Apps for measuring shot angles on a real pool table or by simulations??

Paul_#_

Paul_#_

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Are there apps to measure shot angles of balls on a real pool table or of simulations of shots on a pool table? In this forum's thread, Poolology: Side Pocket Aiming, the Billard Aiming Calculator (yes, that’s spelled ‘billard’) was mentioned. I found the app but was unable to download it. My phone claims it is not approved and it probably has not been updated for years. An AimRight YouTube video discusses simulations but I do not recall an app mentioned there.

Can you download and use Billard Aiming Calculator?
What other apps are available for simulations or for the real thing?
Is it technologically possible for software to measure shot angles of balls on a real pool table?
 
The software could be like a game and gives you angles of shots or you could place balls on the screen and the software would tell you what the shot angle is.
Better would be calculating the shot angles in real time of balls on a physical table. Or from a photo of balls on a physical table
I am talking about some piece of software telling me the angle of the ghost-ball center to the cue ball that is on a pool table relative to the straight shot to pocket.
 
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Projection Pool might be as close to what I want as is possible. It appears to be able to put lights on a pool table to direct you where to place balls for particular cut angles. It can't do the reverse of telling you the cut angle for balls already on your pool table. It utilizes a canned program that has already established cut angles (or maybe it allows you to enter ball positions yourself?). It then projects light on your pool table for those cut angles.
 
If you know the exact angle what do you do with that knowledge?

Say for example the angle is 34.2 degrees,,,,,, what is your strategy?
 
If it was 34.2 degrees? I would hit a half-ball shot.
My objective is more modest than that. In a friendly game, I see shots with object ball far from pocket and cue ball not close to object ball and I am trying to figure out in seconds whether its closer to 1/4 ball or 1/2 ball hit. If it was a simple app and fast, I could tell instantly by pointing my cell phone at the balls and quickly determine if its better to shoot a 1/4 ball or a 1/2 ball hit. Of course, sufficient practice, too, will show me the same thing. Or, if I can take my time and its not a game, I can measure use other methods to tell me to a few degrees what is the angle, and whether its a 1/4 ball, 3/8 ball, or 1/2 ball hit.
It looks like such an app is not available.
 
Paul_#_ said:
If it was 34.2 degrees? I would hit a half-ball shot.
My objective is more modest than that. In a friendly game, I see shots with object ball far from pocket and cue ball not close to object ball and I am trying to figure out in seconds whether its closer to 1/4 ball or 1/2 ball hit. If it was a simple app and fast, I could tell instantly by pointing my cell phone at the balls and quickly determine if its better to shoot a 1/4 ball or a 1/2 ball hit. Of course, sufficient practice, too, will show me the same thing. Or, if I can take my time and its not a game, I can measure use other methods to tell me to a few degrees what is the angle, and whether its a 1/4 ball, 3/8 ball, or 1/2 ball hit.
It looks like such an app is not available.
Click to expand...
Every pool table has known angle references all over them and they are legal to use in any play. You won't get exact angles, but using fractional aiming it's close enough.
 
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If you want to know the cut angle...

Put your tip at the center of the ghost ball pointing along the path to the pocket.
Pivot around your tip to move the cue stick to the cue ball
The angle swept by your stick is the cut angle.
The distance the bumper on your cue has moved in inches is equal to the degrees of cut angle. (That's precisely true for a cue that is 57 plus a little long, but is close enough for most cues.)
 
Bob Jewett said:
If you want to know the cut angle...

Put your tip at the center of the ghost ball pointing along the path to the pocket.
Pivot around your tip to move the cue stick to the cue ball
The angle swept by your stick is the cut angle.
The distance the bumper on your cue has moved in inches is equal to the degrees of cut angle. (That's precisely true for a cue that is 57 plus a little long, but is close enough for most cues.)
Click to expand...
That seems like it would be so much easier than measuring the angle,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
Bob Jewett said:
Put your tip at the center of the ghost ball pointing along the path to the pocket.
Pivot around your tip to move the cue stick to the cue ball
The angle swept by your stick is the cut angle.
The distance the bumper on your cue has moved in inches is equal to the degrees of cut angle. (That's precisely true for a cue that is 57 plus a little long, but is close enough for most cues.)
Click to expand...
I like it. Nice.
 
