why doesn't Tom Brady throw a hail mary pass into the end zone on each play?
He does throw one if he has to, but winning in sports is about eliminating mistakes.
Pros
- Thread starter kyootie
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why doesn't Tom Brady throw a hail mary pass into the end zone on each play?
He does throw one if he has to, but winning in sports is about eliminating mistakes.
To follow up a little on what others have said about unusual shots....
I think that pool is maybe 95% absolutely standard shots with nothing special about them. Stop shot. Stun shot moving the ball to the side a little. Follow one rail with a little running english. Draw back to the side cushion and spin up-table. Meat and potatoes. There is no secret to these and if you can't do them with some consistency, you don't yet play pool. Getting the correct speed is part of them, and sometimes you need 99.9% accuracy on the speed, but there is no secret to that, just practice.
Maybe 4% of the time you need some kind of special shot. Swerve around a ball. Cushion first to get an angle. Kiss the object ball off another to get to the pocket. Shoot a 10-times-fuller system shot. Use a diamond system to kick at a ball. Maybe they happen with a higher percentage on a crowded 7-foot eight-ball table. These shots aren't "secrets" either, but lots of beginners have never seen them, have never shot them, and their games are worse for the lack of them.
If you want to see great, steaming piles of these not-totally-common shots, get Robert Byrne's "Complete Book of Pool Shots" -- you can get a copy delivered to your door for $8. For a video covering many, many shots get Dr. Dave's and Tom Ross's Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots or see Dr. Dave's YouTube videos for free.
You see pros shoot these 4% shots fairly frequently, especially from safes or when they are struggling with position. If a pro is playing well, you won't see so many of them. I think if someone did the 95% shots perfectly, few people could beat him, and sometimes you see a pro go through a whole match with nothing but standard (my "95%") shots executed perfectly.
Down in the 1% category, or maybe the 1-in-a-thousand category are shots like the kiss-back shot mentioned above. Most players can't play them because they either don't know them or have never practiced them so they might have a chance to make them. Some pros have enough feel for how the balls work that they can invent them on the spot. Some actually practice them. Some amateurs practice them because they're interesting and fun. If you play one pocket, you can use them relatively often.
I think that pool is maybe 95% absolutely standard shots with nothing special about them. Stop shot. Stun shot moving the ball to the side a little. Follow one rail with a little running english. Draw back to the side cushion and spin up-table. Meat and potatoes. There is no secret to these and if you can't do them with some consistency, you don't yet play pool. Getting the correct speed is part of them, and sometimes you need 99.9% accuracy on the speed, but there is no secret to that, just practice.
Maybe 4% of the time you need some kind of special shot. Swerve around a ball. Cushion first to get an angle. Kiss the object ball off another to get to the pocket. Shoot a 10-times-fuller system shot. Use a diamond system to kick at a ball. Maybe they happen with a higher percentage on a crowded 7-foot eight-ball table. These shots aren't "secrets" either, but lots of beginners have never seen them, have never shot them, and their games are worse for the lack of them.
If you want to see great, steaming piles of these not-totally-common shots, get Robert Byrne's "Complete Book of Pool Shots" -- you can get a copy delivered to your door for $8. For a video covering many, many shots get Dr. Dave's and Tom Ross's Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots or see Dr. Dave's YouTube videos for free.
You see pros shoot these 4% shots fairly frequently, especially from safes or when they are struggling with position. If a pro is playing well, you won't see so many of them. I think if someone did the 95% shots perfectly, few people could beat him, and sometimes you see a pro go through a whole match with nothing but standard (my "95%") shots executed perfectly.
Down in the 1% category, or maybe the 1-in-a-thousand category are shots like the kiss-back shot mentioned above. Most players can't play them because they either don't know them or have never practiced them so they might have a chance to make them. Some pros have enough feel for how the balls work that they can invent them on the spot. Some actually practice them. Some amateurs practice them because they're interesting and fun. If you play one pocket, you can use them relatively often.
In this case it's more of a situational shot. The shot exists and you should take it in this case because it's the highest percentage shot to take to win. Ordinarily, when you don't have a good shot you play a safety but there is no safety here.
If you're playing a decent player, doing anything except playing that shot means that they'll have a shot and will probably run out on you. So basically, if you don't take the shot you lose, if you try a safe you lose, but if you make the shot you win. In this case, it's the only way to win.
However, I doubt any decent player will leave themselves this shot on the 8. That's just bad pool.
Sometimes you may do anything to win if you are desperate. I was playing Allen Hopkins getting 125 to 40. I ended up losing but that is another story.
One game came up with Allen needing 1 ball and it was his break shot a thin cut along the rail. I needed less then a rack maybe like 8.
He cut the ball down the rail avoiding opening the rack. The ball hung and I was behind the rack. I could have tried to kick it in and then played safe leaving me needing 7 and him still needing 1. It was not deep though and would not have been that easy to kick in.
I was about to kick at it though but then had a crazy thought.. I called the ball in the pocket and smashed the rack making it with one of the flying balls. I won the game with my desperate shot. There were people on the side betting on me. The looks on their faces when I did that was priceless.
That WAS a crazy thought LOL, interesting shot though, would have been fun to see it, although if I had money on the other side, not as much
I can't imagine I would ever shoot the shot for fear of leaving a bank. I used to play a guy who would be like 50/50 to kick a shot like that in playing one pocket. 90% he at least hangs it.
That WAS a crazy thought LOL, interesting shot though, would have been fun to see it, although if I had money on the other side, not as much
Often in one pocket a guy will be in such a trap he takes a flyer and beats you.
I remember being in with a top one pocket player. They were playing 3 out of 5 for a considerable amount. It was tied 2/2 and my friend played a safe that had the guy totally trapped.
I think he were playing Johnny Ervolino if I remember right. He shot at a backwards bank a total sell out and made it going on to win the case game. Later my friend commented he got him to safe, he should have left him an out.
He forced him to take a flyer and that is what happened we lost. The first time I ever heard a player say he had someone to safe.
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It doesn't happen but I saw this one in 2006 at the US Open 9-ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVDrZK6VpuU
Plus a lot of places won't let you masse the ball on their tables, you might be able to pull it off once but if they see the butt of your cue go higher than your shoulder again you might be asked to leave ha ha.
Funny thing is that he was trying to play a safety and accidentally made the ball, if he was trying to make the ball he would have used running English to send the cueball closer to the 4-ball and not stick it right behind the 9-ball with bottom English as he tried right there. The next shot on the other hand was very nice and with the cloth being new and hitting the ball perfectly he made a very pretty shot.
Hard to know what was in his head. If he was kicking the ball safe he hit it like three times to hard. That ball was going up and down the table if it had not gone in. It's a mystery what he was doing.
The shot is to kick it full in the face and into the side rail which increases the distance so it would keep the 3-ball from coming back to this side of the table, it's a pretty standard shot given the layout.
I no pro but ya know when I go...
When I run out, it looks hard.
When I run out, it looks hard.