I believe the key to progressing is to categorize shots and incorporate procedures that make all shots within that category. If everything is always "new," you can't build off of experience.
Was Einstein Right About 6 Million Shots on a Pool Table?
- Thread starter CJ Wiley
- Start date
How's this:
shot: make the ball in the pocket.
Therefore, there is really only 1 shot in pool.
That Einstein guy (or whoever misquoted him) was way off!
Now that I know this game really only has one shot (and not the infinite number of variations that common sense clearly shows), it just became a lot easier. I can't wait to try out this new philosophy at the table (with a TOI, of course).
The Shot is the Teacher, :grin-square:
Dave
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One must have a massive 'billiard memory' to be a player.
Learning from mistakes and successes is a must.
But to play great, one must escape a categorizing system....
...you must see the shot like a child.
....to me, this is why watching Reyes in his prime was so fascinating.....
...and he was not the only one.
When a player is playing well, you can see his eyes soften and open wide in wonder.
There is no security in life
If you're only referring to pocketing a ball as a "shot," pool isn't simplified to 1, but it's very finite.
you're quite right... there are exactly two shots in pool:
1) pocketing a ball
2) not-pocketing a ball
Spidey, you have completely lost it ! (again) Oh wait, CJ wants to know how you arrived at your answer ?
..Please 'splain !
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...just slightly more than the number of unique thread topics on AZB.
I agree, but we're not talking about being a player, a shot, I believe, is merely pocketing a ball...CB behavior exlcuded.
Spidey, I was just pointing a little fun at this "thread."
For a more serious answer, here's how I responded to CJ's original question an extremely large (but finite) number of posts ago:
There are obviously an infinite number of shots possible at a pool table. There are a large number of variables involved with a shot (e.g., angle, speed, distance, spin), and each variable has an infinite number of possibilities.
Therefore, IMO, it is not interesting or worthwhile trying to develop any kind of "formula" to attempt to determine the number of shots possible.
What is interesting is to attempt to categorize the infinite number of possible shots and then ask how many different categories of shots there are. This is exactly what Tom Ross and I did in preparing for and creating the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots (VEPS).
We came up with 50 main categories of shots; and within those categories, we found and demonstrated 742 different sub categories of shots and concepts. The complete list can be found here:
The Complete List of Shots/Concepts in the VEPS Series
So I guess my answer to your question is: "over 700"; although, infinity is probably a more accurate answer.
Regards,
Dave
I'm streaming a medical conference but as soon as I get a chance I will. If you maximize speed to eliminate that as a variable, there are alignment bands that have a huge gamut of ball pocketing solutions.Spidey, you have completely lost it ! (again) Oh wait, CJ wants to know how you arrived at your answer ?
..Please 'splain !
Which is also why banking to make (9b banks), players tend to warp balls in. It's like putting... if you maximize the speed, it greatly reduces your break adjustment. There's prob a band of degrees where you aim within the hole with a firm putt.
Technically, the answer is infinite. But the best answer is "the fewest possible in practice" and that's not infinite.
Just like Deep Blue can think of 3 million chess moves per second. Kasparov said he could process 3 moves per second: the BEST 3 moves. So are there 3 million options to the best player or, to Kasparov, is every move: chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?
Imagine an infinite line of fence posts, there are an infinite number of points between every two fence posts. So the infinite set of points between posts is a larger infinity than the infinity of the fence posts.
Spidey and CJ...THERES YOUR PROOF !...The weakest link in the chain, ('Bunter') makes more sense then either of you !.. Even a mental midget like him, can make a decent analogy !
.. And we know he thinks the "Lord will buy him, a Mercedes Benz"! (Yes, he is on my coat tail again) :sorry:SJD <-- Could buy an infinite amount of Mercede's..If there were only a way to wager with either of you !.. I will even take checks, (up to 3 trillion)... Thats how good this game is ! :thumbup:
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nohe wasn't right
he wasn't right
You can move the CB by an atom.Spidey and CJ...THERES YOUR PROOF !...The weakest link in the chain, ('Bunter') makes more sense then either of you !.. Even a mental midget like him, can make a decent analogy !
SJD <-- Could buy an infinite amount of Mercede's..If there were only a way to wager with either of you !.. I will even take checks, (up to 3 trillion)... Thats how good this game is !
Technically, it's a different shot. In practice, as far as execution goes, it's identical to the shot before it.
You might move the CB a foot closer and execute the shot identically the same way as before.
This is why the fence analogy doesn't apply. Pool isn't executed in the infinite in regards to basic pocketing. It's very finite as there are tons of overlap.
I'm actually surprised you think pocketing balls (shot making) is really infinite as far as approach and execution is concerned.
Something is terribly wrong here !...The question was, how many "DIFFERENT" possible shots are there, not how many 'similar' shots there are !...Two guys could play for 6 months straight, and the "EXACT" same shot will never come up twice !..It will ALWAYS be a 'fraction' (or more) different !..Maybe a better question would have been..."How many different 'fraction's' are there" ???..
(I feel like I'm talking to 'wool' !)PS..I'm thinking seriously of taking up drinking again !...I have had more sensible conversations, with the drunk at the bar next to me...We made more sense, when we talked about quantum physic's and the medicinal extrapolation in small rodents, than this cluster ***k debate !
Adios, flyweights !
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1000% correct Bob !...I don't understand why Spidey and CJ did not challenge YOUR perfect logic?
...Suppose maybe they thought the old drunk, ex-pool player, was a 'softer target' ? (but then, they've both made that mistake several times before)...
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You know not so much there are sooo many shots but may many ways to hit the same shot as well.....
Jim
Let's use some Einstein thinking. Point of view plays a role in it.
If you are on a moving train bouncing a basketball, to you, it appears the ball is just going up and down.
To someone standing next to the train watching you bounce the basketball, it appears not only to move up and down , but also forward as train moves.
So, to the shooter, there is only one shot.....straight in front of you. To someone watching, it appears to be infinite shots.
If you are on a moving train bouncing a basketball, to you, it appears the ball is just going up and down.
To someone standing next to the train watching you bounce the basketball, it appears not only to move up and down , but also forward as train moves.
So, to the shooter, there is only one shot.....straight in front of you. To someone watching, it appears to be infinite shots.