Bob Jewett said:
If you want to know the cut angle...

Put your tip at the center of the ghost ball pointing along the path to the pocket.
Pivot around your tip to move the cue stick to the cue ball
The angle swept by your stick is the cut angle.
The distance the bumper on your cue has moved in inches is equal to the degrees of cut angle. (That's precisely true for a cue that is 57 plus a little long, but is close enough for most cues.)
Click to expand...
Another trick is put the tip in the center of the ghost ball pointing through the object ball to the pocket. Pivot the stick so it is perpendicular to the line from cue ball to ghost ball, keeping the butt in place. If the joint is over the line from cue ball to object ball, it's 30°.

I hope I don't come off as a jerk here, but I think you are adding extra steps to the process and therefore giving error more opportunities to rear its ugly head. And it can be harder to pinpoint the source of the error when it happens. You may also be putting energy into learning a process that you will outgrow. Just set two balls touching each other so the line of centers points to the pocket. That's your ghost ball and object ball. Move around and see what it looks like. A half ball hit can throw the object ball long by about 5/8" per foot traveled, so you want to account for that when sighting those angles. Putting too much work into measuring angles and converting them into fractional hits feels like perfecting training wheels.
 
tomatoshooter said:
Another trick is put the tip in the center of the ghost ball pointing through the object ball to the pocket. Pivot the stick so it is perpendicular to the line from cue ball to ghost ball, keeping the butt in place. If the joint is over the line from cue ball to object ball, it's 30°.

...
Click to expand...

??? I've tried to understand this, but I can't figure out what you're doing ... makes no sense.
 
BC21 said:
??? I've tried to understand this, but I can't figure out what you're doing ... makes no sense.
Click to expand...
He's making a right triangle with a leg half the hypotenuse. That has a 30-degree angle. I suppose you could have marks on your stick to indicate other angles.
 
Bob Jewett said:
He's making a right triangle with a leg half the hypotenuse. That has a 30-degree angle. I suppose you could have marks on your stick to indicate other angles.
Click to expand...

That would make sense, but this part is what makes no sense...

"Pivot the stick so it is perpendicular to the line from cue ball to ghost ball, keeping the butt in place."

The pivot point is the butt of the cue?
 
To use this little Java app you drag/drop the cue and object ball to where you want them on the table and click the pocket you're shooting at. The app will then show you all the details about the shot as you see on this example. Is this what you're after?

fast side.png
 
Bob Jewett said:
Put your tip at the center of the ghost ball pointing along the path to the pocket.
Pivot around your tip to move the cue stick to the cue ball
The angle swept by your stick is the cut angle.
The distance the bumper on your cue has moved in inches is equal to the degrees of cut angle. (That's precisely true for a cue that is 57 plus a little long, but is close enough for most cues.)
Click to expand...
I like it. Nice.
 
slach said:
To use this little Java app you drag/drop the cue and object ball to where you want them on the table and click the pocket you're shooting at. The app will then show you all the details about the shot as you see on this example. Is this what you're after?
Click to expand...
I want real-time, real pool-table measurements with a cell-phone app, but your app is a good substitute. Your post showed that the Pool Shot Analyzer was developed by Cue-Md.com . It doesn't seem to have the program at their website, however. It sells a stroke analyzer that fits on the cue stick and there is software for it. That software, without the cue-stick item, can be downloaded for free. Perhaps that software includes the Pool Shot Analyzer that you referenced.
 
Paul_#_ said:
I want real-time, real pool-table measurements with a cell-phone app, but your app is a good substitute. Your post showed that the Pool Shot Analyzer was developed by Cue-Md.com . It doesn't seem to have the program at their website, however. It sells a stroke analyzer that fits on the cue stick and there is software for it. That software, without the cue-stick item, can be downloaded for free. Perhaps that software includes the Pool Shot Analyzer that you referenced.
Click to expand...
This is a Java app (a .jar file) I developed many years ago, I also worked on the QMD stroke training device and it's software. This little app will run on Windows that has Java installed (most Windows machines have Java on them, if not it's available for free). PM me your email and I'll see if I can email you a copy.
 
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