A real Earl headscratcher

[VTEC John]

This YT video purports to demonstrate a shot taught to the poster by Earl Strickland. If you're like me, you know it makes no sense. What is surprising is the number of YT commenters who say it works. It appears to say that, for cut shots using english, simply aim dead center at the OB and deflection will take care of the rest. Miraculously, it works at different angles in the video. My questions are, what's really happening and why do so many people believe this?

 

[Into the rail]

I’ll let someone else take this

 

[L.S. Dennis]

This may well be one for Dr Dave to chime in on, in the video the guy says Earl taught him just to hit these kind of shots full in the face and let the deflection of the cue ball take care of cutting the ball in. I'm skeptical about these sort of things but after trying it out I'll be damned if it didn't work (some of the time at least). I don't doubt that Earl could make this work if only because of his super human ability to perceive and pocket balls that ellude the rest of us mortals. Anyone else give this a try?

 

[JPB2]

Have you tried it? I did a while back when I saw the video. It works at least to a degree. Why? Because of deflection. Of course the cue ball has to go to the left if you hit it on the right. How can that be wrong?

The catch is how much deflection you are getting with your shaft, your stroke, that particular ball etc… right in the video he says Earl said move the cue ball around and find the limits of the shot for you. What can and will happen is that a player with a lot of practice who knows his cue - like Earl- probably adjusts subconsciously to a degree. Aside from that though, the principle is right if you go to a table and hit some balls. There will be a difference between a high deflection shaft and a low deflection one. Different w/ backhand English, pivot length etc…. No, you can’t aim full in the face on a 45 degree cut and have deflection make the ball.

But….. go try it and see how it works for you.

 

[Bob Jewett]

It will work for some spins and speeds.

I have a friend who swears by backhand english and feels that no adjustment is needed for any shot. Either he always uses the right speed/spin for the distance/cloth/humidity or he is not exactly doing the shot without (perhaps subconscious) corrections.

 

[BasementDweller]

I think shots like this, even if not understood, can be great catalysts for getting players to begin their journey with english. Once you start messing around with deflection and really spinning the ball around, a whole new world opens up.

The detailed understanding can be figured out later.

I actually appreciated the humility seen in that video.

 

[Jedco]

I remember Earl explaining this shot during a TV match a million years ago.

 

[maha]

it actually works and can be used frequently. many shots with a cut it isnt so easy to find the exact spot to hit but using english and letting the spin
move the cue ball and object ball how you want. and

there are many shots rather than cutting the ball it is better to hit it full and spin it so your cueball stays about where the object ball was.

weaker players will have too much trouble being accurate doing this though without having done it a million times.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Is the video gone? It didn't open for me.

 

[straightline]

I don't know Earl but I use his name when describing the shot. Also it occurs to me that I do everything with long ferrule maple shafts so that.

The problem with running the ball vs just needing some inside is duh, the extra force required. I address this by starting with BHE and then fudging slightly so the tip points to roughly the same clock spot on the object ball.
IOW if you were stroking directly down the rail at the object ball, the 2:30 english point is what you'd be pointing at from back at the cue ball. It's a simple transposition to rezone the shot for extra deflection.

 

[Quesports]

I agree with Bob. Speed and force have a big effect on deflection. You still have to account for those when you are shooting that shot if not the cueballl will not consistently contact the object ball consistently where it needs to in order to pocket the ball.

It’s not magic..

 

[Sheldon]

CJ Wiley developed an aiming system based on this principle, calls it TOI. (Touch of Inside)

Like most systems, the main strength of it is that it gives you confidence, and focuses your conscious mind.

Like a conspiracy theory, there's usually some truth to it, and a lot of belief that does not make sense to go with it.

 

[Island Drive]

Touch of inside, and ''release of implied spin'' are one in the same.
The feel one develops is similar to a cue ball ''stop shot''.
You know/feel when change will occur.

 

[David in FL]

It also worked better back before the advent of modern low deflection shafts...

 

[markjames]

Is the video gone? It didn't open for me.

search the channel

pocketed

 

[sammylane12]

This YT video purports to demonstrate a shot taught to the poster by Earl Strickland. If you're like me, you know it makes no sense. What is surprising is the number of YT commenters who say it works. It appears to say that, for cut shots using english, simply aim dead center at the OB and deflection will take care of the rest. Miraculously, it works at different angles in the video. My questions are, what's really happening and why do so many people believe this?

It seems to me that if you have a low deflection shaft you are going to miss.

 

[ChrisinNC]

This YT video purports to demonstrate a shot taught to the poster by Earl Strickland. If you're like me, you know it makes no sense. What is surprising is the number of YT commenters who say it works. It appears to say that, for cut shots using english, simply aim dead center at the OB and deflection will take care of the rest. Miraculously, it works at different angles in the video. My questions are, what's really happening and why do so many people believe this?

This will clearly not work with a thin, extremely low deflection shaft. Maybe if the CB is located close to the side rail, but as the CB gets further off the rail leaving a steeper angle, the is no way aiming for a full hit even when applying maximum inside will deflect the CB enough to contact the OB in the correct spot to pocket the OB.

 

[Boseph]

I tried this out last year when I saw this video. I actually got it to work pocketing the object ball from 2 diamonds up the rail and the cue ball 2 diamonds away from the OB on the opposite rail, but I had to absolutely crush the cue ball to get enough deflection (Meucci pro shaft) and it was clearly not a sustainable / repeatable shot.

 

[ChrisinNC]

I tried this out last year when I saw this video. I actually got it to work pocketing the object ball from 2 diamonds up the rail and the cue ball 2 diamonds away from the OB on the opposite rail, but I had to absolutely crush the cue ball to get enough deflection (Meucci pro shaft) and it was clearly not a sustainable / repeatable shot.

When trying out this concept, I think there’s also a tendency when you are aiming full on the object ball to load up with a ridiculous amount of side spin, way more than you normally would, in which case it is more likely to actually work as the CB will deflect more off-line with ridiculous amounts of high inside spin

 

[Boseph]

When trying out this concept, I think there’s also a tendency when you are aiming full on the object ball to load up with a ridiculous amount of side spin, way more than you normally would, in which case it is more likely to actually work as the CB will deflect more off-line with ridiculous amounts of high inside spin

That's exactly how I hit it, out on the edge and as hard as I can manage.