Combo Or Make?

D

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The Instructors Forum hasnt had much activity lately, so i thought i would pose a question. In the diagram below, do you try and make the 2-Ball or do you go for the 2-5 combo since the 5-Ball is blocking part of the pocket?

What do you do and why?

Mike


CueTable Help

 
I'm not much of a player (yet) and certainly not in 9-ball, but I'll throw in my .02 to get things started.

On the tables in the room I play in, it would be very difficult to cheat the pocket enough to make the two directly. Not impossible, with a soft shot. But a soft shot won't leave you position easily on the three.

So I would probably try the combo, even though combo's are usually lower percentage. (The voices in my head...:p ) I would still probably not hit it very hard, with a little top, and try to come off the back rail enough to leave me room to get back on the two on the next shot.

Of course, this is probably the wrong way to go about it, so I'll sit back and see what the "good" players have to say. :embarrassed2:

Fun problem. Thanks for putting it out here, DCP.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
The Instructors Forum hasnt had much activity lately, so i thought i would pose a question. In the diagram below, do you try and make the 2-Ball or do you go for the 2-5 combo since the 5-Ball is blocking part of the pocket?

What do you do and why?

Mike


CueTable Help

Click to expand...
going for the combo is the right shot....its a higher % then makin the the 2 ball clean....does the 2 go? lol ...from what i see using follow will do the trick sending the cue off the rail and back out ...biggest thing is u have to visualize where the 2 is goin to end up after u pocket the 5 ...id set that shot up and try follow or maybe a hair of inside...lmk how it works
 
It's tough for me to get a feel for the shot on the diagram. It all depends on how much of the pocket is blocked. But given the position of the 3 and 4 balls, and how close you are to the 2, I would pot it straight by the 5 and draw back a bit.
 
Depends on your proficiency in pocketing balls. For me, if the 2 ball clears--- that's my shot. If you get frazzled when you see a smaller window, shoot the combo.

I'm guessing since you're asking the question to begin with --- you should shoot the combo.

Dave
 
I would shoot past the 5 and play the tree in the side. I don't think you have to hit it as soft as you think you do. just put top and a half of tip of outside english and i think it should to the job. if you over hit it you could play the three in either corner or in the other side. you might even have a shot at a 3 nine combo to win the game. I think that is the more reliable shot
 
If the 2 doesn't go clean, any thoughts of playing a safe? Not a big fan of combos with that much distance.

I'd favor a safe, sending the 2 up towards the head rail. There's a large pack of balls to hide the cue behind.
 
I normally look for another option as opposed to a combination, but in this case, the 5 is very close to the pocket, so I would probably go for it.

Steve
 
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