Do you factor in a leave in event you miss this type of shot?

Do you just go for it, or think @ leave?

  • I just let 'er rip

    Votes: 17 35.4%

  • I somewhat factor in a possible leave if I miss

    Votes: 31 64.6%
  • Total voters
    48
KoolKat9Lives

KoolKat9Lives

Taught 'em all I know
Silver Member
You have a tough shot for the win. On this shot, and others similar, do you think about making sure you don't bank long (meaning, do not hit the long rail first and sell out)? And do you think about speed such that if you bank short (as illustrated), the 9 and the cue ball are on opposite sides without the 9 sitting in front of a pocket?

Or do you just go for it and let the chips fall where they may?

CueTable Help

 
I actually hit that shot the other night for the win in 8 ball. It felt damn good too. Obviously I just "let er rip". It may not have been the smartest choice but the way my opponent was shooting, I felt he would have made the 8 in on his next turn anyway.
 
let buffalo chips fall where they may

First of all I think I would be playing safe all the way on this shot in 9-ball(As much as possible)
But as this is a shot familiar to all one-hole players. If I was going to shoot it, I would shoot to make it. Pocket speed. Aim for off the long rail not off the short rail. At the right speed it makes pocket bigger. If you hang it ,c'est la guerre. You may still get a safe out of it. But I wouldn't bang it and lower my percentage of making it just to try and cya with a half- assed safety.
 
A very unfortunate leave, but if I were shooting this, I'd "go for it," but with one proviso -- to not hit it softly. The last thing I want to do is hit this shot with pocket speed, miss, and leave the 9-ball hanging around near (or in the jaws of) that corner pocket. I'll try to hit it with 1 and a quarter table-length speed, and try to leave my opponent with a bank as well. Bear down on your fundamentals, and visualize that ball making a beeline to the pocket.

EDIT: Being a One Pocket player myself, this is a shot I'm comfortable with, so it's not like a "flyer" to me. I shoot these all the time. I'll aim to pocket that ball, and a great percentage of that time, my one pocket experience shows through in spades. As Neil says, if you can aim it good enough to "correctly miss it," why not just aim to pocket that ball outright?

Other folks may prefer to just shrug their shoulders, "go for it" with 100% intention to pocket the ball (thinking of nothing else), and accept the chips where they fall. Probably hoping that if the opponent wins this game, they now have to pocket a ball on the next break to start a package going. (Which unfortunately is likely with 9-ball's vulnerable diamond-shaped rack.)

-Sean
 
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No choice but to go for it IMO. Even if you shoot it to do a two way shot your opponent will still be at the table if you miss. You can't assume you are going to get another shot at the nine. People will try too hard to play safe and either miss it badly, or get pissed off when they leave it and the other player still makes the ball.
 
Neil said:
To be perfectly honest here, I'm not looking at missing it. I may very well miss it far more than make it, but, that's not what I'm looking at. I have always felt that "missing to the pro side" is a saying that is real nice on paper, but B.S. in reality.

The reason I say that, is that if I can aim it good enough to miss it right, I can aim it good enough to make it. If I miss it, it's either because my aim was off, or because I did something else wrong in the delivery of the shot. When I screw up the delivery, it is just that, a screw up, not something planned. How do you plan to screw up??

A shot like that, I am aiming for the center of the pocket, if I am off a little one way or the other, I can still make it. Aiming to one side of the pocket,you have to be more accurate, if you are off a little, you miss. Yeah, you might get a better leave missing it, but I would rather increase my chances of making it, not concentrate on missing it.

The one thing I will do, is make sure of what the cb will do, I want to make sure that if I make the bank, I don't scratch.
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I understand what you're saying, although my strategy is different and that's OK by me for my skill level (strong B, low A, and I only play 9 footers). If I say "self, you're less than good odds here, the last thing to do is put a bow on your leave." I evaluate the potential '2-way', such that if I miss, can I leave it tough?

As another example, here's a shot I will again favor banking short. I'm trying to make it (I know that sounds contradictory and to an extent it is), but I'm going to factor into my shot:

a) speed
b) not banking long

I "program myself" before getting down on the shot and then try to make it without over-cutting it.

CueTable Help

 
maybe a slight consideration in speed

KoolKat9Lives said:
You have a tough shot for the win. On this shot, and others similar, do you think about making sure you don't bank long (meaning, do not hit the long rail first and sell out)? And do you think about speed such that if you bank short (as illustrated), the 9 and the cue ball are on opposite sides without the 9 sitting in front of a pocket?

Or do you just go for it and let the chips fall where they may?
Click to expand...

While I may adjust speed slightly, shooting anything but the way that gives me the best chance of pocketing the ball is selling out. I agree with shooting the shot or the safety, don't compromise. When you are already shooting a tough shot you need to commit totally.

Hu
 
Compartmentalization

KoolKat9Lives said:
You have a tough shot for the win. On this shot, and others similar, do you think about making sure you don't bank long (meaning, do not hit the long rail first and sell out)? And do you think about speed such that if you bank short (as illustrated), the 9 and the cue ball are on opposite sides without the 9 sitting in front of a pocket?

Or do you just go for it and let the chips fall where they may?

CueTable Help

Click to expand...

While i'm still standing up i commit to length and a half speed.
When i address the cue ball i commit to the bank - but at that speed.
This way,if you miss it short,you may get away with it.

If you think about banking short you will probably be rewarded for
your duplicity.
 
