Which Way To Play This Shot?

The devil is in the details.

Yes, low right might come up a little short. The exact angle, table conditions, speed are all important, and english are all important, but not that important.

Just make the cue hits the bottom rail close to 45 degrees and you will be tracking toward the middle of the table. That is your objective.

DrCue'sProtege said:

...if you hit this shot with just right english it makes the shot a little harder, right?

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I think the reverse is true: just right english produces less swerve than low right, making the shot easier to aim.

pj
chgo

Are you 100 percent sure that those are the exact positions of the cue ball and the 5 ball? An inch or two can make a difference. The way that shot stands, it looks to me more of a center right than low right shot and Grady would have known that for sure.

DrCue'sProtege said:

No, i am not 100% certain of the EXACT positions. I saw it on an Accu-Stats video and couldnt tell the EXACT position of the balls.

What i was posting was this type of shot - IN GENERAL.

r/DCP

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I'm not sure what you mean by "in general." You set up a shot that you said Grady said low right and I'm saying he probably wouldn't have said low right on that particular shot the way you set it up.

DrCue'sProtege said:

https://pad-v1.chalkysticks.com/328f7.png

I was watching one of my Accu-Stats DVDs the other day and Grady Mathews was commentating. Not sure who the player was but basically he had the above shot on the 5B to get to the 6B. Grady said low right.

Correct me if i am wrong, but wont low right bring you short out of the corner and then short down the table? Wont you end up where the gray CB is?

Shouldnt you hit this shot with just right english? That will spin it out of the corner at a better angle and you will end up hitting where the black CB is, right?

Or did Grady mean "Just a little low right" instead of two tips at 4:30? And if you hit this shot with just right english it makes the shot a little harder, right?

r/DCP

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Bob Jewett said:

This will be a good exercise for you DCP. Set up the same shot and see where the various spins can take the cue ball. What is the range of spots you can hit on the third rail? What happens when you come as close as possible to the corner pocket (first two rails). See what happens when you use a little or a lot of side spin. See what happens when you crank up the speed.

My first guess would be rolling the cue ball with some right is sufficient.

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try bob's suggestion

get a coach to work with on a consistent basis
i hate to tell you this but you have to put n the table time not ask questions on azb time
to figure it all out
sorry if that bums you out

https://www.ozonebilliards.com/product/joe-tucker-guaranteed-improvement-drillbook-dvd
buy this thank me later

jason said:

Just make the cue hits the bottom rail close to 45 degrees and you will be tracking toward the middle of the table. That is your objective.

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Yes, that’s generally true (with little or no added side spin). A benefit of tracking across the center spot is that it’s impossible to scratch if you do.

pj
chgo

DrCue'sProtege said:

Bob,

I set this shot up. If i hit it with alot of low and right - about 4:30 and two tips of low - i seem to come up a little short.

Grady might have said "A little low right" meaning maybe just a little below center and a little bit of right. That seemed to work better. As does what you said, that being a little bit of right.

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There may be a different pace parameter in play in Grady’s mind. Sometimes a type of drag shot is used to better control pace. Using low right allows for a firmer hit because the drag effect of the backspin slows the ball. The firmness allows for more sidespin to be generated. The slower pace of the cb into the rail generates a wider angle to the second cushion and increases travel distance due to the running side.

Ralph Eckert has an excellent video on YouTube, https://youtu.be/pOajow_tSds. When the object ball is in 2x2 box in one end of the table and the cue ball is in a similar box at the other end, there is a predictable path from the second rail to the kitchen line, when the ball is pocketed in the corner. Based on that, the path off the second rail on a plain ball shot here would come dangerously close to the corner pocket.

The drag shot, where backspin evaporates just under a foot from the ob, can be hit firmly, then slows, but ends up using the spin to control pace off the two rails. It takes the corner out of the equation and allows for a shorter angle to the kitchen line. The deflection, swerve and throw tend to cancel at that pace, allowing a gearing english cue shift aim to pocket the ball.

The drag shot path off the object ball into the first rail is steeper, more on the Eckert line off contact, however, the path to the second rail spins wider but not as flat as a draw shot with bottom right. It hits closer to the second diamond ending about a diamond left of the Eckert kitchen line reference crossing location. That is where the black ball is located on the rail. The angle off the third rail is on a flatter line towards the 6 ball.

Note in the Eckert video that on nearly all shots, the cue ball hits the second rail between the first and second diamond. By using draw instead of a naturally rolling ball the second rail contact point is between the half diamond and first diamond locations. Even without applying running english it is acquired during contact. All the Eckert reference line shots in this video have natural running english. The key is to finish the stroke. Imagine playing a stop shot on a ball about a foot closer to the cue ball.

DrCue'sProtege said:

A typical shot where you go around three rails. This is a shot that comes up a lot. Its typically a low right - or low left - shot.

I didn't intend on getting things so EXACT or down to the last teeny tiny spot.

r/DCP

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You can go around three rails like that using high, center or low --- all with running English, depending on the angle of the shot and the distance of the ob from the rails. It's an important shot to know and you should practice it all different angles and ways so that you are able to do it without a second thought in competition. With a shot like that it's all about where you want the cue ball to hit that first rail and how long or short you want it to be when it hits the final rail. Once you become comfortable with that shot, then when it comes up you will be able to quickly visualize the path of the cue ball and convert that to where you need to hit the cue ball to get that.

I think he said low right to be able to hit with a confident stroke and have bottom become slow roll forward by the time it his the 5 ball. I really don't think he meant low right as in it would need draw when it hit the 5 ball.

You can hit low right on this shot and still have the cue ball rolling.