How would you play this shot?

Fatboy said:
He hit it right.

Only way to slow roll that ball is if you know the table 100%. Which isn’t the case here. Was a properly hit ball. He missed, it’s difficult no matter what.

Best
Fatboy😃
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I agree…never going to roll it. If whitey was too close to the rail, or froze, I’m going rail rail first.
 
I'm shooting it how he did. I'd like to think I would stay still and believe in the shot. Reality would prove otherwise.
If it's too straight to roll, you need to come with a shot like that.
 
Dan White said:
Why is everyone worried about roll off on at medium soft speed on a table that has just been set up with new cloth and leveled for tournament play? If you are worried about a piece of chalk on the cloth then just wipe the cloth with your hand before shooting.
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I think this is the essence of the argument. First of all, there's absolutely no scratch here, the cue ball won't reach the pocket on a softish hit, but these players had already played two full matches on this very table, so they'd have known whether the table could be trusted or not.

Have to accept the player's judgment here.
 
sjm said:
I think this is the essence of the argument. First of all, there's absolutely no scratch here, the cue ball won't reach the pocket on a softish hit, but these players had already played two full matches on this very table, so they'd have known whether the table could be trusted or not.

Have to accept the player's judgment here.
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Barring the once in a blue moon brain fart, I think this is always true. We can't get inside the player's head, we can't see what he is seeing, know what he is feeling. While second guessing and "what if" provides entertaining fodder on here, I think the player chooses the right shot for them at that moment.

Hu
 
sjm said:
I think this is the essence of the argument. First of all, there's absolutely no scratch here, the cue ball won't reach the pocket on a softish hit, but these players had already played two full matches on this very table, so they'd have known whether the table could be trusted or not.

Have to accept the player's judgment here.
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Rolling that shot is just too scary on a tourney table. If you know the table “home court advantage” and are certain it isn’t going to roll off, maybe slow roll it, maybe not. I like how he hit it. He just missed. It’s not easy no matter what way you choose to shoot that shot.

Best
Eric 😃

Stu & Hu are both correct. Hu has me blocked-please let him know I said “he’s right & hello”.
 
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I think he chose the right option. Looks like there was a ver slight stroke issue that caused him to miss it. A real tough shot on a tight pocket table. Looks like about 4 inch corners, so no room for error whether he slow rolls it, or goes with the stop shot.
 
sjm said:
I think this is the essence of the argument. First of all, there's absolutely no scratch here, the cue ball won't reach the pocket on a softish hit, but these players had already played two full matches on this very table, so they'd have known whether the table could be trusted or not.

Have to accept the player's judgment here.
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The possibility of a scratch had to be a consideration though, otherwise the fact that he was straight in would have been irrelevant. Both Jeremy and Karl said before he shot that the reason he was elevating was because he was straight in. Could he have rolled the cue ball softly enough to avoid scratching? Yes, of course, but he decided that shooting the way he did gave him a better chance at pocketing the 9 ball than rolling the cue ball softly enough to avoid the scratch. FWIW, both JJ and Karl seemed to concur.
 
PoolBum said:
The possibility of a scratch had to be a consideration though, otherwise the fact that he was straight in would have been irrelevant. Both Jeremy and Karl said before he shot that the reason he was elevating was because he was straight in. Could he have rolled the cue ball softly enough to avoid scratching? Yes, of course, but he decided that shooting the way he did gave him a better chance at pocketing the 9 ball than rolling the cue ball softly enough to avoid the scratch. FWIW, both JJ and Karl seemed to concur.
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No, the scratch was irrelevant at slowish speed, as the nine ball wasn't very close to the pocket. Being able to roll in a ball softly is a skill that every top player needs to have, but if they either don't have that ability or don't trust the table, it's the wrong shot. FWIW, Efren was the best I've ever seen at slow rolling balls into the pocket. My guess is that he'd have surprised you on many occasions, and the tighter the equipment, the more often you saw him slow roll it.

The chance of this shot rolling off is less of a mystery when a team is playing its third straight match on the same table. Hence, the chance of a roll-off is a risk that the shooter would have been well equipped to judge accurately.

So, I'm returning to the point that you have to trust the player's judgment here.
 
