sorry man. was typing with when i was on the phone with the girlfriend lol
yes, as in when i miss at 12.
glad that my message came across in the end.
so say if i loosend the cluster/pack, and 2 balls traveled up the table, i have to get rid of them first?
i was looking at ThePoliteSniper's link as well as other people's videos. both low and high runs. they get rid of those balls in later stages...
It's hard to give a hard and fast rule for getting balls up table out of the way. Generally speaking, they are considered problem balls and you don't want to be going up and down table for your end pattern. But I will leave them till later if there are other problems that are more urgent. For example, if I have the option I'd rather clear path ways for balls near the cluster, especially considering that makes it easier play position from down table as I will have more options. I'd rather open clusters first as well, or get rid of balls on the rail close to the side pocket. So in a way, there is a hierarchy of problems areas.
The reason why it is often preached that balls down table need to be dealt with early is due to the fact that more balls on the table means it's easier to play position from ball down table. Of course you always want to be playing position for a specific ball in your pattern, but it's always beneficial if you try to place the cue ball in an area where if you over or under run your position you still have options. Coming back up table with on two or three balls left means you need to be more precise and it's best to give yourself a little room for error.
However the more balls down table there are, the less of an issue it is really. For example, if you have a couple balls on the bottom rail (or top? I'm never sure lol) and one close to the side pocket but too low to be used as a key ball, you have an easy route back up table so it's not a difficult area. So it really depends on the situation. Alternatively if you have a single ball in the middle of the bottom rail, I'd take care of that as early as possible (but generally not before your secondary break shot).
Generally speaking the order I attack the rack,
1. my first goal is to get the rack open, so I'm looking for a good secondary break shot
2. Once I've accomplished that, I'm getting rid of problem balls and opening up any remain clusters. Generally I'm trying to remove any balls I don't want to be a part of my end pattern.
3. Once I've solved the problem areas I want to determine my end pattern, which is the best and most effective route to the break ball which generally means limited cue ball movement. But again there are always exceptions, sometimes you will see a pro make a one to two rail position shot to get in line for a stop shot run out.
