Dead Stop Shot

Well, assuming you aren't trying to make an ass oudda me...

This ball, so close to the pocket, acn be madr lotsa ways hit it toward either line, or anywhere inbetween, it goes in:
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But if you wanna make it stop, the CB has to have no spin at impact and has to hit OB straight on:
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9BallBust-O said:

I saw this shot once and I thought it was pretty amazing even though its pretty basic. I have tried to do it as a drill but never have been able to do it. It was a stop shot and it stopped on a hair - it didnt move at all - and I was wondering if there was some trick to this at such a distance?

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In order for a cueball to stop dead in its tracks on contact with an object ball it must be sliding when it makes full on contact (no cut). Sliding means that the cueball is not rolling forward (follow) or backwards (draw). At very short distances, say 6" or less you can stroke the cue ball centerball with the cue as level as possible relative to the bed of the table and a medium stroke. The cueball will slide the full distance until it contacts the object ball full in the face and stop dead.

As the distance between the cueball and the object ball increases, friction from the cloth will make the cueball stop sliding, at which point the cueball will begin rolling forward (follow). There are two ways to keep this from happening:

1.) Shoot centerball as before but increase the speed of the stroke so that the cue ball is still sliding when it contacts the object ball (this works up to about 2' to 3' and is dependent on other factors such as type and condition of the cloth and cleanliness of the balls).

or: (my personal favorite choice)

2.) Apply a degree of draw (backspin) so that the cueball is initially moving down the line of the shot with backspin until friction overtakes the backspin and the cueball begins to slide into the object ball. (BTW any stroke below the horizontal center will impart draw, however in the above situation you should contact the cueball both below the horizontal center axis and along the vertical center axis.)

You can vary the amount of draw in #2 above by how far below center you stroke the cueball and the speed of stroke used.

You can learn just how much draw and speed to use thru practice. Set up a stop shot at varying distances along the length of the table and keep at it until you are able to stop the cueball dead on a full length of the table shot.

BTW, mastering the stop shot and the closely related stun shot (stop shot cueing at a slight angle) is an absolute prerequisite to being a competent player.

I hope this helps.

Secaucus Fats said:

BTW, mastering the stop shot and the closely related stun shot (stop shot cueing at a slight angle) is an absolute prerequisite to being a competent player.

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SF, I couldn't agree with you more. Every day, there are two drills that I'm SURE to do if I don't do anything else. One of them is a "Stop, Follow, Draw" Drill, where I dead stop the CB at varying distances, then draw and follow at different distances. I go so far as to tell my students, as was taught to me, the Stop Shot is the MOST IMPORTANT SHOT IN POOL.

Later,
Bob

Yeah these types of shots are very important for precise position play. When I was just learning to play in Seattle I saw a very good player shooting the ball straight in with the cueball on one headstring and the object ball on the other headstring and only drawing the cueball back 1". He shot this about 20 times while we were watching. We asked him why he was shooting that and his reply..."You never know when it is going to come up that you have to draw it back 1" for that perfect position on your last ball, and when it comes up are you going to be confident in getting the shape?"

Yeah a little below center and it will be skidding upon contact and stop on a dime. If you hit that same shot with an angle it will come off the object ball tangent to the contact point.

Steve Campana has this Absolute Stop Shot in his book, "Black Belt Billiards" and is one I have spent a lot of time on.

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CB on spot and you make the OB in side pocket and the CB must stop dead with absolutely no movement after hit. It sure looks nice when it works. But for the Black Belt you have to be able to do it 10 times in a row. My best is only 7. Very frustrating.

Jake

9BallBust-O said:

I saw this shot once and I thought it was pretty amazing even though its pretty basic. I have tried to do it as a drill but never have been able to do it. It was a stop shot and it stopped on a hair - it didnt move at all - and I was wondering if there was some trick to this at such a distance?

Click to expand...

I would have missed and scratched.