Avoiding These Obstacles

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DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
was wondering if you posters out there feel confident enough on this shot that you can avoid all of the balls in the way to come around and get position downtable on the '2' Ball?

i struggle with these position plays, and it seems to come up a great deal of the time for me. invariably i contact the '8' or '5' Balls, and have no position on the '2' Ball.

for you posters that feel you have good enough skill at controlling the cue ball and either coming through the obstacles at Path A or Path B, can you offer any advice? tips? drills to practice this?

thanks for any help.
DCP

p.s. cue ball failed to show up again, but it rests at Point C.

CueTable Help

 
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This is a toughy, the angle on the 1 is more than you would like it to be I bet. Going through point A you could scratch in the middle. I would play this behind the 5 up to the 2, easier than point B.
 
2 Ball

Why not cut the one into the other corner pocket? (the one at bottom left of the screen.) I mean there is nothing in the way, and the cue ball should go two rails and leave you for the 2 ball.
 
Your gambling a little here, but your not given much of a choice. Sometimes you have to gamble a little. If you don't like the gamble with the cue ball in position 'c' you can cut the one ball just slightly to the left leaving the cue ball on the bottom rail and the one ball on the top rail.

If I must take this kind of shot it seems to help me by first thinking more about where and how I want to come off the second rail. Then decide what I need to do off the first rail to accomplish that.
 
txplshrk said:
Why not cut the one into the other corner pocket? (the one at bottom left of the screen.) I mean there is nothing in the way, and the cue ball should go two rails and leave you for the 2 ball.
Click to expand...

you cant be serious???
that would be an absolute miracle to end all miracles shot...............

DCP
 
Safe

DrCue'sProtege said:
was wondering if you posters out there feel confident enough on this shot that you can avoid all of the balls in the way to come around and get position downtable on the '2' Ball?

i struggle with these position plays, and it seems to come up a great deal of the time for me. invariably i contact the '8' or '5' Balls, and have no position on the '2' Ball.

for you posters that feel you have good enough skill at controlling the cue ball and either coming through the obstacles at Path A or Path B, can you offer any advice? tips? drills to practice this?

thanks for any help.
DCP

p.s. cue ball failed to show up again, but it rests at Point C.

CueTable Help

Click to expand...

Assuming that the cue ball is the ball right above the headstring then I would play safe behind the giant wall of balls that you want to try and navigate through.
 
txplshrk said:
Why not cut the one into the other corner pocket? (the one at bottom left of the screen.) I mean there is nothing in the way, and the cue ball should go two rails and leave you for the 2 ball.
Click to expand...


Come on, this was a serious question. Besides that making the shot ridiculously difficult you would have to hit it so hard to get the one to the pocket that you would have no idea where the cue ball would end up. I'll assume you were just joking and that you wouldn't really try something like this. LOL
 
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In practice, you should definitely go for the out here because you have to shoot these shots in order to learn them. If it's worth anything, though, and you don't like your odds of getting out, then you should probably play safe. With the 4, 5, 8 and 9 as blockers, it would be tempting to two-rail the one up by the deuce and leave the cb behind that cluster. It's going to be tough from there, and you might get an actual hook behind the 8 or 5.
 
Aaron_S said:
In practice, you should definitely go for the out here because you have to shoot these shots in order to learn them. If it's worth anything, though, and you don't like your odds of getting out, then you should probably play safe. With the 4, 5, 8 and 9 as blockers, it would be tempting to two-rail the one up by the deuce and leave the cb behind that cluster. It's going to be tough from there, and you might get an actual hook behind the 8 or 5.
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I totally agree with Aaron, if it's not just practice, you gotta play for the hook....and even then, I still play for the hook, and make myself kick out of it.
 
My immediate thought was not to shoot the one, but rather bank the one and play the cue to the foot rail bahind the 9. Try to snug the one to the head rail with the emphasis on leaving the cue ball kissing the foot rail.
 
gforces1911 said:
Assuming that the cue ball is the ball right above the headstring then I would play safe behind the giant wall of balls that you want to try and navigate through.
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I agree. The odds of making the 1 ball and getting through all the obstacles are not good. I would play the safety also and think most pros would do the same thing.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
was wondering if you posters out there feel confident enough on this shot that you can avoid all of the balls in the way to come around and get position downtable on the '2' Ball?
Click to expand...

