Tips for wide angle 'spot shot' type shots?

W

WillyCornbread

Break and One
Silver Member
Anyone have any tips or practice drills other than just shooting a million of these shots that might help me?

My stroke is pretty good, I'm able to hit center ball consistently, make most shots around the table. I can shoot stop shots from any length of the table and I can draw back in a dead straight line about 40% of the time.

I have very little issue with straight in shots, or thin cuts. I feel comfortable sighting and if I miss I usually know as soon as I hit the ball.

For some reason I just can't make wide angle and spot shot type shots more than about 10% of the time! I never really feel comfortable sighting them - like it does't resolve in my brain the way most other shots do and when I hit it I have no idea if it's going in until I see it hit the object ball.

Any thoughts other than just keep hitting them over and over - I've shot about 100 of these shots in the last 2 days with no noticeable improvement in consistency...

Thanks,

b
 
There is no trick to shooting spot shots.

You make the shot and use whatever English necessary to avoid the scratch.

You should shoot spot shots, if you want to get better at shooting spot shots.

BTW, shooting 100 spot shots won't make for improvement, that's like asking why you haven't improved after 1 day of play.
 
Alignment is everything...try the "invisible rail" (visualize a rail running along the back of the OB guiding it into the pocket...and line up to have your CB hit the OB and the "invisible rail" at the same time just like you're running a frozen OB up the rail. Works really well for me once it clicks in my mind's eye.
 
My brain is apparently fried from work today. When I saw the thread title, I thought someone was looking for a specific tip (Kamui, Ultraskin, etc...) that handled those shots better. Lol.
 
There is the trick of lining up with a corner pocket in the kitchen to the edge of the object ball on the spot. A half ball hit should pocket the ball. That might help to get a feel for how much of it to hit. Are your eyes OK? Do you wear glasses or contacts? That's a long shot and poor vision might be an issue.
 
DAVE_M said:
BTW, shooting 100 spot shots won't make for improvement, that's like asking why you haven't improved after 1 day of play.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't expect any small change in percentage made, or even comfortability with the shot? My concern is that I'm doing something or aligned incorrectly that only really screws me up on these shots - I thought shooting this many without any improvement might indicate that I am practicing and reinforcing bad habits...

Obviously the forum can't analyze that for me and I have an instructor lesson lined up - I guess I was hoping someone might throw out a suggestion like the invisible rail thing, or tell me to turn my rear foot outward a bit and click my heels 3 times.
 
WillyCornbread said:
Anyone have any tips or practice drills other than just shooting a million of these shots that might help me?

My stroke is pretty good, I'm able to hit center ball consistently, make most shots around the table. I can shoot stop shots from any length of the table and I can draw back in a dead straight line about 40% of the time.

I have very little issue with straight in shots, or thin cuts. I feel comfortable sighting and if I miss I usually know as soon as I hit the ball.

For some reason I just can't make wide angle and spot shot type shots more than about 10% of the time! I never really feel comfortable sighting them - like it does't resolve in my brain the way most other shots do and when I hit it I have no idea if it's going in until I see it hit the object ball.

Any thoughts other than just keep hitting them over and over - I've shot about 100 of these shots in the last 2 days with no noticeable improvement in consistency...

Thanks,

b
Click to expand...

What you need to do is stop shooting them. Is it uncomfortable to shoot them with top? The reality is that its the uncomfortable part that is causing you to miss and if you are missing by a fair margin you are stroking awkwardly because you are uncomfortable. If you are missing by a little bit then it might be alignment. I don't know how or if you "aim" but it doesn't matter if you aren't comfortable.

Do you consistently over or under cut?

Focus on stroking STRAIGHT. Most people think that they do but they actually correct on their final stroke. This is a habit I'm working on currently.
 
If you want to see the quickest improvement on a single physical task, practice it diligently for about 20-30 minutes right before bed. The theory, as I understand it, is that during sleep your brain works on assimilating information that it received throughout the day and it will work most on what is freshest--LIFO (last in, first out), if you will.

When I was 22 and learning how to juggle I started doing this and the improvements were extraordinary from one day to the next.
 
BRussell said:
There is the trick of lining up with a corner pocket in the kitchen to the edge of the object ball on the spot. A half ball hit should pocket the ball. That might help to get a feel for how much of it to hit. Are your eyes OK? Do you wear glasses or contacts? That's a long shot and poor vision might be an issue.
Click to expand...


I'll give that half ball hit a shot and see if it helps me get a better feel. My vision is good, I don't wear glasses. I do the BU exams frequently and can consistently make thin cut shots the length of my 7' table so I don't think poor vision is the culprit here...

Thank you for the advice
 
WillyCornbread said:
You wouldn't expect any small change in percentage made, or even comfortability with the shot? My concern is that I'm doing something or aligned incorrectly that only really screws me up on these shots - I thought shooting this many without any improvement might indicate that I am practicing and reinforcing bad habits...

