing attention. It's this lull you to sleep kind of player that'll snap you off every time.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken

What he said^^^^.
Whenever someone is playing, 8 ball mostly, I look at the table after the break to see the problem areas in running the rack. The real good players run through it with no problems, so effortlessly you probably dont even remember how they dealt with the problem areas, it seems like they had an easy layout with a bunch of short small angle cuts with natural position. WTF?? How do they do that? :confused:
 
Playing safe, puting the cueball behind an object ball, not just behind it but very close if not touching. This usually only gives you one rail to kick at and you can't jump the ball either. What makes this shot highly skilled is that the closer you try to put the cueball to the object ball, the more likely the cueball is to "peak out" and not hide him safe at all. Only experts can do this with confidence. Any banger can put the cue ball behind a ball 3 or 4 feet away. PS- wanna play some one pocket?
 
I don't look at their shots as much as the decisions they make. Playing smart will have a greater impact over the outcomes than shot making. There is a big difference in a pool shooter and a pool player. Most of what I see are shooters calling themselves players.
 
If it's an "unknown" player it's all about the stroke. You can see a good stroke a mile away even if he's trying to fake a bad one. All it takes is seeing 1 or 2 shots and I'll tell you exactly how good he is.

Making balls isn't everything. Personally I've missed many balls on purpose in practice. It serves two purposes. It can make someone that may be paying attention think you're not as good as you really are, and it can help you see when something is off if you can recognize it clearer because you've practiced it.
 
If you're cutting a bit to the right, a little right english will hold up that CB so that it barely moves. First time I saw somebody do that, it was a wow moment. I couldn't believe they could make a cut like that while sticking the CB.

You're talking about the CB hitting a rail after contact with the OB, then sticking, right? Cause if I have a slight right cut out in the middle of the table, and want the CB to stick right where the OB is, I'm aiming straight at the OB and using left english to throw the OB to the right.
 
DeadStick - Yeah that's why I asked how that would work. I don't see how using inside would kill the cue ball, you'd want outside. But I've heard that a lot.
 
You're talking about the CB hitting a rail after contact with the OB, then sticking, right? Cause if I have a slight right cut out in the middle of the table, and want the CB to stick right where the OB is, I'm aiming straight at the OB and using left english to throw the OB to the right.

You'd think that would be the way, but throwing the OB in while sticking the CB only works for very slight angles and even then you can probably get less movement from the low inside. That's what was so amazing to me when I saw it.. it went against what I had thought at the time and worked so well. No rail needed, just right in the middle of the table.
 
Object ball near the rail, with maybe a bit of a cut on it but near the pocket also, need to get shape on other side of the table. A non-player will try to hit harder with follow, of-course causing the cueball to follow up to the rail again leaving the guy 7 feet off on position..

lol, the 3 rail follow with inside where the cue ball drifts its way up the table? was gonna mention that shot
 
well I suck and I cant see so I cant tell anything about other shooters...sorry I couldnt help:cool:
 
You can also squat the cue ball on a slight angle shot with low inside. It really holds the cue ball. Low outside spin can drift a little. You need more outside than low to hold the cue ball.

Best,
Mike
 
Back
Top