Coos Cues
Coos Cues
The average pool player has never won any type of pool tournament and half of them are worse than that.
What order to shoot the stripes with ball in hand?
- Thread starter elyons
- Start date
Keeping It Simple, with minimal cue ball movement is key to becoming great at this game.
I think the value of center ball is it centralizes (duh) your control process. The simplest analogy is driving a car or better, riding a bicycle. You learn straight ahead and gradually figure out the degree of input required to turn accurately. Learning to drive or ride is easier since you can apply continuous correction at low speeds until you get it right. Pool has no such luxury. Be that as it may, the difference between good pool and good driving is pool requires refinement not found in commuter vehicle operation. It's in fact closer to high performance racing. Get loose on a stroke and the inning might be over.
Anyway, the learning process is a long one and the best way is from center ball and gradually working outwards.
Anyway, the learning process is a long one and the best way is from center ball and gradually working outwards.
And the key to those wanting to learn and & understand, what's the cue ball going to do, when ANY off center/below center/high center cueing ends? 
While there is some truth to the analogy it's not like you can say those guys drifting through the corners don't know how to drive.
I believe the theory is that if you miss your "new center" you are still applying the same kind of side to the ball, whereas if you aim for center ball and miss you can unintentionally apply either kind of side. Of course there are other reasons for applying english to the cue ball. However, for the pattern posted by the OP, it seems unnecessary to me to apply any kind of side. It's a simple (albeit with one problem that might need a recovery shot/insurance) runout so making the cueball dance seems rather pointless. A player who plays with a touch of side as their system should just go ahead and aim for their "new center" as usual. A player who doesn't should just pot the balls and make the cue ball move no more than is needed.
I was gonna mention drifting but too much wordage. Essentially though, extreme car control - gymkhana (WTF does that mean?) for instance is the kind of virtuosity I'm alluding to in the pool analogy. Pros branch off into getting the cash (I call it stealing) and pro racers of course are equally practical but learning any craft to the nth degree has to be a step by step undertaking.
The opening few shots should be obvious to anyone who’s picked up a pool cue.
Shot 1: Clear out the 15 ball by 1 rail banking it into the 11, sending the 11 into the top right corner pocket. Hit with a bit of draw so the cue ball bumps into the 8 and hold there
Shot 2: From there, you’re pretty well set up for the easy “bridging over the 8-ball, 8.5 foot razor thin cut all the way up the rail on the 10 ball”. (If you’ve ever played that 8-ball pool app, you know that this is a remarkably easy shot)
Shot 3: with any luck, once both the cue ball and 8 ball come to a complete stop you’ll be in an ok spot to 1-rail kick the 13 into the bottom side pocket.
From there you’ll have to work at it since there’s now a completely different table pattern.
Shot 1: Clear out the 15 ball by 1 rail banking it into the 11, sending the 11 into the top right corner pocket. Hit with a bit of draw so the cue ball bumps into the 8 and hold there
Shot 2: From there, you’re pretty well set up for the easy “bridging over the 8-ball, 8.5 foot razor thin cut all the way up the rail on the 10 ball”. (If you’ve ever played that 8-ball pool app, you know that this is a remarkably easy shot)
Shot 3: with any luck, once both the cue ball and 8 ball come to a complete stop you’ll be in an ok spot to 1-rail kick the 13 into the bottom side pocket.
From there you’ll have to work at it since there’s now a completely different table pattern.
When you're right, you're right.
A lot of players seem to have a problem going from the 11 to the 13. I read another post where, when they miss,
they actually pocket one of the solids. this layout requires no more speed than just rolling the balls in, even if you
miss, the CB should have no more energy than to maybe bump another ball, but not pocket it.
As far as the 11 to 13 goes .. you should place the CB where the 10 ball is and remove all other balls except the 11 ball.
Shoot the 11 in the corner and make the CB travel straight up the table to the other short rail. For a better reference
place the 11 ball on the middle diamond and make the CB go straight up the table to the middle diamond on the
other short rail. After you're able to accomplish this pretty regularly then try to make CB contact one of the other diamonds
on the far short rail. Then change the angle on the CB to 11 ball and start over. This should be part of anyone's practice routine.
It works on many shots you're faced with during a match. You're shooting a ball down a long rail into the corner and your
next shot is straight across on the other long rail, and you not only have to come across for the next shot but you may have to
stay below or above the next shot.
