Different aim for different tables?

[fastone371]

The angles of the shots are different. It is true that the 'relative' angles on a pool table do not change - a spot shot is always the same angle regardless of the size of the table. But if you take a shot 5 inches off the rail 2 diamonds away from the corner pocket and imagine a triangle - the base of the triangle will always be 5 inches, but the height of the triangle will change the bigger the table gets. 2 diamonds of height is much longer on the 9 foot table than the 7 footer - so the angle has to be different. Taking this analogy further, the angle required to cut said shot to the pocket in a 7 foot table would be an undercut on a 9 footer - as the OP stated. It would come up short. Your brain was trained to hit the 5 inch 2 diamond shot at X angle, and it was slightly off.

When I aim I do not use the diamonds to tell me how thick or thin to cut the ball, I am guessing most people do not do this. I look at the cut angle required to get the ball to the center of the pocket and where that contact point is on the object ball to do that. So for me the angles would not change on different size tables.
Also, if you are looking at it as 2 diamonds from pocket and 2" off of rail you are using 2 different measuring systems. If it is 2 diamonds from the pocket and a 1/2 diamond off of the rail for example then the angles would be the same on different size tables. If this were not the case then spot shots would be different angles on different size tables.

 

[michael4]

The dead center of the pocket never changes that's true, but if you shooting into a 4.75'' pocket where you can make the shot changes if you go to a table with a 4.25'' pocket, so in that regard the angle does change.

I would say the angle does not change, only the margin of error is smaller on tighter pockets.



everyone gets this, but just in case...

big pockets - on a certain shot - angle can be anywhere from say 21-29 degrees
same shot tighter table, angle now has to be 24-26 degrees...
so if you were shooting 28 degrees before and making it, on tighter pockets you have to adjust to 26 degrees...etc..etc

EDIT - same applies to distance of OB from the pocket, greater distance = less margin for error

 

[Patrick Johnson]

...I think "cut-induced throw" (CIT) is a better name than "collision-induced throw."

I agree. Where do we vote?

pj
chgo

 

[Drop The Rock]

I think you just feel funky and haven't adjusted to the big table after playing on a table that is 2 feet shorter and 1 ft slimmer. Its quite possible that your perception is just messed up or this is due to your aiming system.

If you leave a point in the felt at the dead center of each pocket (or better yet imagine carom pockets) on a 7' x 3.5' table and stretch it to a 9' x 4.5' a perfect line would be drawn and the center would line up perfectly as long as the increase in table size follows that ratio.

A cue ball that is moved with this same shift will maintain the same angles into the pocket and the same distance to the closest short rail and end rail. If the cue ball lies exactly on the vertical or horizontal axis defined by the center of the table then this rule doesn't apply depending on what axis it is. If horizontal the distance from both short rails will increase, if on the vertical axis the distance to both long rails will increase. If the cue ball is in the dead center of the table absolutely nothing changes from a geometrical standpoint other than the distance to every point of the table, not the angle.

So if the balls are positioned in the exact same "coordinates" of each table/exact same distances to the nearest rails of both tables then the angles are the same. That being said we don't always shoot balls in the perfect center of the pocket lol.

What messes us up is that we hardly ever shot an object ball that is in the dead center of table. So say you do our little table stretch exercise but don't move the cue ball or object ball at all. Now your angles have changed. For example you should a ball straight down the long rail on a 7 ft table and then the table stretches to a 9 ft. From that same point relative to you and the rest of the world you would be shooting the ball into the rail. Also spot shots the angle of a spot shot doesn't change when you in crease table size.

HOWEVER what does happen is that your brain is focusing on the cue ball and object ball and says if I hit here the object ball goes there, but when we miss to one side of the other its almost as if the pocket should have been where you shot the ball. What also happens is a complete flip in depth perception. Shots that are the same exact angle from table to table to table are not "different". I have always between a contact point guy and now I use a couple tricks to help with depth perception. How I figured out contact points doesn't really matter but its what I use and does not fail me. I used to undercut balls the way you describe because I wasn't used to the table yet. No I can jump and most tables and look half way decent.