Bank or Long Straight-In?

[PKM]

the long straight shot is one of the most difficult shots, not just the hardest straight shot. I see a few people claiming they rifle it in with regularity but I'll need video before I buy that. The difficulty of the shot using Bob Jewett's system is almost a 20. I dunno how to calculate the bank, but it's true that it's a bigger pocket opening (which is not shown on the diagram... the diagram should have the side pockets at least another half ball wider, or the corners smaller).

I wish I could remember and find what Bob Jewett said about difficult angles, if I remember it correctly he said two particular angles give the least margin for error, and straight-in was one of them. Maybe I'm wrong but I did try these long straight shots several times and it's really missable.

I agree that the long straight-in shot is more difficult than some people suggest (unless you hit a million of them of course), but if you had the same distance and it was a cut shot, wouldn't it be even more difficult?

 

[worriedbeef]

i would take the long straight any day.

no aiming element at all to the shot. hit it dead centre. not like an angled shot where theres two elements - your cueing and your aim.

just hit it dead centre and it's gone. the bank might seem easier because of all the fuss thats made about the long straight shot, but it isn't.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I agree that the long straight-in shot is more difficult than some people suggest (unless you hit a million of them of course), but if you had the same distance and it was a cut shot, wouldn't it be even more difficult?

Yes, cut shots get increasingly difficult (have smaller and smaller margins for error) as they get thinner and thinner. This is logical, because the "contact area" that you have to hit is turned at more and more of an angle as it "rotates" around the side of the object ball, which makes it a smaller and smaller target.

This effect is countered to some degree by the fact that the straighter the shot, the more throw is created by a little inadvertent sidespin, but that problem isn't as much of a problem as the shrinking target for cut shots.

Lots of players complain about straight-in shots being more difficult than cut shots generally, but I think that's a visualization problem rather than a mechanics problem: the contact point (actually a small area) is in the middle of the ball with no nearby reference points, so it can be more difficult to get a fix on it.

pj
chgo

 

[jsp]

...However, if I were to shoot the shot 100 times one after the other, I would bet that I would make the bank at a much greater frequency than the straight-in shot. Once you know exactly where to contact the rail to pot the shot, your margin of error is much bigger for the bank (assuming the table plays consistently).

I was wondering if anyone with their own table can try out this experiment.

Set up the shots illustrated in the OP, and shoot both shots about 40 (or preferably more, if you're bored and have the time) times each. Be sure you replace the CB and OB at the exact same locations each and every time (using a dot of chalk on the table).

The most important thing is to give an absolutely honest effort to pot the shot each and every shot.

My hypothesis is that you'll make the bank more times than the straight-in shot. Someone please try it out and post your results.

 

[MVPCues]

I was wondering if anyone with their own table can try out this experiment.

Set up the shots illustrated in the OP, and shoot both shots about 40 (or preferably more, if you're bored and have the time) times each. Be sure you replace the CB and OB at the exact same locations each and every time (using a dot of chalk on the table).

The most important thing is to give an absolutely honest effort to pot the shot each and every shot.

My hypothesis is that you'll make the bank more times than the straight-in shot. Someone please try it out and post your results.

This is a great exercise, but is only 1 test. This will, in part, test the person, not just which shot is more difficult. For this test, on the same exact table, I probably agree with you on the results. But...

For the 2nd more telling test, go to 40 different tables, some 8 foot tables, some 9 foot tables, some slow cloth, some fast, some regarded as good playing tables, some regarded as bad, etc. Repeat the same exact test, but only one bank shot and one straight in shot per table, and then compare the results between the two tests.

On paper, the margin of error may be so that the long straight in shot is more difficult, but the number of variables that can affect the outcome is larger for the bank.

Kelly