An introduction to straight pool patterns: The most valuable ball in straightpool

I have played straightpool for many years, and have made a special effort to try to understand patterns. I wanted to make a youtube video on this subject, but I've put that project on ice for the moment. So I decided to start out with this post. If it's popular, I'll make more.

The ball I'm talking about in the title is the one and two ball in this picture. You will notice that the balls are slightly off the rail around the second diamond. They need only be in this general area and not EXACTLY on the diamond. Half a diamond up or down is ok.

1. This ball will allow you to effortlessly move down to the rack area after clearing up table balls. Because it is slightly off the rail, the rail can be used to slow the cueball down, as well as to help with position.

2. This ball will be an excellent key-ball for side-of-the-rack breakshots. Again, the rail helps control the cueball, and the ball is above- and on the same side as as the breakball, making it ideal.

3. This ball is located in an ideal spot for getting to secondary breakshots. Quite often you will have secondary breakshots above- or below the stack. This ball is very nice as a keyball for those secondary breakshots.

4. This ball is instrumental in many patterns, among them the classic triangle end pattern.

An often overlooked classic pattern version with the ball on the opposite side of the table.

The next picture shows how this ball can be instrumental in getting rid of a typicical problem ball around the side pocket, either as a position ball, or as a way to get control over the white after removing the trouble ball from below, since it gives access to the side of the rack, as well as below the rack breakshots etc.

Another versatile ball

Another very versatile ball is represented here as the one ball. Again, this ball is slightly off the rail. It can be frozen as well and still be usable. Here is one way to take advantage of this ball as a key ball, by going 2 rails around the break ball.

There are two things to notice on this diagram: We are on the wrong side of the rack for a right hander. That means that we have limitations on which shots we can reach (unless we can shoot ambidextrously). You will also notice some writing on the table this time. These are some recommendations based on being a right handed player with some physical limitations as far as reach is concerned.

1. Position marked "NO". For a right handed player this position will involve some stretching, possibly awkward stance and maybe using an extender. This is still a makable shot for a young or tall man. If you are old, short, stiff or overweight (or a combination of those things) this shot will be a problem. You may still make it, but the percentages will not be as good and you risk stroking the shot poorly.

2. Position marked "OK". This, to me, marks the boundary past which the breakshot stops giving you a decent yield with a normal stroke. You can still go way beyond this point and get them open, but you'll have to be more accurate in your target zone on the rack, or shoot harder.

3. Position marked "GOOD". This will give you a great yield, if you are confident with the cut angle. Not much effort needed as far as stroking is concerned. You will also noted that the line taken to get to this point can be extended very far, almost all the way back to the end rail and still be a good breakshot. This is an illustration of why selecting the right line is so important.

4. Also of note is the fact that you'll nearly always be able to reach shots where the cueball is on the rail and the object ball is way off the same rail. In this particular case that would give you a rather severe cut angle, when below the side pocket, though.

5. Another use for the ball is shown on the second image. Here we see that this ball is ideal to manufacture a breakball, from a ball that was originally to low.

Why 9 ballers lose their breakballs

This post is more of an attempt to illustrate a principle, than trying to illustrate an exact lay of the balls. Both sides of the table show the rack area (I'm lazy, sue me), the 1ball is the object ball and the 2ball is the potential breakball. The fact is that the side-of-the-rack-breakball is big as a house when you come two rails out of the corner this way. As you all probably know this is among the most safe and popular position shots in 9 ball, but in straightpool it should be used with great caution and rarely when you have a breakball on the side of the rack. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone mess up their breakball this way, I'd be a on luxury yacht, surrounded by models right now (or at least a moderately priced fishing boat with some nice fishing gear), instead of typing this crap.

So remember: try not to go two rails around your breakshot this way, if you can avoid it. At the very least, choose an angle where you can carefully control the cueball path.

bbb said:

i love this sharing of knowledge
THANKS ALOT
:thumbup:

Click to expand...

Thanks. With posts like I've made in this thread it's always kind of hard to know wether the information is too basic or if people just find them boring etc..I'm glad you liked my thread. I'll update it when the inspiration strikes me.

People should feel free to add to or criticise this thread, btw.

Common and uncommon patterns

Common pattern 1:
Learning patterns is all about recognizing balls that belong together. The easiest example of this is a line across the table, like this. Whenever you see this situation, you have a ready made end pattern on your hands. Why is this pattern so strong? From the given cueball position you can go either way, either using the 3 or the 1 as your breakball, but there are numerous positions, off to either side that will give you an excellent end pattern, with hardly any work to do at all. You don't even have to touch a rail, unless you choose to do so. A right handed player would in this particular case be better off leaving his cueball further up table for his shot on the 3. Always keep reach considerations in the forefront, when you plan out your breakshot.