Dan White said:
Why is everyone worried about roll off on at medium soft speed on a table that has just been set up with new cloth and leveled for tournament play? ...
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I recall some very major issues very recently with tournament tables, so you have to know something about the specific table you're playing on. In the past there were also issues with lopsided cue balls in tournaments. Recently in a pro snooker tournament -- maybe the World Championship? -- they were leveling the table between matches. Maybe the problems are infrequent but they do still happen and with the slow roll shot the player is giving up some control over what happens.
 
Shannon.spronk said:
I think I would have tried to play it like he did, but maybe shoot center pocket.
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He ended up cutting the ball the wrong way. He should have cut it slightly to his left to get to the center of the pocket. Instead he cut it to his right and the 9 ball hit the point. I'm sure he was trying for the center of the pocket.
 
Bob Jewett said:
He ended up cutting the ball the wrong way. He should have cut it slightly to his left to get to the center of the pocket. Instead he cut it to his right and the 9 ball hit the point. I'm sure he was trying for the center of the pocket.
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Yeah I know I was just making a quick joke. The last time that I had a big shot for the match I drove the 9 ball straight into the rail and I will be honest that Lian Han got closer to making it that I did.
 
sjm said:
No, the scratch was irrelevant at slowish speed, as the nine ball wasn't very close to the pocket. Being able to roll in a ball softly is a skill that every top player needs to have, but if they either don't have that ability or don't trust the table, it's the wrong shot. FWIW, Efren was the best I've ever seen at slow rolling balls into the pocket. My guess is that he'd have surprised you on many occasions, and the tighter the equipment, the more often you saw him slow roll it.

The chance of this shot rolling off is less of a mystery when a team is playing its third straight match on the same table. Hence, the chance of a roll-off is a risk that the shooter would have been well equipped to judge accurately.

So, I'm returning to the point that you have to trust the player's judgment here.
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Of course he could have shot slowly enough to avoid scratching, as I said in my post. What I'm saying is, if he was only worried about the table rolling off, and not scratching, there would have been no reason for him to elevate his cue, and JJ and Karl would have had no reason to note that he had to elevate because he was too straight--he could simply have shot with a level cue and with whatever speed was necessary in order to prevent the cue ball from rolling off in that case. So I think it is only the combination of the possibility of the cue ball rolling off together with the possibility that if the cue ball was rolling with too much speed he could scratch that explains his decision to elevate on the shot.
 
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PoolBum said:
Of course he could have shot slowly enough to avoid scratching, as I said in my post. What I'm saying is, if he was only worried about the table rolling off, and not scratching, there would have been no reason for him to elevate his cue, and JJ and Karl would have had no reason to note that he had to elevate because he was too straight--he could simply have shot with a level cue and with whatever speed was necessary in order to prevent the cue ball from rolling off in that case. So I think it is only the combination of the possibility of the cue ball rolling off together with the possibility that if the cue ball was rolling with too much speed he could scratch that explains his decision to elevate on the shot.
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Yup, good analysis here.
 
Jeremy Jones ALWAYS warns against slow rolling- he just is dead set against it- you cannot go by his slow roll arguments bc he always makes that comment in these situations. If Efren was a slow roll advocate, as mentioned by some here; then the slow roll is not always a bad choice.

Not that I would slow roll this distance, personally, for me, I think a medium speed here, but just noting that JJ is hands down against the slow roll- he has said it over and over again.
 
My answer is firm yet forgiving. A little more level and with a tip of low. I probably would have hit it at about 60% of what he did. My rock would hit and park. Anything more and you are asking it to jar.

On shot's like this I set up center ball and triple check my alignment and tip placement. Once confirmed I bring the butt up just enough for a little draw. Check spot one more time. Look up at target and concentrate on smooth delivery. Gorst or Filler would have done it at my speed. Gorst particularly only uses power required. Makes the pockets more forgiving.

Like this:
 
Nick B said:
My answer is firm yet forgiving. A little more level and with a tip of low. I probably would have hit it at about 60% of what he did. My rock would hit and park. ...
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The way he hit it was more or less a stop shot. How can you hit it higher and softer and get a stop shot?
 
Once again, do not hit it slow. Hit it with a nice medium speed stroke. The cue ball will not scratch on this shot! It will pretty much die after contact. And it will not roll off either! Do not jack up on the ball and do not hit a stop shot! If you get on the table and practice what I just told you, you will make this shot more frequently and more easily than by hitting it any other way.

If the object ball was out in the middle of the table somehere and you had distance, then hitting it firm with a stop shot may be the best shot, but not in the set up shown! Okay, carry on.
 
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