Another shot players have trouble with is controlling the CB after shooting a ball in the side pocket. Leave the CB where the 10
ball is and place an OB straight out from the side pocket about a foot. Shoot this shot and make the CB scratch in the corner. Do
this until you can scratch most of the time. Now in a match, DON'T DO THIS! Some players practice this shot with a mindset of
drawing the CB to keep it out of corner when they have no idea of what will actually make the CB go into the corner. Once you
learn what not to do you can actually run CB straight up and down, straight at corner if there's a cluster there, or deep into corner
for two rails and out. One of the best ways to improve your game is learning how to get the CB up and down or across the table
accurately. Sure practicing your draw, follow, shot making, lag and break are very important but most players I watch will wind
up out of line because of a simple 11 to 13
they actually pocket one of the solids. this layout requires no more speed than just rolling the balls in, even if you
miss, the CB should have no more energy than to maybe bump another ball, but not pocket it.
As far as the 11 to 13 goes .. you should place the CB where the 10 ball is and remove all other balls except the 11 ball.
Shoot the 11 in the corner and make the CB travel straight up the table to the other short rail. For a better reference
place the 11 ball on the middle diamond and make the CB go straight up the table to the middle diamond on the
other short rail. After you're able to accomplish this pretty regularly then try to make CB contact one of the other diamonds
on the far short rail. Then change the angle on the CB to 11 ball and start over. This should be part of anyone's practice routine.
It works on many shots you're faced with during a match. You're shooting a ball down a long rail into the corner and your
next shot is straight across on the other long rail, and you not only have to come across for the next shot but you may have to
stay below or above the next shot.
Another shot players have trouble with is controlling the CB after shooting a ball in the side pocket. Leave the CB where the 10
ball is and place an OB straight out from the side pocket about a foot. Shoot this shot and make the CB scratch in the corner. Do
this until you can scratch most of the time. Now in a match, DON'T DO THIS! Some players practice this shot with a mindset of
drawing the CB to keep it out of corner when they have no idea of what will actually make the CB go into the corner. Once you
learn what not to do you can actually run CB straight up and down, straight at corner if there's a cluster there, or deep into corner
for two rails and out. One of the best ways to improve your game is learning how to get the CB up and down or across the table
accurately. Sure practicing your draw, follow, shot making, lag and break are very important but most players I watch will wind
up out of line because of a simple 11 to 13
For the most part, I agree. On a 7’ fast, tight table. It’s not the automatic out, many are implying.
I quit the leagues years ago, before Fargo ratings. Is a 550 Fargo considered average or above average?
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
The mean fargo rating in the bca league where I live is about 400. Out of 60 players playing this summer only 4 have a fargo rating above 550.
So to be fair I looked at a random BCA league in the seattle area where there are surely more good player and they had 10 out of 120 over 550. A bit better but not a lot.
Looking at Dr. Dave's chart you could get the impression this type of player is middle of the road from a standpoint of the pool of all players but that seems not to be true. A 550 is a very strong league player.
This is the reality and I stand by taking the ghost over any 550 or below player especially on a nine foot diamond table.
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
Great feedback. I think someone around your fargo is a perfect player to test the simplicity of various outs against one another as the tricky spots are more likely to actually get tricky for you rather than the champs who can navigate those spots fairly regularly.
The 13 first out was also by far easiest for me to get out on. I got out other ways too but the 13 first path felt routine in comparison to the adventures i turned some of the other attempts into.
I 100% agree that a sub-550 is an underdog on this layout. I’ll further say that 9 out of 10 failures will involve the 13-ball whether they shoot it first, third, 2nd or last.
The 15 being absolutely frozen on the cushion which it appears to be is a huge factor in making this run out a little more difficult than it might seem. If you happen to leave a little too much angle going from the 13 in the lower side as your first shot to set up the 15, it’s going to make it harder to hold the proper angle for the 11 when pocketing the 15.
If you apply little inside when playing the 15 you run the risk falling close to straight in on the 11 which is trouble, or there’s the risk of getting a little too steep on the 11, which would still be better off than straight in, although it might eliminate the two rail high inside path to getting on the 14 next.
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@elyons @Cornerman @WobblyStroke Alright made a video. Weird talking and playing at same time . This was 1st try. Setting it up was more difficult than running it lol
. This was 1st try. Setting it up was more difficult than running it lol
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