Basic kicking question

boogieman said:
In pool I absolutely hate "just going for a hit." You have to make something happen in your favor. I like to think of kicking the same way you would use a turn at the 1P table. Try to make something happen and push the game in your favor, be that through making the ball, getting a safety in return etc.
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I agree that kicking with no other thought put into it than hitting the OB is a sign of a beginner, but for kicks that are tough to hit in the first place, you often want to pick the angle such that you maximize your odds to hit the OB, or in other words, "just go for a hit", but pick the speed that maximizes your odds of leaving a tough table for your opponent, considering the average of all outcomes that can happen within the range of possible OB contacts.

The further away from the center of the OB you are aiming for with a kick, the more likely you are to miss completely, so choosing whether to aim for the line that maximizes your hit chance, or to aim at another point on the OB (e.g. to pot it, or to hit a certain side of it, which is common at pro level safety play) is a decision that you make based on multiple factors, most prominently the degree of control you have for a given kick and the odds of missing the OB entirely.
 
I really like a drill I saw on Jasmine Ouschan's youtube channel. Basically, you just pick a pocket and try to do the least amount of kicks to make your object ball in that pocket.
 
newcuer said:
I really like a drill I saw on Jasmine Ouschan's youtube channel. Basically, you just pick a pocket and try to do the least amount of kicks to make your object ball in that pocket.
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That will teach you the angles, but the speed might not be right for playing safes since you usually want to shoot hard enough to get separation.
 
my easy way is to in your mind move the cueball back even with the ball you want to hit for the one rail kick. then its just split the difference on the rail like any ordinary bank shot.

and if something is in your way use speed or english to lengthen or shorten your rail.
 
Picture compliments of the good Doc
 

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jnwilliams said:
I struggle greatly with parallel shifts. Tried practicing just going diamond to diamond. Now I know why I can't draw a stickman with pen and paper
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I struggle/struggled with everything… I learn from instructors. And it’s easy when we know how.
 
jnwilliams said:
I struggle greatly with parallel shifts. ...
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Yes, most people cannot move the cue stick parallel to itself very well. I think they usually tend to turn the front of the stick towards the first line.

One way to do accurate parallel shifts:

Let's suppose you have found the line but have to do a parallel shift a foot to the right to be on the cue ball. Look along your original line out to the wall or as far away as possible. Pick a point on that line. Maybe it's the left edge of a stool by the wall. Now search for an object out by that distant point that is the correct distance to its side -- maybe the right edge of that same stool. When you shift your stick over, it should be pointed at that new, distant object. You are simply making a long, narrow rectangle, and the sides of a rectangle are parallel.
 
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