Combos

pooljunkie4ever

pooljunkie4ever

Grab Life by the BALL!
Silver Member
I am so amazed how some people can combo. They just setup and slam them in like they are easy. I suck big time at combos avoiding them as much as possible. I practice Combos, I'm talking easy ones, but I just can't figure out a good aiming system. Can someone give up some practicing tips or aiming tips.
Thanks
 
Well, some are just wired to go in. Other than that, I just go backwards from the ball I want to pocket. I see where that needs to be struck by the ball in front of it, so on...so forth for as many balls as you are comboing. I'm sure there is some mathematically sound way to do it but I see no point in making it more difficult than it is.
 
screw combos. they piss me off big time - i miss them all! apart from the little ones and the dead ones. to be fair i probably miss more of them simply because I don't go for them very often because I know they're low percentage - whereas some people just fire at them all the time so they do make quite a few.

i suppose the bottom line is you've got to convince your brain that the correct contact point on the second ball is the pocket, and aim for that. damn hard though!
 
pooljunkie4ever said:
I am so amazed how some people can combo. They just setup and slam them in like they are easy. I suck big time at combos avoiding them as much as possible. I practice Combos, I'm talking easy ones, but I just can't figure out a good aiming system. Can someone give up some practicing tips or aiming tips.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I had the great pleasure of backing the purest combo/carom 9 ball shooter I have ever seen. In a race to 7 I watched him combo/carom the money 5 times. His opponent never knew what hit them. The best thing was they kept at it thinking he couldn't keep it up (of course, it didn't hurt our chances that my player shot better overall as well).

He made this amazing shot as well as many others.

CueTable Help



When I asked him to teach me how, he said find the 90 angle it should come off and never use english unless you have to. From there it's just hitting the right point on the object ball. Honestly, I just believe "the force is with him" when it comes to making combos and caroms.
 
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I don't mind combo's I usually feel pretty good shooting it. Unless of course it's a real crazy one. Alot of people OVER cut combo's. If you shoot a lot of combo's and find yourself missing them alot I bet it's because your over cutting the first object ball.
 
I use the center of the ball that I'm striking first through the angle point of the object ball that I'm trying to pocket..

If the balls are close I still hit center of object ball, but I may change the english of the cue ball trying to get a quicker reaction...

The best way to understand it is to try it in my opinion.
 
I am pretty good at pocketing balls from some awkward angles and still have a hell of a time with what would seem an easy combo.
 
combos come pretty easy for me. i pretty much use the half ball hit on cut combos, bank shots, and cut shots. this method works good for me. it may not be the way to go for someone else though. but try it , it might work.
 
I Love Combos!

These are my favorite...
 

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worriedbeef said:
screw combos. they piss me off big time - i miss them all! apart from the little ones and the dead ones. to be fair i probably miss more of them simply because I don't go for them very often because I know they're low percentage - whereas some people just fire at them all the time so they do make quite a few.

i suppose the bottom line is you've got to convince your brain that the correct contact point on the second ball is the pocket, and aim for that. damn hard though!
Click to expand...

I know exactly what your talking about. Maybe the reason I am so bad at shooting combos is because I avoid them 99.9 % of the time.
 
The strongest I have seen in person was when I was matched up with Tommy Stephenson in Cincinnati in 1991. He was doing combos that had both the balls in the middle of the table and no where near in line, and just rifling them in. We played about 8 hrs worth and he came up a set...i just couldnt fade the BIH combo threat so I quit. He must have made at least 10-15 really difficult combos on the 9, it really demoralized me.

One tip I have seen and tried myself is when you shoot a combo, try standing up a bit more erect than normal. A good shooter told me that once and I found it works somewhat as it allows you to sight the line needed for the combo easier.
 
I usually will line up for a combo than I would a bank if I have the option. For the most part though I have no problem firing them in. But in fairness the 90% safety usually beats the 60% combo(if it is even that much for a particular shot). Then again someone once told me of a story a Pro golfer that complimented and was amazed at how well someone hit out of a bunker. And the amatuer said that he found himself in that position so much he'd had to get better at that than improve the other part of his game.
 
Top players

I've seen some top players (one of them 11 time world champion or more) set up really hard long straight in combos. The cuball is placed at a corner pocket, objectball in almost the middle of table, and second object ball (ball to be pocketed), is half of the distance between the first object ball and opposite cross corner pocket. It is about the maximum distance you can practice on a 9ft table. Unfortunately I have no clue how to use that cuetable layout or I'd set it up. Anyhow, I've seen them drill them 3 or 4 times in a row and it is amazing. I guess if a guy would practice those for about a year, normal combos start getting easier.
 
+1 for sucking at combos. I try to avoid them in 9-ball since you have to play position and if you miss, then you'll probably totally sell out; the exception of course being a combo on the 9 which you can play two-ways.

One tip I read for combos is to extend the aim line of the first object ball to the rail. In other words, the idea of this tip is to aim the first object ball at a point on the rail rather than aiming it at a contact point on the second ball.

It has helped me a little but I still suck at combos. :confused: I can't expect much else though as I don't practice them. :o :)
 
uwate said:
One tip I have seen and tried myself is when you shoot a combo, try standing up a bit more erect than normal. A good shooter told me that once and I found it works somewhat as it allows you to sight the line needed for the combo easier.
Click to expand...

I discovered this for myself awhile back. I also stand back from the table a little ways when determining the line of sight/contact on a combo. Seems to help me.
 
...........

One tip I have seen and tried myself is when you shoot a combo, try standing up a bit more erect than normal. A good shooter told me that once and I found it works somewhat as it allows you to sight the line needed for the combo easier.[/QUOTE]


Good advice by that player. That advice can also be applied to balls a few inches off a rail and the cue ball at an angle where the object ball creates an "illusion" of being closer to the rail when the object ball is alot of times over cut.

Example of combo: 5 ball into the 6 ball. I will consider the 6 ball as a pocket while I shoot the 5 ball into the 6 as if the six is a pocket. I look at the 6 ball and its path towards the pocket, then I aim the 5 ball at the "pocket" (the 6ball) and aim the 5 ball to spacific part of the "pocket" and then shoot. It works for me it may work for you as well. Also consider the speed of both balls..
 
One tip I have seen and tried myself is when you shoot a combo, try standing up a bit more erect than normal. A good shooter told me that once and I found it works somewhat as it allows you to sight the line needed for the combo easier.
Click to expand...

hmm whenever i get erect on a combo I seem to miss the shot. :confused:
 
I'm in vegas writing this from my phone, so bear with me.

combos from long distances should be avoided unless the 2nd ball is a hanger.

when you are in close quarters, try aiming the quarter of the CB thru the opposite quarter of the OB (with the cue on that line) and pivot your tip to center. try both ways to aim since I can't tell u which quarter to start with). it's really effective . thanks, hal.
 
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I use the extended aim line...basically kindof forget that the final object ball is even there...You reduce the shot to simply shooting the first object ball down a channel line.

Two key tips that seem to help (But seem hard to remember)

Avoid any type of english on the CB (I actually like just a hair of draw)
Don't hit the combo any harder than is needed.
Try to shoot the shot as smooth as possible.

For whatever reason...many people hit combos way harder than they would a normal shot...Just hitting too hard on regular shots is enough to cause a miss......(I hit combos way too hard all the time...tough habit to break)

and of course the degree of difficulty jumps way up as the number of angles adds up

straight - straight - straight = farily easy
straight - straight - angle = medium
angle - straight - straight= medium
straight - angle- straight = medium
angle - angle - straight = hard
angle - angle angle = super hard


Disclaimer - I suck at combos... :)
 
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