I think you have to know exactly where the cue ball is going and at what angle after contacting the 1 ball. In your diagram it looks like the natural angle for the cue ball off the 1 is going to make you hit the 6, so that is no good. It also looks like the tangent off the 1 puts you just past the 6 toward the 1st diamond. This path also matches up with the diamonds, so you can use knowledge of the diamonds to help you see where the cue ball will go. There are some simple rules of thumb about diamonds that can help. I know, because I only know the simplest forms of diamond use. It looks to me that if you stun the cue ball into the 1, the angle around the corner will bring you close to the 8 on the B side. You can get more to point B with a little running english OR by having a little less than stun on the cue ball when it hits the 1. I think the safer/easier option is the running english.

It may be rose colored glasses, but I don't think this one is that difficult to navigate. I think if you move the balls around just a little, esp that 6 ball, it would become difficult or impossible to navigate. I'll have to set it up and see on a real table.

I also doubt a player with good cb control would give this table up. You have a lot of balls up there, but the only one that matters is the 8. If you can't get around the 6 then you have no cue ball control and probably won't run out anyway. The 9 isn't in play because you KNOW you are going two rails, and given that you've gotten between the 6 and 9, I think it would be hard to hit the 5 even if you wanted to. So, I don't think a pro would have any trouble playing just to get around the 8. Everything is in the clear after this shot. I think Allison would step up and knock it down, putting the cb in perfect position for the 2.

As far as what to practice, I'd shoot balls along the line of the diamonds and get a feel for how the angle out of the corner compares to the angle in, and how you can change that with inside/outside english. You also have to be sure that you can hit a stun shot at different speeds and with different cb-ob distances. It does you no good to see the tangent line if you can't execute the shot. Set some stun shots up and make sure you are able to get the cb to follow that tangent line.

just some suggestions,
dwhite
 
This is Shot #4 from The Pro Book. It looks like the 2 rail path to the center is partially blocked by the 8, but with practice the 2 rail path can be adjusted. Once you have shot #4 to the center, you've learned how to take it wide or narrow along the way (by learning how NOT to take it wide and narrow). Gap B is pretty reasonable in size, you roll through it perpendicular to 8-5 line. I'd take it on, center-left and quite firm perhaps.

Dave
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
was wondering if you posters out there feel confident enough on this shot that you can avoid all of the balls in the way to come around and get position downtable on the '2' Ball?

i struggle with these position plays, and it seems to come up a great deal of the time for me. invariably i contact the '8' or '5' Balls, and have no position on the '2' Ball.

for you posters that feel you have good enough skill at controlling the cue ball and either coming through the obstacles at Path A or Path B, can you offer any advice? tips? drills to practice this?

thanks for any help.
DCP

p.s. cue ball failed to show up again, but it rests at Point C.

CueTable Help

Click to expand...


I would try draw+ throw if that is possible with the angle
 
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CaptainJR said:
Come on, this was a serious question. Besides that making the shot ridiculously difficult you would have to hit it so hard to get the one to the pocket that you would have no idea where the cue ball would end up. I'll assume you were just joking and that you wouldn't really try something like this. LOL
Click to expand...

Actually, I think he was serious. It is not that difficult a shot for a good shooter and it has natural position with no blocking balls. It comes up all the time in one-pocket. You should aim to slightly overcut it and that way if you miss you have a safety. It should be hit with slight inside english. Try it you might like it.

Wayne
 
wayne said:
Actually, I think he was serious. It is not that difficult a shot for a good shooter and it has natural position with no blocking balls. It comes up all the time in one-pocket. You should aim to slightly overcut it and that way if you miss you have a safety. It should be hit with slight inside english. Try it you might like it.

Wayne
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I have to disagree completely. Two things; 1. this is not one pocket so ducking it up in the corner is a complete no no. This is not an easy shot. 2. If you would make it the cue ball would end up at the foot of the table. This is a thin cut. To get the one ball to make it to the pocket with the minimum speed to make sure of a true role, your going to have to hit it with speed. Enough speed that the cue ball is not going to stop up by the 2 ball.

I can see a good one hole shot your are talking about though.
 
There is no way I would shoot into the opposite pocket. If you make this ball and get slightly in position you have a runnable rack ahead of you.
 
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