How Do You Play This Shot?

Danimal said:
Although coming two rails out of the corner appears to be the consensus (and it is in no way a bad shot), hitting it with low outside affects two undesirable traits:

1) It plays a crossover pattern to the line of attack on the 6; and,

2) It plays the CB on a line traveling away from the 6.

Under the gun of competition, one is prone to speed errors and it is not uncommon to overcook the speed/spin on this and easily end up with the CB down the long rail from the 6 - or even somewhere frozen on the opposite end of the table.

If these are the last two balls on the table I'm taking the 4 rails because it comes into the line of the angle of attack, and even though there is more CB travel, it is actually more forgiving to speed errors.

In "The Pro Book" by Bob Henning, he says that when competing in this type of situation (if these are the last two balls on the table) that you should opt for the shot that lets out your stroke a little. It will loosen you up and demonstrate to yourself (and to your opponent) that today you came out to play.

If one has some 3c practice it seems to be quite a natural path with little chance of scratching.
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since the 6 is close to the rail
you cant "cross over" a position zone unless you scratch in the side
also the 2 railer sends you towards the side pocket whereas the 4 railer sends you to the middle diamond above the dide pocket
ie farther from the 6
my 2 cents
i do like the 4 railer as an alternative because you could draw into the corner or 2 rail in the side pocket
but if you over cook the 4 railer you can come too far off the 4th raill an end up with a severe cut on the 6
if you have the skill the draw takes less power (more accurate)\
and leaves you closer to the 6
jmho
icbw
 
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I just shot it a bunch more times. I did several shots each of:

low outside with a drag draw stroke
only outside with a soft rolling ball stroke
low only with a drag draw stroke
low inside with several speeds, hard worked best
high only going 4 rails.

My objective was to leave an angle on the 6, to play position on other balls (if there were any).

The 4 rail path was the clear winner. Most all of the 2 rail paths came off hot on the second rail, and ended up straight on the 6. Slowing the stroke was not that affective in obtaining an angle on the 6.

Low inside I could only get to work once in about 10 tries. Definitely not for me.

I'd share the video, but it turned out to be 18 min, and I know no one will watch that, including me! ha ha.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I tried this shot on my 9' table. I set it up the best I could trying to go by the diagram. The shot is quite thin, IMO, for the standard 2 rail shot. The 4 rail is the best one, when one is standing at the table, "for the layout on MY table" :)

I did learn a new shot, just straight draw. I've never shot this angle that way before. It had interesting results. A good shot to have in the bag.

I shot the shots cold, first take, ha ha.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/XoO2M3UXB-E

PS. there is no scratch in the side, even if you are Efren, the way I set them up on my table.
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The shot in your video looks to me like a thinner cut on the 5 than in the diagram, but it's hard to tell. I do agree that the four cushion position shot could be the best choice, but it really depends on exactly where the balls are sitting and how thin the cut is.
 

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10o'clock 2 rails. Bring cue to where it is or closer to side rail
 
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JC said:
This particular shot is really tough to screw up.

I think the 5 will be missed more often than shape on the 6 will be botched. 2 rails, 4 rails what does it matter? This is very easy stuff. And using the 6-7 leaves a ton more questions. Where are the rest of the balls lying?

JC
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It's the 5and6.
I wonder why you believe there has to be other balls?
This could be 1 pkt.
This could be 6 ball.
This just might be a practice / drill.


Some instructor, maybe Grady said go into the end rail at a 45degree angle and you come out through the center of the table. Dont know how well tbat works but...
 

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demartini rocks said:
somewhat outside of the box thinking. anybody tried this shot using 4 o'clock "inside the quarter" of the cue ball?
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I did. I tried it about 10 times with low inside trying to go 2 rails. It landed perfectly once. The other 9, were all over the table, literally. Very hard to control, IMO.
 
Obviously this shot is way too difficult to figure out how to get position. Please come up with something a little easier. How about putting the five ball hanging in the corner pocket and the six ball in front of the side pocket. :cool:
 
jay helfert said:
Obviously this shot is way too difficult to figure out how to get position. Please come up with something a little easier. How about putting the five ball hanging in the corner pocket and the six ball in front of the side pocket. :cool:
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At least this thread is about pool and not nearly as ridiculous as other current threads. Those hangers do have a way of screwing with us

How would you play this easy position shot? I'm guessing two rails, low left.


Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums
 
jay helfert said:
Obviously this shot is way too difficult to figure out how to get position. Please come up with something a little easier. How about putting the five ball hanging in the corner pocket and the six ball in front of the side pocket. :cool:
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Six cushions with a touch of inside.
 
jay helfert said:
Obviously this shot is way too difficult to figure out how to get position. Please come up with something a little easier. How about putting the five ball hanging in the corner pocket and the six ball in front of the side pocket. :cool:
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I apologize for this sarcastic reply. In truth even easy shots are sometimes the downfall of very good players because they take them for granted. Regarding the shot in question, every competent pool player knows that the best way to get shape from the five to the six is to go two rails out of the corner and back up for the six in the same pocket. It sounds easy and it is, except for a moment of carelessness where the cue ball comes to close (or scratches) in the corner pocket, hitting the point and stopping there. Or the cue ball gets away and lands a little too far down table, making the six ball a far more difficult shot. Or, heaven forbid, the player plays a little too tight on the position and scratches the cue ball in the side. All these things can happen if the player is not attentive to the shot and focused on the proper execution of it. This is where skill comes in and the good player avoids all these pitfalls and makes the shot look as easy as it really is. Bottom line is a player must concentrate on ALL shots, even the very easy ones. This is what can separate the best players from the merely good ones. Hope this helps. :wink:
 
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For the 2 railer as long as the CB contacts the end rail at a 45 degree angle the cueball will track through the center of the table. This makes the scratch in the side a non issue.

These 2 railers coming out of a corner cut are excellent shots to practice, they come up quite a bit.

DrCue'sProtege said:
Well, over the years I would usually shoot this shot about 9:00 with a tip of English. But after watching so many pros, such as the ones on all my Reno Sands Regency dvds, seems like hitting it either low or just a little bit of low left is what most pros would do.

If you use English you have to gauge how much because you are basically spinning/throwing the 5B in. That adds just a little bit of difficulty. But, then again, if a guy cant get this out using either way then he's basically not much of a player.

I was just curious what most people do. Sometimes when I am playing I think I might be using too much English instead of low. And again, that seems to be what the pros do.

r/DCP
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jay helfert said:
I apologize for this sarcastic reply. In truth even easy shots are sometimes the downfall of very good players because they take them for granted. Regarding the shot in question, every competent pool player knows that the best way to get shape from the five to the six is to go two rails out of the corner and back up for the six in the same pocket. It sounds easy and it is, except for a moment of carelessness where the cue ball comes to close (or scratches) in the corner pocket, hitting the point and stopping there. Or the cue ball gets away and lands a little too far down table, making the six ball a far more difficult shot. Or, heaven forbid, the player plays a little too tight on the position and scratches the cue ball in the side. All these things can happen if the player is not attentive to the shot and focused on the proper execution of it. This is where skill comes in and the good player avoids all these pitfalls and makes the shot look as easy as it really is. Bottom line is a player must concentrate on ALL shots, even the very easy ones. This is what can separate the best players from the merely good ones. Hope this helps. :wink:
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in the moment, because play conditions fluctuate during play, being extremely aware of each moment, gets one in the zone
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Do you posters play this shot, going from the 5B to the 6B, with about a tip of left English at 9:00 or do you hit it low, about 6:00?

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/54712.png
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On the Diamond 7' tables, 9:00 easily gets me there just rolling it, ending much closer to the side pocket, but no chance of scratching. The more tips of english, the closer you get to the side pocket. You cant scratch.

Low left, drawing it to double the corner allowed me to stroke the ball, a bit. You needto go ahead and get the draw to the corner to get the right angle.
 
jay helfert said:
How about putting the five ball hanging in the corner pocket and the six ball in front of the side pocket. :cool:
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I don't find your post sarcastic. Iv'e seen this messed up repeatedly.
The guys in my clubhouse have the 8 hanging with an easy 9. They will slam the 8 and somehow kill the shot. Or the 8 in the corner jaw....9 by the side and blow simple position.
 
Danimal said:
Hit the 5 firm with straight top on the CB. Come around 4 rails to get in line with the 6.
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That is just madness.

Center to low left, about as deep into that corner as you can. On a gold crown, you can hit it at a speed where it is ok to go to side (the picture's top) rail, but on a diamond...you might scratch.
 
Black-Balled said:
That is just madness.

Center to low left, about as deep into that corner as you can. On a gold crown, you can hit it at a speed where it is ok to go to side (the picture's top) rail, but on a diamond...you might scratch.
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The 4-rail shot (or 3 for some) is actually quite natural. Even if you undercut or overhit you have some margin for error. There’s a small chance of a scratch but that’s mostly down to bad delivery more than anything else. But i digress it’s not relevant to the original question.

I feel the OP’s question is a good one.

This is one of those things that some of us find elementary but some will find it not so straightforward for various reasons:

1. Unfamiliarity with how cueball reacts off the rails
2. How much the ‘bite’ the cushions have
3. Fear of scratch
4. Fear of underhitting (severe cut) and overhitting (Long distance + wrong side of ball)
5. Hitting with the wrong stroke

Black-Balled raises the point that different tables will have slightly different effects which is a possible reason why there are so many different experiences and hence, views about this matter.
 
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