Constant Speed Storke

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
That's kind of what bothers me about that term. It's incomplete. If one line is the path to the ob, and the apex is the collision point, and the second line of the angle is the path off of the ob, then the angle doesn't define the path of the cb once it deviates. It's basically meaningless.
It’s a figure of speech. Not as technically accurate, but more practical and communicative.

I’d go for something better if you have it.

pj
chgo
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
That's kind of what bothers me about that term. It's incomplete. If one line is the path to the ob, and the apex is the collision point, and the second line of the angle is the path off of the ob, then the angle doesn't define the path of the cb once it deviates. It's basically meaningless.
I agree that since the path of the cue ball is curved until the follow or draw has turned into smooth rolling, an angle is a little hard to define. But once the cue ball has achieved smooth rolling its path is a straight line. That straight line does give a well-defined angle with the cue ball's initial path.

The fact that the cue ball has an initially curved path off the object ball is often overlooked and is very difficult to see for soft shots because the cue ball achieves smooth rolling within an inch.

It is useful to know that a cue ball with a given quality of draw or follow will have a "carom angle" that is independent of the speed, but the curved portion is wider for higher speeds, of course.
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
billiardworld.com/glossary.html

GLOSSARY OF BILLIARD TERMS
this is a partial definition of the term carom
CAROM. (General) To bounce off or glance off an object ball or cushion;
so
to me carom angle is the direction the ball bounces or glances off an object ball
skip
i apologize about this off topic post
back to what the op wants to know
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
billiardworld.com/glossary.html

GLOSSARY OF BILLIARD TERMS
this is a partial definition of the term carom
CAROM. (General) To bounce off or glance off an object ball or cushion;
so
to me carom angle is the direction the ball bounces or glances off an object ball
skip
i apologize about this off topic post
back to what the op wants to know

Exactly. Who has never heard or used the term "carom" when playing pool? It's very common to say, "I'm going to carom off the 1 and pocket the 9."

So the term "carom angle" is pretty easy to understand for most players. It's the resulting angle the cb follows after it glances/caroms off an ob. It just happens to be the tangent line on a stun shot or a very thin cut shot. But can easily be manipulated to created whatever angle is needed to send the cb in the desired direction.
 

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Exactly. Who has never heard or used the term "carom" when playing pool? It's very common to say, "I'm going to carom off the 1 and pocket the 9."

So the term "carom angle" is pretty easy to understand for most players. It's the resulting angle the cb follows after it glances/caroms off an ob. It just happens to be the tangent line on a stun shot or a very thin cut shot. But can easily be manipulated to created whatever angle is needed to send the cb in the desired direction.

If you go back and read how Patrick used the term in his post originally, you will see what I meant about not understanding it. It's in the context of what he was trying to explain. A carom angle doesn't describe the deviation of the cue ball off of the tangent line when top or backspin is applied. It's not an especially meaningful term when it comes to describing the action of the cue ball off of an object ball.
 
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