Side Pocket Key Balls

stevekur1

stevekur1

The "COMMISH"
Silver Member
Hey Guys,

Recently i have been discussing with my real good friend Lou (LTL on AZ) about Side Pocket Key Balls, on how they are not the most ideal Key Balls unless you have a real good Key To The Key Ball.

Pat Flemming even discusses this in his 14.1 Lesson Set, and commentators of the Worlds 14.1 JR Calvert and George Fels go in depth on this as well.

Side pocket key balls are only as good as the ball that gets you on them, too many things can go wrong !!

what do you all think ?

-Steve
 
I think they become much better key balls if you can master sending the cue ball to the head of the table and back into break ball position.

I always look to leave a ball near an opposite side rail to help me get in good line with a key ball that's a little below the side pocket (maybe up to a foot or so below).
 
Dan White said:
I think they become much better key balls if you can master sending the cue ball to the head of the table and back into break ball position.

I always look to leave a ball near an opposite side rail to help me get in good line with a key ball that's a little below the side pocket (maybe up to a foot or so below).
Click to expand...

I like going two rails into the back of the rack corner ball. Seems like it is easy to get position for that. Just one rail into the back of the rack often leaves me without a ball to shoot.
 
BigDeal52 said:
I like going two rails into the back of the rack corner ball. Seems like it is easy to get position for that. Just one rail into the back of the rack often leaves me without a ball to shoot.
Click to expand...

I am talking about Key Balls not Break Balls !!! lol
 
Dont get me wrong, i love to use Side Pocket Key Balls especially when they work out perfectly with a stop shot. But when i consider how many times i under or over ran position getting to them ending my run because i now failed to get on the break ball is making me re-evaluate which balls serve better as key balls.

-Steve
 
stevekur1 said:
Hey Guys,

Recently i have been discussing with my real good friend Lou (LTL on AZ) about Side Pocket Key Balls, on how they are not the most ideal Key Balls unless you have a real good Key To The Key Ball.

Pat Flemming even discusses this in his 14.1 Lesson Set, and commentators of the Worlds 14.1 JR Calvert and George Fels go in depth on this as well.

Side pocket key balls are only as good as the ball that gets you on them, too many things can go wrong !!

what do you all think ?

-Steve
Click to expand...

I agree with most of this, but where I disagree is that side pocket key balls are very often desirable when they are a little below the side pocket, as they offer so many different patterns to get on them in either the side or the bottom corner to get very tight onto the break shot.

Side pocket balls above the side are not, generally, as useful. Side pocket balls that are level with the side pocket are only good when the key to the key is ideal to get the perfectly straight on it, which is not that often.
 
Depends on the exact position of the key ball and break ball but I agree the side pocket key ball can sometimes be fools gold.
 
When Pat Flemming discussed it he emphasized that the further away from the jaws of the side pocket it is makes it that much worse to get to and position on it is that much more critical !!

The more I think about it, the more I am tending to agree, the more difficult part is now recalculating my end patterns whenever possible !!

Steve
 
stevekur1 said:
Hey Guys,

Recently i have been discussing with my real good friend Lou (LTL on AZ) about Side Pocket Key Balls, on how they are not the most ideal Key Balls unless you have a real good Key To The Key Ball.

Pat Flemming even discusses this in his 14.1 Lesson Set, and commentators of the Worlds 14.1 JR Calvert and George Fels go in depth on this as well.

Side pocket key balls are only as good as the ball that gets you on them, too many things can go wrong !!

what do you all think ?

-Steve
Click to expand...


Watching many of the big boys, they are not using the side pockets for key balls so much.

Lou Figueroa
 
This is a very informative thread. I very much like the fools gold comment. I, to often, find myself trying to use these as a key ball (so freaking hard to get stop shot shape, and even harder to recover when you don't). I will definitely reconsider my approach and think of them as a key to the key. Thank you Steve for posting and for everyone else's comments.
 
I like my key ball above the rack so I can go one rail, roll over the spot and stop just above the center of the table. I will use a side pocket key ball, just not my favorite.
 
I put up side pocket key ball end patterns for my students with the sole purpose of teaching them to avoid them! I'm exaggerating insofar as I'm trying to tell them to stay away from those "picture-perfect" side-pocket key balls that one tends to see on pictures or in books, in particular ones close to the center of the table. Side pocket key balls are best if they 1) are less than a diamond away from the pocket, 2) are not in the way of object ball paths into the same middle pocket (= true mostly of balls in the foot half of the table), 3) are not in the center of the table (blocking a number of positional paths for the cue ball, apart from the necessity of reaching over them - remember European associations use all-ball fouls rules), and 4) if they're behind the middle line (in the head half of the table), they had better be very close to the pocket or there should be a lead ball (so-called K2, i.e. key-to-the-key) nearby or hanging over a head corner pocket, and finally, 5) if the break ball is close to the foot spot, it may be worth considering a side-pocket key ball over the seemingly "wrong" middle pocket (in order not to have to judge drawing the cue ball any significant distance off it - stop shot end patterns are invariably the best, stun, follow and medium speed rolls second-best etc.).

In a nutshell: the worst side pocket key ball is an isolated (= no lead ball anywhere near it) ball on the middle line (connecting the two middle pockets) and farther away from the middle pocket than one diamond's distance (the kind, ironically, one sees illustrated in books on the subject).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top