Follow/draw against rail

[JakeDaSnake]

I have tried experimenting with this, but to no avail. I am wondering, if you were to shot the cue ball directly at a rail, does applying top or bottom effect the CB's speed/distance coming back towards you? Thanks
Jake

 

[Dead Crab]

..........................

 

[Covelo]

I have tried experimenting with this, but to no avail. I am wondering, if you were to shot the cue ball directly at a rail, does applying top or bottom effect the CB's speed/distance coming back towards you? Thanks
Jake

Yes... bottom english = top english after it changes direction off the rail, so the ball would travel faster after rail impact, but the bottom english would slow it down before it hit the rail.

 

[realkingcobra]

I have tried experimenting with this, but to no avail. I am wondering, if you were to shot the cue ball directly at a rail, does applying top or bottom effect the CB's speed/distance coming back towards you? Thanks
Jake

Here's how you can test that and maybe answer your own question. Take the cue ball, shoot it with draw english as hard as you can down the center of the table lenghtwise and watch and see how many end rails the cue ball comes in contact with, that'll give you some idea of distance. Then do the same thing with follow english....just watch out for that first rail

Glen

 

[Drew]

Here's how you can test that and maybe answer your own question. Take the cue ball, shoot it with draw english as hard as you can down the center of the table lenghtwise and watch and see how many end rails the cue ball comes in contact with, that'll give you some idea of distance. Then do the same thing with follow english....just watch out for that first rail

Glen

This sounds like a good way to injure somebody.

 

[Mike in MN]

Jake, there are a lot of variables with this. How much top/bottom you apply, how hard you hit it, how close you are to the rail, etc. For example, a medium draw stroke the length of a 9 foot table will almost certainly run out of draw by the time it gets to the end rail, thus it will start rolling over and turn into a slight follow. Just experiment with different speeds, amounts of draw/follow, and distances. You'll get a good feel for how it reacts.

 

[searcyD]

shouldn't matter all that much....wait...ahhh, yes it does. ima go try it at the hall right now.

 

[Beer:30]

I have tried experimenting with this, but to no avail. I am wondering, if you were to shot the cue ball directly at a rail, does applying top or bottom effect the CB's speed/distance coming back towards you? Thanks
Jake

This sounds like a bet.

Whatever spin isn't lost coming off the rail will effect ball speed. Backspin should have higher speeds coming off the rail than topspin (relative to shooter not the rail).

edit: Topspin should compress the rail more than backspin because the rail doesn't contact the balls at the center; it contacts above center. Relative to the rail the topspinning ball appears to be moving faster. I don't know which is more significant, spin of the ball on rebound or rebound speed due to variable rail compression.

 

[Jal]

I have tried experimenting with this, but to no avail. I am wondering, if you were to shot the cue ball directly at a rail, does applying top or bottom effect the CB's speed/distance coming back towards you? Thanks
Jake

Dr. Dave has a high-speed video with measurements of CB speed before and after on this page:

http://billiards.colostate.edu/high_speed_videos/index.html

See "HSV B.15 Straight-on kick shot rebound losses ..."

If it weren't for the complications of spin loss, reversal, and variable cushion efficiency (with spin type), you would think that a rolling ball would be slowed the most. At least I did. But as the video shows, things aren't so simple.

Jim

 

[CreeDo]

Draw does add speed and distance. A force follow ball that is still heavily topspinning will definitely slow after hitting a rail.

Hard to get a baseline for what a ball is "supposed" to do without spin. Cobra's idea of hitting as hard as you can will change from shot to shot but I would imagine there will be a major difference between centerball and draw. If you hit as hard as you can with top, you're going airborne

 

[8Ball48043]

Here's how you can test that and maybe answer your own question. Take the cue ball, shoot it with draw english as hard as you can down the center of the table lenghtwise and watch and see how many end rails the cue ball comes in contact with, that'll give you some idea of distance. Then do the same thing with follow english....just watch out for that first rail

Glen

Or, grab a striped ball from the rack, and simply watch the change in spin when the ball comes off the rail.