Let's say a great player has a straight in shot on next ball. Can he move the cue ball pretty much any way he wants using english? They always want an angle, just wondering how they handle it once they mess up and are straight in. If the table has big enough pockets and you're close enough, I suppose you can fudge a bit and create a little angle making the ball in either side of the pocket.
Straight in shot, position from there
- Thread starter livemusic
- Start date
No, but being closer to the object ball allows this to occur with more movement l/r
I am not a great player by any stretch of the imagination and hate straight in shots....unless its the money ball .:grin-square:
Yes English is beneficial to cheating the pocket and getting the cue ball to come off the rail to whichever route you want the cue ball to go.
Its actually a shot I practice....whenever I practice.:embarrassed2:
Yes English is beneficial to cheating the pocket and getting the cue ball to come off the rail to whichever route you want the cue ball to go.
Its actually a shot I practice....whenever I practice.:embarrassed2:
No. The great player has screwed him/herself unless the object ball is close enough to the pocket that the pocket can be cheated, or, a slight masse shot can be made to generate an angle. These are both risky. If the object ball is more than a foot from the pocket, the great player is likely going to just cinch the shot and take what he/she is left with.
Excellent answer - I would add that if there's a possibility to draw the cue ball straight back off a rail, with spin depending on which direction they need the cue ball to head, is another option, if available. Pro players can draw the cue ball so much more and with so much less effort than most of us it's sickening to me - particularly Siming Chen, who I've noticed doesn't hesitate to play 2-3 cushion draw shots if needed.
Well, a little bit. Based on this part of your scenario " If the table has big enough pockets and you're close enough".
Big pockets allow you to create angle, which provides many more options on moving whitey.
If you're on a Diamond with 4.5" or smaller pockets, fuhgeddaboudit.
Most folks believe that big pockets favor the weaker player. Inasmuchas they will slop more balls in, that's true.
But it also allows the more skilled player to create angles, cheat the pocket, etc.
-von
Big pockets allow you to create angle, which provides many more options on moving whitey.
If you're on a Diamond with 4.5" or smaller pockets, fuhgeddaboudit.
Most folks believe that big pockets favor the weaker player. Inasmuchas they will slop more balls in, that's true.
But it also allows the more skilled player to create angles, cheat the pocket, etc.
-von
If he really had to, a great player could make this shot by jacking up and masseing the ball to the left and drawing it back, but he wouldn't do it most of the time and he wouldn't want to have to play it.
![CropperCapture[272].png](https://forums.azbilliards.com/data/attachments/380/380306-c1e287357d82b6b9c3f288a300a63f8c.jpg "CropperCapture[272].png")
Best answer so far. The player can only roll forward or draw straight back off the object ball. But by using English they can control where the cue ball goes after hitting the first rail, on either of the above shots.
The OP is correct that "cheating the pocket" is an option, depending on how close the object ball is to the pocket and how wide the mouth of the pocket is.
Last edited:
Simply learn there are limitations in pool and play within those limitations. Learn to live with your mistakes when you get straight in.
If you're dreaming that there is some super-famtastic shot you can execute once in 100 tries, begin by stroking the cue into the air 6 or 7 times. Air stroking gets the karma piling up. Shake your head. Point to the area on the cloth where the cue ball will stop. Elevate the brim of your flat billed baseball hat and say "Don't try this at home folks."
If you're dreaming that there is some super-famtastic shot you can execute once in 100 tries, begin by stroking the cue into the air 6 or 7 times. Air stroking gets the karma piling up. Shake your head. Point to the area on the cloth where the cue ball will stop. Elevate the brim of your flat billed baseball hat and say "Don't try this at home folks."
This is a great shot. It's much easier though when the cb is within 4 to about 10 inches from the ob. Beyond that it's a super low percentage shot.
You can also often cheat the pocket enough to use a power follow stroke without scratching in the same pocket as the OB. Between those 2 options you're usually not totally screwed, although neither is always available.