Common pattern 2

Here we see a variation on the above pattern, but in this instance there is a single direction in which to go to get an easy side-of-the-rack breakshot. You will notice that only two of the balls form a straight line and the last is above. The middle ball in such configurations are often referred to as the pivot ball. This is the ball that takes you to the other side of the table.

Uncommon patterns 1 & 2:
Here is a more unconventional use of the ball in the center of the table. I wanted to show, how this ball, in connection with a ball on a straight line across from it, can also form a powerful breakball. The break from above, into the head ball, is favored among pros as a starting breakshot for record attempts. The placement of the first ball in these two sequences is really not critical, as long as it gives you a controlled shot on the key ball to the breakball.

Common pattern 3
Here is a pattern I call "The nineballers comfort". It's a kind of pattern that has become more and more prevalent with the faster and faster conditions on the tables of today. The choice between the two lines taken to the break position is merely a matter of preference, although the straight line will in theory give you a more controlled angle on your breakshot.

Uncommon pattern 3
One of my personal favourites! Whenever there is a ball hanging in the upper part of the side pocket, or almost hanging like this, I know I'll get a great breakshot. One of the easiest breakshots to play position for, all you need to do is to lay the cueball on the side rail, or close to it, and you're golden, you don't need to get as close as the picture shows. There are almost infinite numbers of ways to get on this ball, I've show a few here. The "2" ball is probably the best key ball, objectively speaking. It does take a good stroke to hit the rack solidly, but if you do, it will explode! Of course you control the tangent line by how thinly you cut the 3 ball into the side pocket.

I'm very confident with this shot, but if you hit the lower side of the rack (as we view it on this picture, missing both the head balls), all bets are off on what will happen, so avoid that. If you are at all unsure, slightly favour the side of the head ball closest to the upper head ball as we view the rack.

I'm going to continue this thread with some examples of rules of thumb that I use. I will deviate from these rules only when I feel there is no other viable option.

Rule 1: In general I do not like to have my keyball below the side-of-the-rack breakshot. The reasons for this are many and complictated, and there are exceptions, but this is the general rule. We have allready seen a couple of these exceptions to this earlier.

I'm going to illustrate why, starting with a low key ball, and how an end pattern with a low keyball is frequently misplayed by inexperienced players. I'm then going to show how to properly play position in this scenario.

Starting off with bad patterns 1 & 2 we see that pattern 1, going 2 rails around from a low keyball is very risky indeed. Sometimes you will get a perfect outcome, but every once in a while the angle will be misjudged and you'll end up either without any angle as illustrated, or colliding with the breakball. This is because this setup depends hugely on getting a perfect angle on the keyball. Getting too full or too thin will lead to a hard to judge angle. In general a keyball is not good if it takes a perfect stroke to get good on the breakball. Many players are used to 9 ball, where going around the ball can make perfect sense, but in straightpool we need a good angle on our breakshots, not just a shot at the final ball.

Bad pattern 2 is actually fairly common. The problem with this pattern is simply that it depends quite heavily on judging both the speed and the spin well. There is a fairly significant chance of scratching, and the angle on the breakball is pretty much a gamble. Every now and then you may even come up way short or low. This comes in to play a lot if the breakball is close to the rail, or close to the rack. In those circumstances this shot cannot be relied on. The illustrated position of the breakball is probably the best chance you have of successfully pulling this off. I had a player botch this position against me today, which is what inspired me to make this post.

"Good" Pattern: If I have to use a low keyball like this, I prefer to play position for this kind of position play, even if I may have to use a bit of inside or outside english to get this sort of line. I generally, then will play for a thinner cut and hitting the end rail only, rather than hitting the side rail or going 2 rails like in the previous examples. I still don't think this is in any way a good pattern which is why I used these ("). Of the three methods, this is by far the better one. You get several lines that will lead to a good breakshot, and you're guaranteed to have an angle, once you pass a certain point.

This continues the explanation of rule 1, low keyballs to side-of-the-rack breakshots should be avoided. The first examples will show how both of these low keyballs are not good choices. It's very tough to control your angles in these situations.

You can easily get no angle at all on bad pattern 3, or even get your angle the opposite way! This keyball is simply on the wrong side for this breakshot, and is a poor choice of keyball.

Bad pattern 4 shows that you need to get very good on a keyball that's further from the pocket than they breakball, and on the rail like in this example. Again, you risk getting bad angles or colliding with your breakball. If you have a good key-ball-to-the-keyball, you can give yourself a good angle and go straight up from the end rail, like our previous example or give yourself the optimal 2 rail angle. In that case it could be used. With all of these keyballs, wether they are actually on the rail or slightly off makes a huge difference.

"Good pattern2" This is just to show that a ball on the rail that is slightly "inside" the breakball is much better. The risk of colliding with the breakball is much smaller in this case, and it's much easier to control the 2 rail route, even if the keyball is frozen. You can even go straight up 1 rail if it's far enough inside the breakball.