Anyone ever considered losing the lag on purpose?
- Thread starter acousticsguru
- Start date
Of course! That wasn't really the question, as you may have noticed, but how to beat a guy who'll shoot at a white flag and make it (seriously, these kids consider cue ball and object ball on the same table = position) to the shot, elegantly concealing the fact that one is as blind as a bat on long pots (exaggerating, but you get the gist).
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
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Try to win the lag. That's what you're supposed to do. If you want to shoot the opening break shot, then win the lag and choose to break. It's the first shot of the game. Your opponent won't have a clue as to why you're choosing to break. It's better to start the game with integrity and sportsmanlike conduct rather than the opposite.
I appreciate your point and can see where you're coming from making mention of "integrity" (as a matter of self-respect as much as our being perceived so by others), but of all games, Straight Pool being the one experts agree the opening break is, to put it mildly, of no advantage except possibly on 10-foot tables, and that conceptually (not just tactically) allows for e.g. intentional fouls, including players pushing the cue ball further into the stack or against/through a cluster of object balls, which technically (in terms of execution) borders on unsportsmanlike behavior according to EPC/WPA rules (no telling if there's a double-hit, and if there were, it would surely have to be regarded as deliberate or "by design"), I wouldn't necessarily refer to losing the lag on purpose as being against sportsmanlike conduct.
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
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chickenman
Registered
Lagging
The winner of the lag determines who shoots first so it is always advantageous to win the lag. If you purposely lose the lag, your opponent could choose to break the balls.
From the WPA rules:
1.2 Lagging to Determine Order of Play
The lag is the first shot of the match and determines order of play. The player who wins the lag chooses who will shoot first.
The winner of the lag determines who shoots first so it is always advantageous to win the lag. If you purposely lose the lag, your opponent could choose to break the balls.
From the WPA rules:
1.2 Lagging to Determine Order of Play
The lag is the first shot of the match and determines order of play. The player who wins the lag chooses who will shoot first.
True, and every Straight Pool player knows this. Even so, in 30 years of playing this game, I haven't yet seen it done (let alone one of my opponents choose to break him- or herself). Of course, should any of them have read this thread, they might now…
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[/QUOTE]