Accidental Trick Shot

[NewStroke]

Hello All,

Last night I came across a shot that I can't figure out how it's possible. I was playing 9-ball, the layout is in the diagram below. I didn't put the balls at the foot of the table, but they were there and I could not kick at the one ball. Here is what I did: My thought was to curve the cue ball and nick the one either coming or going off the rail. I jacked up on the cue ball, like I was going to jump it and hit the cue ball on the left side. The cue ball slid to the vertex shown and took off at about a 90 degree angle off that line at about twice the speed and scratched. I figure that if I hit it harder, I actually could have made the one ball.

Although it was quite the pretty shot, I don't understand how I did it. I understand the concepts of slide and spin in a masse but I don't know how I was able to put the ball in that motion from the way I hit it. To add to this, we were playing with a mud ball and the felt was dirty and very slow.

CueTable Help

Has anybody else seen this happened or have an explanation why this may have happened?

Thanks

Dan

 

[Neil]

...............

 

[swrooster]

Only One

You just stroked it a lot better than you think you did , Dan. Set it back up when you get the chance and mess around with it. You will be surprised how little difference can make a big difference. I'm not so sure it can be described in words adequately. It's more of a 'feel' type of thing.

And remember, there is only one whopaloosa per day.

 

[CreeDo]

Hrm, I'm not sure what I'm hearing here. You're saying you already 'get' masse but if you do, I'm not sure why you're asking... cuz this sounds like a regular full masse with a sharp curve. Maybe you're asking cuz this is different from any normal masse you ever saw? I guess cuz it took off so sharply rather than in a smooth curve?

If you hit very close to the absolute top of the ball, it basically deflects sideways off the stick but is spinning madly. It's like.. the stick is so close to vertical, it's only 4 or 5 degrees away from being a perfect 90 degrees. Those 4 or 5 degrees cause the cue ball to go in the opposite direction of the butt end of the stick. But the rest of the striking force is going into the sidespin. So it's moving only a little but spinning a lot. It will go in 1 direction slowly and then seem to take off as you described, like car tires spinning out and then catching.

So I guess you hit much more vertical than you ever have before. Either that or maybe by striking at an angle between the bridge and the rail, and also off to the side, you did a jump masse... the ball hopped only a tiny bit, but for the entire time in the air, none of the sidespin was taking. Then when it landed, all that sidespin suddenly caught (maybe better than usual due to the dirty conditions)

Check this out to see if any of the shots look like what happened to you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNfhlpY6FWs

 

[NewStroke]

CreeDo - You are right, this could sound confusing. The part I should have emphasized was the way I hit the ball. My cue was at about 45 degrees to the ball and I hit it about about medium speed and got this kind of action. Normally, when I am messing around my cue is nigher and I hit a bit firmer. I also wasn't sure if the dirty table/balls had anything to do with it.

Neil - I tried to duplicate the shot on my table and after about 20 or so attempts I was able to do it again. I was paying close attention to my body and how it felt and you were right, it was a good stroke. I'm not going to be shooting this shot on a regular basis, but now I know it can be done. It is difficult to hit sweet spot on the ball perfectly.

I guess I posted this because I impressed the hell out of myself and the shot looked really cool. When it comes right down to it, that's all that all matters.

 

[CreeDo]

from 45 degrees that is an unnaturally sharp curve. I'm guessing some extreme case of ball filth.

 

[JamisonNeu]

Well it can happen sometimes because of the chalk...It is similar to a kick in pocket billiards the chalk spot on the ball landed at the perfect time with the bounce..grabbing a little bit more than it would seem possible changing direction very sharply. I have only seen this a few times it made me look three or four times...

You are correct in saying that if you hit it harder it would of made your ball, or if you had not been so unlucky to get a kick during a masse shot, it might have slid another two inches, and then curved to make your ball. I think you hit it almost perfect...

We will never know...What we do know is that it feels a little bit better to make a masse shot in a game, than any other kind of shot...Am I right about that?

 

[NewStroke]

We will never know...What we do know is that it feels a little bit better to make a masse shot in a game, than any other kind of shot...Am I right about that?

This particular shot made me feel great, I missed the shot, but the cue ball was magic for a moment.

 

[JamisonNeu]

This particular shot made me feel great, I missed the shot, but the cue ball was magic for a moment.

I got hung up on that type of shot for almost half a decade...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40kAGv8HEAE

Very fun stuff. If you are going to start shooting the extreme masse, get a masse cue, it will damage playing cues very badly. Right now I am looking for a masse cue to endorse if anyone out there want me to help sell their cues. If anyone wants one the Dieckman masse cues I have left they are 600 cash.