Being a coach and in order to get rid of some things I don't like in my game (technique etc.) I try to at least once a week to film myself practicing certain drills and look closely and honestly at myself from the side to see if there's an improvement there.
So here is one of the standard drills which is good for rotation games which I practised and filmed just last Sunday. Here you can see a good example of one of the answers to your question.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIIAAdIgm0
If you go to time mark at 2:19 I turned up pretty straight on13 ball so in order to get a better shape on the next 3 ball I've had to play low right but failed and made quite a poor stroke with draw and a slight left instead. So after pretty easy possibility to recover and failing I've got a long straight in 3 ball where I've had to bridge over the balls in order to shoot. Here I had two options to choose from: 1) first of all focus on making the ball and get long cut on the next pink ball but more comfortable to bridge and shoot and recover from there or
2) trying to draw "for the audience" in order to get closer for the pink and risking to miss and the chances for that were pretty high.
Usually what option to go for you choose basing on your experience, limitations and so on. There are a lot of nitty gritty details to consider in each certain situation and the experience will help you with the right decision. As we say here in my country : "experience is a son of the hard mistakes"
So here is one of the standard drills which is good for rotation games which I practised and filmed just last Sunday. Here you can see a good example of one of the answers to your question.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIIAAdIgm0
If you go to time mark at 2:19 I turned up pretty straight on13 ball so in order to get a better shape on the next 3 ball I've had to play low right but failed and made quite a poor stroke with draw and a slight left instead. So after pretty easy possibility to recover and failing I've got a long straight in 3 ball where I've had to bridge over the balls in order to shoot. Here I had two options to choose from: 1) first of all focus on making the ball and get long cut on the next pink ball but more comfortable to bridge and shoot and recover from there or
2) trying to draw "for the audience" in order to get closer for the pink and risking to miss and the chances for that were pretty high.
Usually what option to go for you choose basing on your experience, limitations and so on. There are a lot of nitty gritty details to consider in each certain situation and the experience will help you with the right decision. As we say here in my country : "experience is a son of the hard mistakes"
Last edited:
Being a coach and in order to get rid of some things I don't like in my game (technique etc.) I try to at least once a week to film myself practicing certain drills and look closely and honestly at myself from the side to see if there's an improvement there.
So here is one of the standard drills which is good for rotation games which I practised and filmed just last Sunday. Here you can see a good example of one of the answers to your question.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIIAAdIgm0
If you go to time mark at 2:19 I turned up pretty straight on13 ball so in order to get a better shape on the next 3 ball I've had to play low right but failed and made quite a poor stroke with draw and a slight left instead. So after pretty easy possibility to recover and failing I've got a long straight in 3 ball where I've had to bridge over the balls in order to shoot. Here I had two options to choose from: 1) first of all focus on making the ball and get long cut on the next pink ball but more comfortable to bridge and shoot and recover from there or
2) trying to draw "for the audience" in order to get closer for the pink and risking to miss and the chances for that were pretty high.
Usually what option to go for you choose basing on your experience, limitations and so on. There are a lot of nitty gritty details to consider in each certain situation and the experience will help you with the right decision. As we say here in my country : "experience is a son of the hard mistakes"
What a drill! Cool! Are you a pro?
If the shot is a lot longer, and the balls are dirty, best to forget about draw. A high-power ‘stun’ shot (with high side english & loft) will throw the OB enough to give you the angle to double the corner and follow up-table. This is where a cue with precise/predictable deflection comes in handy.
Agreed...if the balls are very clingy, you can do some crazy things.
There is huge amount of useful and interesting drills. I'm glad you liked the drill. When it comes to your question....just to be short...pool is the most loved part of my life and there would be emptiness without it. I love billiard in so many ways and I'm just happy I make my living by doing what I love...every time I see a smile on the face and the joy in the eyes ...I feel happy I helped someone else to fall in love with this game
One more fun to practise drill where you may deal with straight in shots fairly often. If you fail to get some angle on the last balls you'll definitely have some fun with it .
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SKwGJIuulcE
.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SKwGJIuulcE