Cue Ball Control is Overrated!!!

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BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Alright I’m looking to stir up some controversy. So here it goes – CUE BALL CONTROL IS OVERRATED!

I actually believe this too and here’s why:

When I first started playing pool after just a few months I picked up the basics. I was pocketing balls okay and I quickly began learning all about the wonders of the cue ball. Like most players, I was really drawn to the game via the cue ball. I loved watching it fly around the table. I can still remember when I first learned how to draw the cue ball back up table off of the long rail. You remember that? When you realized that if you wanted the cue ball to spin back up table you had to hit the cue ball with draw on the opposite side than you first thought??? So, there I was starting down this journey of trying to master the cue ball.

It is at this point in time that I think I got some bad advice. I wasn’t really encouraged to work diligently on pocketing the object balls. Instead most people would say something along the lines of “learn to control the cue ball and you don’t have to worry about the difficult shots”. Or “master the simple shots and your ability to pocket the more difficult ones will improve.” These same guys would laugh at the players that could really pocket balls well and shake their heads at their cue ball control (which I’ve been guilty of myself). The focus was ALWAYS on a player’s ability to control the cue ball.

So I continued on. Of course I worked on specific shots here and there but in the back of my mind my practice time was usually centered around cue ball control. Then about 2 years ago or so I really assessed where my game was at. When I considered how my ball pocketing abilities compared to my cue ball control I realized that for my level of play I control the cue ball way better than I pocket balls. I think this happens to a lot of players. As our level of cue ball control increases the time spent working on more difficult shots naturally decreases.

So, to cut to the chase – for the past few years I have been working mainly on potting balls and I have seen a dramatic improvement in my ability. An adding benefit has been my cue ball control has seemed to improve as well. I attribute this to two things. First, being a more confident player. Secondly, my fundamentals have improved as a result of really pushing the limit on my ball potting ability.

For me, confidence at the table comes from knowing that I can make the shot. When I’m playing and missing position I can talk myself through that without my game falling apart BUT when I’m missing shots bad things can happen. You have to be able to step up to the table and pocket the ball. Otherwise, all the cue ball control in the world is not going to help you.

Well – that’s all I have to say about that. What you think?
 
You can get away with bad shape on some shots with good ball making ability. Some shots require precision shape to get where you need to be on the next ball. Why would you not want to improve on both? If you can play better shape your shots will be easier to make and will most likely boost your confidence as well.
 
I don't care what anybody says, the people that win are the people that pocket balls well (ie have the best offense).

Think about 1pocket... a guy moves moves moves then runs 3. The shooter gets one shot and runs 8.

Straight pool... good ball pocketer continues his run off a very difficult shot, the cb guy is crapping his pants in that same spot.

I think shooting is worth a lot more than most think.

Plus, when a guy makes tough shots, nothing makes the opponent crap more than that (cb movement does not do this nearly as much; although maybe it should). Check out some Mark Tadd matches if you doubt this stuff.
 
Ronnie O'Sullivan is that good because he has superb cueball controll. Even if his shotmaking ability is great there are snooker player with better shotmaking ability. When you have a great cueball controll you almost never need to make a tough shot.
 
I think that in the beginning you focused on pocketing balls. Just about everyone starts by learning to pocket balls. Cue ball control is a non-thought and you just bang around playing 8 ball and hoping that you get a decent shot that you can make.

It becomes very quickly apparent when playing other players that your shot making is improving, but your cueball control is lousy. As you should, you work on cueball control and having some understanding of how the cueball reacts and how to move it around freely. This skill requires a lot of attention and becomes quickly fascinating.

If you've come full circle and gotten so good at cueball control that your shot making now pales in comparison, then yeah, you need to work on your shotmaking. I am sure you've noticed that the GREAT players are generally good shotmakers AND have a remarkable control over the cueball.

If you don't learn all of the aspects of the game then your game will suffer and won't continue to improve.

That doesn't mean that cueball control is overrated. It just means that you focused on it for too long and needed to catch up the rest of your game.
 
