Difficult (for me) 9-Ball Shot/Position

[fan-tum]

CueTable Help

The 8-ball is frozen or nearly frozen. The 9-ball is nearly frozen.

This shot, and shots like it continue to be difficult for a C player such as myself.

I was curious what fellow posters would do. Do you shoot with follow or draw... or do something else?

With follow, I'm not sure I can get around the table or avoid scratching in the lower left pocket (of the diagram).

With draw, I'm not sure I can avoid scratching in lower side pocket (of the diagram) or get to a position where I have a good shot on the 9-ball.

Of course, the 3-railer with draw isn't practical for my C player skills.

I consider myself a b player, but I'll get out only about 15 % of the time on that shot. Maybe I'm overrating my game?

 

[junior718]

The reason you're having a tough time is because this is a REALLY hard shot. My inclination is to bust out the talent and spin around the table with left but if I don't feel I'm going to make the ball (like, if I'm playing on tight equipment), there is one really cool safety option to get you back to the table. I say it's cool because it's not that tough to do and nobody sees it coming until the balls stop rolling.

CueTable Help

That shot will always make a backer smile.

 

[soulcatcher]

If the 8 ball is frozen to the rail it makes the shot a lot easier. You can hit the shot with bottom left at about 7:00. But make sure you hit the rail slightly before the 8 ball. The spin should bring it back to the 9. Personally, I haven't tried the shot from your cue ball position ("A" in the picture) but I've tried it from cue ball position "B" and I would say I have about 80% success with the shot if the 8 ball is frozen.

CueTable Help

This is exactly what I though would be my first choice, and I saw Neil also stated it in post 11.