Obviously the forum can't analyze that for me and I have an instructor lesson lined up - I guess I was hoping someone might throw out a suggestion like the invisible rail thing, or tell me to turn my rear foot outward a bit and click my heels 3 times.
Click to expand...

Would I expect a small change in percentage made? Sure, but nothing significant. You should be making 100% of them.

If you made the ball and scratched, you need either draw or follow.
If you made the ball and didn't scratch, you did what you wanted.
If you missed, whether you scratched or not, you need to practice.

The angles are always the same as any other shot, you just need to get comfortable shooting them.

If you know how to stroke the cue and make a ball, then you don't need an instructor.

Get an instructor if you want someone to tell you what you are doing wrong, and want to know what they think is right.
 
This helps me:

1) Given a choice..align the shot to be a 1/2 ball hit.

If not given a choice, view as 1/2 ball hit, then adjust.

All moderate cuts are 1/2 ball cuts, unless, they're not.:eek::rolleyes:


2) Artifically bring the pocket closer..as you visualize the OB path....'see' the shot as an easier shot. :confused:

If you cut the ball accurately to a pocket image a diamond away, chances are good that it will hold that line the rest of the way to the actual pocket...

...not always the answer, but helps me miss closer.

I'm old and can't see, so I'm looking for any help I can get in trying to
pocket balls:grin:


ps: if you come up with a stone cold lock on these 'spot' shots...please PM me...I see no reason to bother others with the discovery...:p

take care
 
anbukev said:
Brandon from Select Billiards explains the spot shot simply in his newest video.

https://youtu.be/r0nu1M0xH_A
Click to expand...

Thanks - this worked amazingly well for a couple different spots in the kitchen. I'm wondering if there is an easy way to adjust the aiming point - I tried just going a little thinner or thicker based on feel and had inconsistent results, but this at least gave me a good comfortable starting point - perhaps I can practice and develop the adjustment 'feel' from here.

Am I wandering into CTE aiming and feuding territory here?

b
 
I would start with the CB at the center of the table, or at least the first Diamond past the side pocket(towards the head string). I would shoot this shot over and over with center ball, one tip below center,until you don't miss, then one tip above center, again until you don't miss. Make a challenge out of it, by shooting say 10 in a row. you miss, you start over.Make 10, then go to outside english, then inside english. You need to know how to shoot this with all types of draw/follow and left/right, in order to move the CB around the table.

Once you can do this, move CB at least a half diamond back, and start over. Keep doing this until you get back to the head string. after a few thousand shots at this, you will be happy to shoot this shot. It'll teach you a lot more than to just to make a spot shot.

It would help to have someone spotting up the ball for you.
 
Hi Willy,

It sounds to me like you've missed the shot so many times that you're not sure where to aim. This has happened to me with certain shots so I can relate. Try this out to correct to problem:

1. Set up the cue ball and object ball and mark their locations with stickers.
2. Place a ghost ball frozen to the object ball to determine exactly where the cue ball must contact the object ball.
3. Mark the ghost ball location with a sticker and remove the ghost ball.
4. Shoot toward the ghost ball sticker and you should make the shot.

Set up the balls in their original positions and shoot the shot again. Keep shooting it over and over again until your brain learns the correct aiming point. After a while you can remove the ghost ball sticker and just go off memory. Next you can move onto different cue ball and object ball locations.

Good luck!
 
ktrepal85 said:
Hi Willy,

It sounds to me like you've missed the shot so many times that you're not sure where to aim. This has happened to me with certain shots so I can relate. Try this out to correct to problem:

1. Set up the cue ball and object ball and mark their locations with stickers.
2. Place a ghost ball frozen to the object ball to determine exactly where the cue ball must contact the object ball.
3. Mark the ghost ball location with a sticker and remove the ghost ball.
4. Shoot toward the ghost ball sticker and you should make the shot.

Set up the balls in their original positions and shoot the shot again. Keep shooting it over and over again until your brain learns the correct aiming point. After a while you can remove the ghost ball sticker and just go off memory. Next you can move onto different cue ball and object ball locations.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I practice troublesome shots. I use reinforcement labels to make sure I'm shooting the same shot every time. Here is an example of that:

https://youtu.be/7AGQvmQdYxI
 
WillyCornbread said:
Anyone have any tips or practice drills other than just shooting a million of these shots that might help me?

My stroke is pretty good, I'm able to hit center ball consistently, make most shots around the table. I can shoot stop shots from any length of the table and I can draw back in a dead straight line about 40% of the time.

I have very little issue with straight in shots, or thin cuts. I feel comfortable sighting and if I miss I usually know as soon as I hit the ball.

For some reason I just can't make wide angle and spot shot type shots more than about 10% of the time! I never really feel comfortable sighting them - like it does't resolve in my brain the way most other shots do and when I hit it I have no idea if it's going in until I see it hit the object ball.

Any thoughts other than just keep hitting them over and over - I've shot about 100 of these shots in the last 2 days with no noticeable improvement in consistency...

Thanks,

b
Click to expand...

...duplicate...
 
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