Easy way to measure an angle in degrees

Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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In case you want to measure an angle for any reason and happen to have a cue stick in your hand....

A one-degree angle has a spread of one inch in 57 inches. If you place your tip at the center of the ghost ball and pivot around it from the line to the pocket to the line of the shot (over the cue ball), the number of inches the bumper on the cue travels is the number of degrees of the cut angle.

To be precise, you should measure the distance around the arc of the travel of the bumper, but for cut angles up to 30 degrees the straight-line distance between the two positions of the bumper is pretty close.

If you're working on your aiming you might try measuring the angle for each cut by this quick and simple method. Of course you need to be able to see how many inches a distance is. A couple of useful references: A proper-sized hand has a span of nine inches. A dollar bill is six inches.

Another point on accuracy: The perfect cue length to get one degree per inch is 57.2958 inches. A 58 inch cue or even a 60 inch cue is not going to be off very much and if you always measure with the same cue, you will get used to "degrees" that are a little large or small.
 
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Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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Here's a diagram:

CropperCapture[624].png
 
I

Imac007

AzB Silver Member
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Bob Jewett said:
In case you want to measure an angle for any reason and happen to have a cue stick in your hand....

A one-degree angle has a spread of one inch in 57 inches. If you place your tip at the center of the ghost ball and pivot around it from the line to the pocket to the line of the shot (over the cue ball), the number of inches the bumper on the cue travels is the number of degrees of the cut angle.

To be precise, you should measure the distance around the arc of the travel of the bumper, but for cut angles up to 30 degrees the straight-line distance between the two positions of the bumper is pretty close.

If you're working on your aiming you might try measuring the angle for each cut by this quick and simple method. Of course you need to be able to see how many inches a distance is. A couple of useful references: A proper-sized hand has a span of nine inches. A dollar bill is six inches.

Another point on accuracy: The perfect cue length to get one degree per inch is 57.2958 inches. A 58 inch cue or even a 60 inch cue is not going to be off very much and if you always measure with the same cue, you will get used to "degrees" that are a little large or small.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great on table estimation tool.
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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Vorpal Cue said:
Lost my universal cryptic decoder ring. Retransmit in the clear.
Click to expand...
I had no idea what he meant either, so I did a google search. It means "too long; didn't read".

Your method seems to have many steps, calculations and memorized cardinal angles. It seems to me immensely complicated compared to estimating one distance.
 
Vorpal Cue

Vorpal Cue

Just galumping back
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The angles can be thought as this sequence:

15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 90

There're only off by a few degrees and not too hard to remember.

The base of the triangle can be overlapped to the center to center line to give the CP also.
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

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Bob Jewett said:
I had no idea what he meant either, so I did a google search. It means "too long; didn't read".

Your method seems to have many steps, calculations and memorized cardinal angles. It seems to me immensely complicated compared to estimating one distance.
Click to expand...
I'm sure Vorpal's method is interesting math/geometry, but I doubt it'll get much attention in this short-attention-span pool forum.

pj
chgo
 
BC21

BC21

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The exact angle doesn't much matter if you're using the ghostball, which is what is shown in the 19° example. I mean, if you can recognize where the cb needs to be, using the ghostball method, then knowing the exact angle is insignificant -- just aim for the ghostball.

Another way to estimate the angle, or better yet the cb-ob relationship, is here.....https://youtu.be/C_lxXEFzCG0. The method doesn't involve estimating inch by inch from 60 inches away. It simply uses a hand distance and a ball's width to help determine the fractional aim lines, not exact angles or measurements that need to be calculated.
 
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Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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BC21 said:
The exact angle doesn't much if you're using the ghostball, which is what is shown in the 19° example. I mean, if you can recognize where the cb needs to be, using the ghostball method, then knowing the exact angle is insignificant -- just aim for the ghostball.
...
Click to expand...
Some people like to know the actual cut angle of the shot they are shooting. The system I showed is an easy way to find that angle. Do you have a better way to measure the cut angle if someone wants to do that?
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

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BC21 said:
Another way to estimate the angle, or better yet the cb-ob relationship, is here.....https://youtu.be/C_lxXEFzCG0. The method doesn't involve estimating inch by inch from 60 inches away. It simply uses a hand distance and a ball's width to help determine the fractional aim lines, not exact angles or measurements that need to be calculated.
Click to expand...
I like it - a clever use of available measuring tools, well explained.

So is Bob's, by the way - in fact, I think "measuring inch by inch from 60 inches away" might actually be simpler (and more accurate?) than estimating handspans and ball widths. And the measured angles can also be translated to fractional CB/OB alignments using the same 15-degree steps you do.

pj
chgo
 
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Vorpal Cue

Vorpal Cue

Just galumping back
Silver Member
A clock method would give a coarse (in 6* 'bites') answer as you worked your way 'minute to minute' around the edge of the ball.

12 - 0
12:30 - 15
1 - 30
1:30 - 45
2 - 60
2:30 - 75
3 - 90

You'll need some good peepers to make it work for long shots.
 
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Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
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Vorpal Cue said:
A clock method would give a coarse (in 3* 'bites') answer as you worked your way 'minute to minute' around the edge of the ball.

12 - 0
12:30 - 15
1 - 30
1:30 - 45
2 - 60
2:30 - 75
3 - 90

You'll need some good peepers to make it work for long shots.
Click to expand...
Why haven't I heard about this clock method before? I love its simplicity and familiarity - most people can visualize a clock, no distance measuring is needed, and it translates easily to fractions (each half hour = another fraction: 12:30 = 3/4, 1:00 = 1/2, 1:30 = 1/4, 2:00 = 1/8).

pj <- race ya to the patent office
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
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duckie said:
What’s the purpose of knowing the cut angle?
Click to expand...
Cut angles easily translate to fractional alignments, even to "tweener" fractions between the major ones. Measuring the angle is the harder part - translating it to fractions is quick and easy. Fractions give you a visual CB/OB alignment.

pj
chgo
 
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