I always said this was where pool was going to end up, spot shots. And boy was I right. When you took all the strategy, knowledge and finesse out of the game by stopping playing 8 ball and straight pool and rather playing brain dead rotation pool games, this is inevitably the outcome. Once call safe 10 ball was invented, it was only a matter of time. The removal of most of the strategic and deep parts of the game and the focus on ever narrowing pockets is what forced this development. That along with changes in equipment, like the Diamond tables with super fast cushions, ultra fast cloths and all the other stuff. You don't need a powerful stroke, you don't need a brain for tactics or patterns, all you need is pure shotmaking. Then the magic rack happened and that was all she wrote. There is no longer any randomness to the break, it's all a trick shot show, anyways, with players getting the same layout 10 times in a row. Why not make the field even and make it all about spot shots?
And now, here it is. Enjoy it, this what you all wanted. Thank God there is no law forcing anyone to play pool, there is always snooker, carom, and Chinese or UK 8 ball, if one cares to engage the brain every now and then. I'd say play 8 ball or straight pool, but there are no tournaments. For ranking points you have to play 9 and 10 ball where I live. Honestly I quit competing now. After Covid, I realized that competing in a sport where I hate 80 percent of the ranking events was a complete waste of time. Now pool is more of an occational pastime. I still love the game, the technique, the patterns the strategy of the more cerebral games (especially straight pool), but why play games you hate when there is so many more interesting things to do. I have to play 9 ball to get points, I can't even make myself practise 9 ball anymore. One thing is for sure, they'd have to threaten me at gunpoint to make me shoot spot shots competitively.