"How are you going to pull that off?" Shots...

[Billy_Bob]

Every once and awhile I see a cool shot I can make which looks like an impossible / no way can you pocket that ball shot, but in reality it is quite easy to make.

And before making these shots, I point to the ball I'm going to pocket with my cue, say the ball number, then point to the pocket it will go in with my cue and say in that pocket. I make a point to very clearly call the shot and point to the ball and which pocket it will go in, because after I make these types of shots, my opponent is likely to say it was a luck shot and I did not call it even though I did (example just saying 2 in corner without pointing).

The other night I had one such shot...

My opponent thought he had left me with no shot, but I saw one of these fun and easy shots. I pointed to the 2 ball with my cue and said 2 in the corner. My opponent looked at me like "No way are you going to legally make that shot!" Then I made my shot and he stood there with his mouth hanging open. (Looked very impressive, but was easy. Just need to be able to "see" these shots.)

On the following shot, the 14/2 is "wired" for the 2 to go into the corner. You can hit the 14 just about anywhere and the 2 will go into the corner. So all I did was hit the 4 slightly on the right side with a lot of draw to bring the cue ball back to hit the 14. And this did the trick. The cue ball came back to hit the 14 and the 2 went into the corner as planned. On the following diagram, I don't know if I have the balls lined up exactly as they were, but this shows the general idea.

Here is the shot...
http://CueTable.com/P/?@4BJsx4DBKt4JDux4KCqv3MCgw4NHHr4OBdg3PCjK4XBKt4XGypzb3kCjK4kCAuzb@

 

[Billy_Bob]

BTW...

I was able to "see" the above shot by practicing shots in the book "99 critical shots". This taught me about "wired" shots.

Also from practicing draw shots a *lot*, I have learned that if you don't hit the object ball dead on, the cue ball will not come straight back, but will come back at an angle. So I used this to my advantage with the above shot.

Also advice I have received here to break out your trouble balls early when playing 8-ball (more balls were on table than shown). So I was also dealing with this "problem ball" early on in the game.

 

[1hit1der]

Nice shooting Billy Bob. I've used it a time or two before, usually because there's no good way to play position for it so you have to break it up. Of course, it works a lot better when you know you'll get another shot at it if it's not "wired". But it's definitely all about "seeing" the shot, as you mentioned.

 

[Icon of Sin]

Good shot, were you rewarded with position on your next shot???

(99 Critical shots is one of the best pool books)

 

[cuetable]

On the following shot, the 14/2 is "wired" for the 2 to go into the corner. You can hit the 14 just about anywhere and the 2 will go into the corner. So all I did was hit the 4 slightly on the right side with a lot of draw to bring the cue ball back to hit the 14. And this did the trick. The cue ball came back to hit the 14 and the 2 went into the corner as planned. On the following diagram, I don't know if I have the balls lined up exactly as they were, but this shows the general idea.

Here is the shot...
http://CueTable.com/P/?@4BJsx4DBKt4JDux4KCqv3MCgw4NHHr4OBdg3PCjK4XBKt4XGypzb3kCjK4kCAuzb@

Hi Bob
Great shot!!
What English did you used, was it like this somehow?

http://CueTable.com/P/?@4BJsx4DBKt4...jK4VJsx4VcIp4XBKt1XAqj3kCjK4kBTJ8kFDizc4uDKK@

 

[Billy_Bob]

Good shot, were you rewarded with position on your next shot???

Yes, I ran out from there. But getting position for another shot was just luck.

 

[Billy_Bob]

...What English did you use...

No English. Just center draw hitting quite low with a bit of speed and good stroke/follow through (to get lots of drawback speed). And chalking very well before this shot.

The trick was to hit the 4 slightly on the right side, not dead center. If I had hit it dead center, the cue ball would have come straight back.

 

[Rod]

BB, good catch. Those come up a lot playing any game especially O/P and 14-1. It's a carom shot, you need to be aware of which side of the ball you contact. Center or the wrong side may throw the o/b away from the pocket if frozen or near frozen. Here is a similar example.

Shooting the 2 if you carom into point a at a slower speed the 4 ball goes. If you carom into anywhere under the line, point B it will not go. In this position I'd shoot the 2 to or towards the corner focusing on hitting the top side of the 5. The four will go, so if I make the two I'm set up on the 3. Even if I hang the two or it doesn't reach the pocket it's still ok. No draw needed on this one just center and the correct tangent line off the 2.

START(
%A[4\4%BJ0N6%Cq2F6%DF3R9%EF5Q5%F`8H2%GS0M0%H[7\3%IO2H6%PF3K5
%QF8P3%RE0P2%YE6Y7%ZG0N1%]G9Q1%^I0O1
)END

Rod

 

[DaveK]

Finding 'plants' in a rack is a standard trick in straight pool I understand. You said that the ball would drop regardless of where you hit the other ball, and perhaps it would given the proximity to the pocket, but throw might come into play. It's real handy to understand how to adjust the plant-line with throw in case the plant is slighly off line. Nice shot.

Dave