Hard to Find the Center of the Cue Ball
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
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i bought it a long time ago
it was an aid to help with jump shots
i dont recall its exact name or supplier
if i find it or think of it i will PM you
happy holidays
Thanks man, I don't know why some people don't like using inside English, to me it's the same as outside, I am working on using only the amount of English needed, I have a tendency to use too much sidespin, alot of times a touch is all you need and I end up bumping balls I didn't intend to, I guess if it was easy everyone would be great at this game......
A touch of inside removes the natural spin on the cue ball that is created by the force and friction of colliding with the object ball.
Then, if the cue ball connects with a rail afterward, it will come off "flatter" without the extra spin and will more naturally follow the angles of the table when it comes to playing position.
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You can learn something everyday on this site from some really good people,
Wrong drink!(grin) I started with a Coca-Cola bottle then went to the long skinny neck of a 7Up or wine bottle. Then I realized I was unnecessarily complicating my stroke to keep it straight vertically going in and out of that hole. Two vertical bottles to form a gate and a ball behind them a ways for a target was a better method. Three pool balls forming the gate and target works too.
I wasted time and did my stroke harm trying to hold it straight for the length of a coke bottle, the six ounce one. Using a pendulum stroke requires extra wrist or shoulder movement to go in and out of a bottle. I found a channel between two objects to be better. The bottle did cause me to abandon the pendulum stroke so it wasn't all total waste!
I see what you are talking about. Largely removing one variable. Seems the touch of inside would have to be perfectly matched to the spin off of a collision but I guess close enough is good enough to use a different reference point. I stretch and shorten my angles as needed so I guess I have been using TOI, TOO, and most importantly BOC, my personal favorite with TORE being a close second.
Hu
It doesn't take too long to figure out.
Using a TOI is easier to see and hit than trying to hit dead center on the cue ball.
Unless you are hitting an object ball straight on with dead center, you are always hitting the object ball with the "inside" of the cue ball (the side of the cue ball that connects with the object ball) no matter what spin you are putting on the cue ball.
If I use a bit of TOI on the cue ball and accidentally stroke a bit outside of where I am aiming, I more than likely will hit center ball rather than the opposite cue ball side of center which would mean that I put a TOO (touch of outside) on the cue ball and it would give me "running" English which I am trying to avoid by using TOI in the first place.
I try to play with a "flat/dead" cue ball that slides rather than rolls most of the time. To do this, I use a lot of firm stun/punch shots with a TOI to keep the cue ball from turning over or spinning. This allows me to concentrate more on speed and natural angles than multiple versions of spins and speeds that create distorted rebound angles off the rails caused by an out-of-control spinning cue ball.
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I’ve often heard to forget center ball and use slight left or right of where you think center would be. Right now (approaching 80) I’m trying like the devil to stop missing so many shots that I took for granted years ago. I’d rather play than practice and that’s a big part of the problem.
I worked in a pool hall when I was a kid and I heard a lot of things that I later tried out for hours and hours at the table and have utilized some of the ones that I found out actually worked, even though they may go against the grain of what pool scientists and purists believe and teach.
One of them was shown to me by an old guy who had worked in pool halls for years, mostly fixing cues and refurbishing pool tables. I never saw him shoot and by the time I knew him he was beyond the age of most shooters, but he knew a lot about pool.
On straight in shots, he told me to put a TOO (touch of outside) on the cue ball and then aim to a TOI (Touch of inside) on the object ball. That way, you weren't trying to aim at two absolute dead centers. The outside spin on the cue ball would counteract hitting inside on the object ball with throw and send it in a straight line.
It is harder to try to explain it than it is to try it at the table.
Try it to see if it works for you.
It takes a bit of a firm hit and isn't going to work if you are using finesse shots or trying to baby the balls.
Rodney Stephens, a well known one pocket player, told me to grab the end of the cue stick in the palm of my hand and push the cue stick at the center of the cue ball after lining up the object ball. It works. Unconventional but I’ve used it from time to time. Rodney was a character who told some great road stories on Onepocket.org. He passed away several months ago. One of a kind.
Willymakaball
Member
Can you tell where you got that ball? Are they for sale?
Huh? Well I gotta stop and reset.
No comprend A. It seems illogical. I admit to reading no further, as I am aghast.
If you use the standup side eye stance it makes a little sense. It always cracks me up when I have to decline these super strokers with that lumbering make anything stance. I tell myself "I know your limits even though I can't reach em."
To hit the vertical center of the cue ball you must hit right on the red line which is a millimeter or so wide.
Aiming to hit either side of the line is easier because you have a larger target area to hit with the cue tip.
If you aim dead center on the vertical line and miss by a millimeter or two, on which side of the line are you hitting?
Sometimes you may hit to the left and sometimes you may hit to the right.
One side will be outside English and the other side will be inside English.
If I am aiming at the inside of the cue ball, I have the entire side of the cue ball to hit and if I stroke wrong and hit a bit to the wrong side I usually will hit center which will not impart the wrong spin to the cue ball.
It is either inside or center and my cue ball will always be spinning in the same inside direction or not spinning at all.
I don't have to worry about my cue ball going one way one time and another way the next time.
If I want it to go the opposite way, I will intentionally hit the other side of the ball...it won't be by accident.
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Wasn't referring to you by the way. I've never seen you play but you're probably one of those methodical AAAs that might as well be pros. lol...
Two D screens and 3D balls create some interesting conclusions. So do diagrams that don't flex and tips and balls that do.
There is no spot on the cue ball or tip easier to hit than centerline. Just the characteristics of spheres or curved surfaces. Chalk up, put a mark on the cue ball or position a mark where you can see it. Put a ball to shoot at if you look at the object ball last. Now shoot that shot ten to twenty-five times chalking after every shot. How much does your contact point on the cue ball vary? Write that down because we are going to use it from here.
Mark the cue ball at center and 12.5mm out for testing. Put the cue ball near the first diamond, kick cross table picking a shot to avoid a scratch but not straight back and forth. Now forget spin, it is a red herring. Put a mark on the far rail to keep your kick consistent and hit just hard enough to come back to the near rail. Ten shots, twenty-five, as many as you like. Shoot that many aiming at centerline and note the dispersion side to side. Now, try hitting that 12.5mm mark and the same spot on the rail. Note your dispersion side to side. For this test if you usually look at object ball last, look at your spot on the rail you have marked.
If the test is conducted carefully you will find several things. The most important is that dispersion is wider hitting away from center ball. The other thing is that nothing in particular happens when you hit a tiny bit away from center, wrong side of the ball or not.
The centerspot and centerline facing the shooter are the most neutral spots on the cue ball. Also, the center of the tip is the most neutral spot on the tip. Hitting these places gives the greatest margin of error. 12.5mm out is of course more than a touch of something but exaggeration makes the demonstration easier. A "touch of" has the same result but not as large and easy to see.
Hitting further out than intended has less effect aiming at the centerline than anywhere else on the ball. What is more, tips tend to flatten a little at center, giving more margin of error.
Dodging centerline because it is harder doesn't really stand the test of time. If you use centerline it is the easiest area to hit. If you dodge it, the less you do anything on a pool table the more difficult it is. There was a time I had it locked in mind that inside spin and backcutting balls were more difficult shots. I decided that was BS and started giving these shots equal time and effort. I opened up a lot of territory on the pool table that I didn't have when I tried to dodge inside spin and backcuts.
Hu
Merry Christmas Larry!!!