The Chinchilla said:
I don't care what anybody says, the people that win are the people that pocket balls well (ie have the best offense).

Think about 1pocket... a guy moves moves moves then runs 3. The shooter gets one shot and runs 8.

Straight pool... good ball pocketer continues his run off a very difficult shot, the cb guy is crapping his pants in that same spot.

I think shooting is worth a lot more than most think.

Plus, when a guy makes tough shots, nothing makes the opponent crap more than that (cb movement does not do this nearly as much; although maybe it should). Check out some Mark Tadd matches if you doubt this stuff.
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You keep on shooting all those long and hard shots(BECAUSE OF bad QBALL CONTROL)and i will keep on shooting all those easier shots and close shots(because of good qball control),you tell me who is going to miss more?
 
tap, tap, tap !! many a great shotmakers have fallen by not having the moves to back it up! especially at one pocket. There are alot of 9ballers that beat me to death, but i get it back at one pocket...
 
Slh said:
Ronnie O'Sullivan is that good because he has superb cueball controll. Even if his shotmaking ability is great there are snooker player with better shotmaking ability. When you have a great cueball controll you almost never need to make a tough shot.
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When you step to the table and you know in your heart and mind that you can pocket the ball then it becomes only a matter of time before you put whitey where you want it. However, when you step to the table and you are unsure about your pocketing abilities cue ball control goes out the window.

When you are talking about the upper echelon of all cue sports these guys know they can make the ball. I just think at the lower levels a lot of players stop practicing potting the balls because they are more focused on cue ball control. I will never again put cue ball control over shotmaking! Especially when you are talking about 9 & 10 Ball. Position isn't even that difficult in those games.

If I had to choose between a great shotmaker and a great cue ball controller - I will take the great shotmaker every time.
 
laserbrn said:
I think that in the beginning you focused on pocketing balls. Just about everyone starts by learning to pocket balls. Cue ball control is a non-thought and you just bang around playing 8 ball and hoping that you get a decent shot that you can make.

It becomes very quickly apparent when playing other players that your shot making is improving, but your cueball control is lousy. As you should, you work on cueball control and having some understanding of how the cueball reacts and how to move it around freely. This skill requires a lot of attention and becomes quickly fascinating.

If you've come full circle and gotten so good at cueball control that your shot making now pales in comparison, then yeah, you need to work on your shotmaking. I am sure you've noticed that the GREAT players are generally good shotmakers AND have a remarkable control over the cueball.

If you don't learn all of the aspects of the game then your game will suffer and won't continue to improve.

That doesn't mean that cueball control is overrated. It just means that you focused on it for too long and needed to catch up the rest of your game.
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Well said. I agree. I just think there is often an overlooked natural tendency for players to neglect their shotmaking ability as their cue ball control improves. No more neglect here.
 
The Chinchilla said:
I don't care what anybody says, the people that win are the people that pocket balls well (ie have the best offense).

Think about 1pocket... a guy moves moves moves then runs 3. The shooter gets one shot and runs 8.

Straight pool... good ball pocketer continues his run off a very difficult shot, the cb guy is crapping his pants in that same spot.

I think shooting is worth a lot more than most think.

Plus, when a guy makes tough shots, nothing makes the opponent crap more than that (cb movement does not do this nearly as much; although maybe it should). Check out some Mark Tadd matches if you doubt this stuff.
Click to expand...

Lets think about 8 ball. If you are off by 1mm in position, that could be the end of your run and turn at the table.

This is one aspect that makes 8 ball tough.

I can see where playing only 9 ball one can think that position play is overrated. But once you venture to the upper levels of the other pool games, the value of excellent CB controls becomes more evident.

Even in straight, if you do not get the position you wanted for the CB when playing a safe, you could be sitting there for awhile.

Same in 1pocket.

I've said that a shot has two parts, making the OB and putting the CB where you want. They are not separate parts as generally believed.
 
richiebalto said:
The player that can move the white ball the best and pocket balls the best ,will be the best!
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This is the mindset that slowed me down. I think when you are looking to improve you have to be singularly focused.