ShootingArts said:
While I may adjust speed slightly, shooting anything but the way that gives me the best chance of pocketing the ball is selling out. I agree with shooting the shot or the safety, don't compromise. When you are already shooting a tough shot you need to commit totally.

Hu
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I like that thinking on this type shot. Shoot or safe - commit to one.
The 2nd example is a very different situation. It's much tougher to over cut the 2nd shot - not apples & apples. Safety off the 2nd shot is a lot more simple, too. The 1st safe is easy to get side to side leave, the 2nd is easy to get end to end leave.
 
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KoolKat9Lives said:
You have a tough shot for the win. On this shot, and others similar, do you think about making sure you don't bank long (meaning, do not hit the long rail first and sell out)? And do you think about speed such that if you bank short (as illustrated), the 9 and the cue ball are on opposite sides without the 9 sitting in front of a pocket?

Or do you just go for it and let the chips fall where they may?

CueTable Help

Click to expand...

It looks to me like you are leaving a pretty easy cross side bank. If I was going to play safe I would probably try to stop the cue ball and send the 9 to the other end of the table.
 
alstl said:
It looks to me like you are leaving a pretty easy cross side bank. If I was going to play safe I would probably try to stop the cue ball and send the 9 to the other end of the table.
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Something that hasn't been mentioned is that pocket size factors into this question. If I'm playing on easy pockets, I would play the one railer at a little more than pocket speed. If the pockets are tight, I would probably go with Matt's speed consideration, trying to leave it tough if I missed.

I can't ever imagine playing safe here, though. It's a very makable shot.
 
the420trooper said:
Something that hasn't been mentioned is that pocket size factors into this question. If I'm playing on easy pockets, I would play the one railer at a little more than pocket speed. If the pockets are tight, I would probably go with Matt's speed consideration, trying to leave it tough if I missed.

I can't ever imagine playing safe here, though. It's a very makable shot.
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Good answer.
 
i'd go all out to make it or play safe. trying to play that as a 2 way shot probably isn't going to work out well for you
 
poolplayer2093 said:
i'd go all out to make it or play safe. trying to play that as a 2 way shot probably isn't going to work out well for you
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I agree, but....how would you play safe?

The only safe shot I see is thinning the right side of the 9, and going downtable with the CB. If you do that, you're very likely to leave a similar shot to the one you were just looking at....And wouldn't you feel like a dumbass if the guy drilled the bank like it was a hanger? And wouldn't you think, at least fleetingly, "I should've done that"?

(Btw, I don't mean "you" you, I mean the general "you".) :)
 
Neil said:
To be perfectly honest here, I'm not looking at missing it. I may very well miss it far more than make it, but, that's not what I'm looking at. I have always felt that "missing to the pro side" is a saying that is real nice on paper, but B.S. in reality.

The reason I say that, is that if I can aim it good enough to miss it right, I can aim it good enough to make it. If I miss it, it's either because my aim was off, or because I did something else wrong in the delivery of the shot. When I screw up the delivery, it is just that, a screw up, not something planned. How do you plan to screw up??

A shot like that, I am aiming for the center of the pocket, if I am off a little one way or the other, I can still make it. Aiming to one side of the pocket,you have to be more accurate, if you are off a little, you miss. Yeah, you might get a better leave missing it, but I would rather increase my chances of making it, not concentrate on missing it.

The one thing I will do, is make sure of what the cb will do, I want to make sure that if I make the bank, I don't scratch.
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Neil, I couldn't of said it better. I happen to play KK9 about everyday. He's big on the two way shot, but I think as you, if you're playing to miss the shot rather than make it then you don't have your mojoe on go. I will fire at it every time with better than pocket speed.
 
EZMoney said:
Neil, I couldn't of said it better. I happen to play KK9 about everyday. He's big on the two way shot, but I think as you, if you're playing to miss the shot rather than make it then you don't have your mojoe on go. I will fire at it every time with better than pocket speed.
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EZMoney my friend, I believe that you need to factor the two way in this type of shot. I play to make the ball but will rarely miss the shot to the long rail because I slightly favor the miss to the short rail.

I think it's important that your opponent does not wind up with a gimme. If he wins he most likely will have to earn it. In a key game he will also be under duress where even gimmes are not so gimme.
 
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Always

Over the years, in games like 9 Ball, now 10 Ball, I have always looked at cue ball movement in a leave after the most difficult shots. When applicable, I will add speed to the shot in order to facilitate the movement I desire. Using this speed gets me to the angle away from the shot in case the ball rattles or takes a rail. This came about from experience with selling out games by missing pocket speed shots that didn't fall.
 
I'm surprised a number of posters ( much better players than me) have stated that they will commit 100 percent to make the bank but then add that they will hit it with speed just in case they miss because they don't want to leave a pocket speed ball hangin' in the jaws. That's not much of a commitment. At speed if you don't hit the pocket without a rail your likely to rattle the 9 in the pocket. A controlled speed adds at least an inch to the pocket plus allowing you to leave the cb somewhat up table. If I'm going to commit to the bank I would shoot it as I would a one-pocket shot , with not an ounce of doubt in my mind, that it was going to drop.
 
I'm with the majority on this one. Sometimes you just gotta take the bull by the balls and go for it. Like Neil said, if you play so sporty that you can accurately play to one side of the pocket or the other then why can't you just split the wicket and make the ball? Only thing I do on a shot like this is use follow on the cue ball so it stays down table.....not enough that it hugs that end rail and scratches though. I figure if I'm going to miss it I at least want the full table length left for him.
MULLY
 
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