A Situation From The 1989 US Open 14.1 Championsships

mosconiac

mosconiac

Job+Wife+Child=No Stroke
Silver Member
Jack Colavito faced the following situation when playing Ray Martin in the 1989 US Open 14.1 Championships in Chicago. I don't bring it up in attempt to slight any player (especially Jack who had a long & illustrious career), but I was studying both players patterns in an attempt to improve my own game. This was the first match I've seen from either of them, so I was very interested in their play.

The choices made in this inning surprised me. Far be it for me to second guess Jack, but I feel he would have made a different choice if he could have done it again.

The inning ended in a miss when Jack struggled to get perfect position on the break ball. I feel this was the direct result of a decision made earlier in the rack...isn't that always the case. :)

Here's the rack as it laid. Like Jack, I eyed the 15 as the break ball. The 14 could work, but its a little low on the rack.

Step thru the pages to see what unfolded.

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I feel it was an error to leave the 10 as the key ball when he could have moved throughout the 13/10/14 with little more than stun shots. Further, using the 6 as the key ball allows you to play to a huge area for shape on the 15.

Here's what I would have chosen. Am I missing something?

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mosconiac said:
Am I missing something?
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I don't think you're missing anything, it just comes down to what you are comfortable doing. Myself, I like the 14 as a break ball - using the 15 as my key ball. I'm not saying using the 15 is wrong, I just think the 14 would get me deeper into the balls, and IMO, the 15 is a little high.

Jack's error was not so much an error as much as it was his preference in the way he played position to get on the 15. He could have drawn the ball to the other side of the table and avoided getting that funny angle, but in that situation it would have worked either way - he had a funny angle on it and in the end he had to do too much with the key ball, but hey, that's 14.1 for you.

This is a different spin on the same situation...

I get rid of the 6 and the 2 ball and playing position to get the 13 out of there. From there I would shoot the 10 ball and play position to use either the 14 as a key ball for the 15, or the 15 as a key ball for the 14.

Scroll through the pages below...

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By doing so, you don't "clog yourself up" and from the end position on page 4, you have a larger margin of error and you can do this...

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or you can do something like this...

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Either way, you have left yourself a choice, and an easier way to get on whichever ball is easier for you - or in YOUR comfort zone.
 
It sure is great having you on the board, David. Your insight is fantastic...and you know what? I prefer your 2/6/13/10 series.

It clears the end rail early and, as you pointed out, it leaves the shooter with greater options...it retains 2 potential break balls. Fantastic.

About the choice between the 14 & 15. Didn't the players of that era prefer a higher break ball due to the playing conditions (slower felt)?

Isn't today's equipment more receptive of a "deeper" hit into the stack (quicker felt allows the balls to seperate better)?
 
"This is a different spin on the same situation...

I get rid of the 6 and the 2 ball and playing position to get the 13 out of there. From there I would shoot the 10 ball and play position to use either the 14 as a key ball for the 15, or the 15 as a key ball for the 14." David



I kind of like the 6,2, 13,14,10 15. After shooting the 14, it seems it would be easy to get on the 10 to get on the 15.
 
mosconiac said:
About the choice between the 14 & 15. Didn't the players of that era prefer a higher break ball due to the playing conditions (slower felt)?

Isn't today's equipment more receptive of a "deeper" hit into the stack (quicker felt allows the balls to seperate better)?
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It depends on how the balls are breaking out of the stack more than cloth speed IMO - I'm not saying that I am right about that - just another example of preference. Perhaps some of the older players on this forum can answer that better than I could, I just know how I would play this sequence and IMO both balls will work. Ask anybody on this forum that has watched my sequences and my break shots - I will take a high break ball (the 15) in a heartbeat, but if I can get deeper into the balls, I'd run with that also.

Like I said in my original post, I like the 14 because it is about mid-rack and I can get deeper into the balls. By using the 14, I can break more into the center (or the heart) of the stack. By doing so I get better ball dispersement. I like my chances of having a break ball develop off the break shot when I have this type of break ball.

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If I go with the 15, I have a high break ball and I will be contacting the top two balls in the stack. My ball dispersement will be to the right and back to the bottom rail behind the stack.

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You could work with eaither, but I prefer the 14 - although it is easier to get on the 15 ball with the original layout. Both balls work very well, but you have to have the cue ball in the proper position to be successful with either break shot. That is where Jack apparantly got into trouble. He got funny on the key ball and had to do too much to get where e needed to for the break shot. It happens. He was a great player and friend, I really miss him a lot.

PS:
I have a dvd where John Schmidt explains the advantage of keeping two break balls until the end, and if you can keep them both there and use as a break balls it gives you more options towards the end. I believe that dvd is from DCC 2006 where John is doing a review with Pat Fleming on his 112 ball run on the main table. Perhaps John could elaborate on this if he reads this post.
 