When you're working on improving your shotmaking ability what are you doing really? You are training yourself to hit the cue ball and the object ball very very precisely. This can carry over to your cue ball control. However, contrary to popular opinion you don't have to hit the object ball that precisely when you are working on position. Just ask an honest 3 cushion player. They have quite a bit (relatively speaking) of wiggle room in regards to the cue ball/object ball collision. In other words, you can hit the object within a wide range and still get the cue ball to the intended destination. It is a much more precise hit needed to pocket a difficult shot. So, since most of us don't have infinite amount of time to practice I try to spend my time as efficiently as possible and I think working on pocketing balls is more important.
 
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One problem is that when a new player is pocketing balls OK and then starts using cue ball control is, they don't realize what the english does to the object ball. They start to use the english to obtain control of the cue and miss shots and get frustrated by not knowing that the spin will throw the OB.
 
So you (like all of us) got good fast at pocketing balls. Then you realized (and were told) that cue ball control was vital to moving on to the next level (you learn how much you can juice a cue ball, then put most of that juice back in the bottle). You busted your hump learning how to keep a leash on the whitey, then believed your shot making suffered. Now you concentrate on shot making, and magically your cue ball control seems better. It's better because of all the time you put into it, not because you're shooting with abandon. Great shot makers with poor control never seem to remember all the innings that end with them tying themselves up...they plateau at one level and never get better. Guys with great focus and cue ball control seem to remember all the shots they miss and can focus on the easiest part of the game to improve--which is the better way, IMHO.

Shot making goes up and down based on how frequently you play. Cue ball control stays with you longer, but takes the longest to master. I play frequently against a guy who is a WAY better shot maker than me (if he can see it, he can nail it), but his cue ball control is a tad weaker. In longer sets, I win.

As for 1 pocket or 14.1, anyone that thinks the aggressive player wins more often is not playing in as good a group as they think.
 
BasementDweller;3281000]Alright I’m looking to stir up some controversy. So here it goes – CUE BALL CONTROL IS OVERRATED!
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There's 30 inches of pocket out there, keep letting whitey wander around unattended.
:thumbup:

Steve H.
 
West Point 1987 said:
So you (like all of us) got good fast at pocketing balls. Then you realized (and were told) that cue ball control was vital to moving on to the next level (you learn how much you can juice a cue ball, then put most of that juice back in the bottle). You busted your hump learning how to keep a leash on the whitey, then believed your shot making suffered. Now you concentrate on shot making, and magically your cue ball control seems better. It's better because of all the time you put into it, not because you're shooting with abandon. Great shot makers with poor control never seem to remember all the innings that end with them tying themselves up...they plateau at one level and never get better. Guys with great focus and cue ball control seem to remember all the shots they miss and can focus on the easiest part of the game to improve--which is the better way, IMHO.

Shot making goes up and down based on how frequently you play. Cue ball control stays with you longer, but takes the longest to master. I play frequently against a guy who is a WAY better shot maker than me (if he can see it, he can nail it), but his cue ball control is a tad weaker. In longer sets, I win.

As for 1 pocket or 14.1, anyone that thinks the aggressive player wins more often is not playing in as good a group as they think.
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I guess I've never had much of a problem being able to identify the proper pattern, or the proper way to shoot a particular shot. For me, my game rises and falls based on my ability to put the ball in the hole. You're quote in red, sort of makes me wonder. I think you laid out the typical scenerio for how most of us got started. But then you mentioned that most players then turn to working on cue ball control. This is where I believe most players attention stays for the remainder of their playing days. It's only natural. I think it is vital to constantly push the limit of your pocketing ability. For a while, I just sort of accepted that I wouldn't be good at certain shots (jacked up with draw for instance). Why did I sell myself short here?

My cue ball control has gotten better. No doubt about that. Like I said before, I attribute that to continually straightening out my stroke while pushing the limits of my pocketing ability. My fundamentals are getting better.
 
Fact is: First you have to become a good shotmaker- then you ll get more and more knowledge and have to finetune.
Without any cueball-controll you re lost.
 
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