Once again, what was the cue ball supposed to do? In the video, when he elevated his cue, the cue ball looked like it rolled after it was struck by the cue. The only reason the cue ball didn't overrun the position on that shot was because he hit the object ball fuller than the shot where he "rolled" the cue ball, over cut the object ball, and the cue ball over ran the position. It was over cutting the object ball that caused the cue ball to over run the position--not "rolling" the cue ball.
Also, does the cue ball know that you "jabbed" at it, as recommended, rather than "smooth stroked" it? I submit that the cue ball only knows how hard it was struck with the tip, and it doesn't matter if the cue speed at cue ball impact was produced by a "jab" or a "smooth stroke".
Ahhh, this is really difficult.
For starters, I don’t think he did a very good job of explaining the shot, and as mentioned by JV:
Interesting... Was I the only person that picked up on the fact that he only put the OB in the right part of the pocket when he demostrated this version of kill shot..???
Maybe he took it to extremes to prove a point on the first 'bad' shots. However the only one he hit even remotely well was the last.
Karl's video is an advertisement for straight pool in my opinion.
It was contrived because he can’t demonstrate a ball rolling off or a kick, so he had to miss his initial shots on purpose. That’s nothing new for pool tutorials. And it kind of has to look obvious, because it’s pretty hard to miss a pot on purpose. I did a Diamond Dave video running my age in straight pool and on my exact age, tried to intentionally miss a short side cut all the way from the rack end to the kitchen corner pocket. Smashed it right into the heart of the pocket.
Anyway, back to this shot. It’s not a drag shot. Does he even call it a drag shot? (doesn’t matter if he does) This is difficult to describe away form the table, but you probably know what I’m talking about. I think what he means by jabbing the ball is a shortened backswing to avoid generating too much power, but using a little wrist snap, or finger grip, or whatever your method of choice is, to generate enough acceleration through the cueball to cause it to slide slightly as it initially starts moving. But there’s a very small margin where you get this effect for the shot he demonstrated.
I think in pool you call this a “nip shot” or something? In snooker, you sometimes see it when someone lands too high on the black, and they want to kill the cueball off the top rail to hold for a red at the bottom of the pack; short back swing with rapid acceleration through the bottom of the cue ball.
I’m pretty sure this is what he’s trying to describe. I personally wouldn’t play this shot like that. I would, as just mentioned while I was typing this, play the ball fuller and use whatever part of the pocket I needed to. Jacking up is never good. We all know how quickly the shot goes wrong if you hit even a millimeter off from where you intended.
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