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Blackjack -

In my mind, the break shot to save was the 14 ball. Jack was correct in chosing the 14 as a break shot because he had a natural angle to get to the 14 ball. If you shoot the 14 first and save the 15 for the break shot, your cue ball has to land within a space of maybe 6" to give you a good break shot on the 15. If you should pass that 6" and go 6" further, you are going to lose your ability to cut the ball in as the angle will be too severe to cut it backwards.

p.s. Is that the break shot Jack got stuck in the rack?

Ray
 
ghostball said:
Blackjack -

In my mind, the break shot to save was the 14 ball. Jack was correct in chosing the 14 as a break shot because he had a natural angle to get to the 14 ball. If you shoot the 14 first and save the 15 for the break shot, your cue ball has to land within a space of maybe 6" to give you a good break shot on the 15. If you should pass that 6" and go 6" further, you are going to lose your ability to cut the ball in as the angle will be too severe to cut it backwards.

p.s. Is that the break shot Jack got stuck in the rack?

Ray
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Ray

I agree with your assessment, however...

I think Jack chose the 15 as his break ball, at least that is what the original diagrams depicted.

He used the 10 as his key ball to get on the 15 - and the 15 was high to the apex of the stack, definitely out of the satck and about half a ball high - an ideal high break ball - but Jack missed the 10, so it probably ended up being YOUR break shot...

I haven't seen the tape, so I don't know, just going by the diagrams.
 
If I can figure out how to edit the clip & post it I will...I'm off to the parent's for xmas right now. Give me some time.
 
My apologies, Ray. I forgot you were posting on AZB. You started this match off very strong and made some wonderful shots (which I had to rewind to show my wife :)), but seemed to run out of gas about mid-match. It appeared to me that you got tired or simply lost your focus.

I will post up some of your impressive shots if I am able. About 10 minutes into the match I summed it up to my wife in these words, "These guys are brilliant...you've gotta see this shot". Well-played 14.1 is a beautiful thing.
 
Here are the clips. Ray started strong, but a series of ill-fated shots around the 1 hour mark cost him dearly.

I found this match very educational and I offer the following clips for your enjoyment. I learned that I shouldn't go into the balls to early (Jack & Ray showed great restraint by cleaning up loose balls first). Their ability to create break balls by gently nudging a ball here & there was inspiring.

Clip#1: This is the series discussed in my first post.
http://www.youtube.com/v/uITgcHrYH-4

Clip#2: Jack misses a perilous shot & Ray shows off his championship stroke.
http://www.youtube.com/v/zaOYanE3Hb8

Clip#3: This is a classic safety executed by Ray. It may appear to be a simple shot, but note that he didn't just stick Jack on the stack...he went a step further and placed the OB in front of the side pocket to limit Jack's ability to respond.
http://www.youtube.com/v/Aa5VpSUT53E

Clip#4: Jack undercut his break shot a bit and only grazed the stack. He showed his imagination and fired a ball out of the stack to maintain his run.
http://www.youtube.com/v/g1Agh1eSdbY

Clip#5: This is the point in the match that Ray seemed to lose focus. He let the CB get away from him slightly during a safety battle and Jack responded aggressively with a series of courageous down-table shots.
http://www.youtube.com/v/UdYFH9IY67E

Clip#6: Jack makes the most of an unconventional break shot.
http://www.youtube.com/v/pPr_jYGnn-I

Clip#7: Ray shows off his championship stroke once again.
http://www.youtube.com/v/PeuEgIjchFU
 
mosconiac said:
Here are the clips. Ray started strong, but a series of ill-fated shots around the 1 hour mark cost him dearly.

I found this match very educational and I offer the following clips for your enjoyment. I learned that I shouldn't go into the balls to early (Jack & Ray showed great restraint by cleaning up loose balls first). Their ability to create break balls by gently nudging a ball here & there was inspiring.

Clip#1: This is the series discussed in my first post.
http://www.youtube.com/v/uITgcHrYH-4
Click to expand...


After watching that video, I can see that Jack didn't hit that 6 ball the way he wanted to which is why he came up short. I still like drawing back on the 6 to get to the 10 - it just looks like the draw is an easier position play to get where Jack needed to be.

Awesome video!
 
Blackjack said:
After watching that video, I can see that Jack didn't hit that 6 ball the way he wanted to which is why he came up short. ...
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While the shot on the 10 (the key ball, after the 6) was a little long, the angle seems to have been perfect. The diagram posted is wrong in that the 10 was missed by under cutting it, not over cutting it as shown in the first 3-part diagram. The 10 must have been farther up the table or the 15 farther down. Jack had perfect position on the key ball without anything hard to do to get the cue ball just right for the break but he just missed it.

With a lot of 14.1 diagrams, just a ball diameter difference in one position can make a lot of difference in how the balls have to be played. If the balls are as drawn, there is no margin of error for using the 10 as the key ball after the 6.
 
I just found out that I've been mispelling Jack's last name. It should be spelled "Colavita"...which if I would have looked at some of my Accustats I would have known.

I took the spelling from the file that I provided clips from above & didn't verify the spelling before posting. Sorry for the error.
 
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