How long to decide how to make a ball?

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
It's kind of simple. After you are standing behind the cue ball, how long does it take you to decide "how" you are going to shoot the object ball?

Some shots are more difficult because you are attempting to play specific shape with the cue ball but I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about how long does it take for you to line up and get a good sight picture so that you can lower your bridge hand to the table and make a shot.

In this video, at 8:20 (which you can view by clicking here) you can see that it doesn't take very long to decide how you are going to shoot a shot. I estimate that Stan takes no more than a couple of seconds to decide how he is going to shoot a shot.

Does your method of shooting take less time or more time?

Thanks,
JoeyA
 
After 53 years of playing I rarely see anything new so it's immediate for me.
If I do have something really strange then maybe a couple of seconds and that would be just to mentally see the intended cue ball path.
It's a simple game that does not require a lot of thinking. Maybe one pocket does because of all the moves and counter moves but I don't play that game.
 
measureman said:
After 53 years of playing I rarely see anything new so it's immediate for me.
If I do have something really strange then maybe a couple of seconds and that would be just to mentally see the intended cue ball path.
It's a simple game that does not require a lot of thinking. Maybe one pocket does because of all the moves and counter moves but I don't play that game.
Click to expand...

Thats a shame, you have the stroke and the brains to be a master;)
 
Two seconds to get up from the chair and to come to the table, one second to bend down and half a second to shoot with no warming up strokes.
 
Was that a ploy to get us to watch a CTE video? I actually watched the whole thing. He doesn't even shoot the shots so you can't say that is his normal shooting speed (it may very well be, but this video does not prove that)

You have fast players and slow players. I doubt there is any correlation between speed of shooting and any use or non-use of aiming systems.
 
the engineering of a shot can be be in seconds, or it can take awhile.
the real question, is this a good time to take a nap :)
 
measureman said:
After 53 years of playing I rarely see anything new so it's immediate for me.
If I do have something really strange then maybe a couple of seconds and that would be just to mentally see the intended cue ball path.
It's a simple game that does not require a lot of thinking. Maybe one pocket does because of all the moves and counter moves but I don't play that game.
Click to expand...

It's a simple game that does not require a lot of thinking.

Truer words were never spoken, the SECRET is to shut OFF your brain.:eek:
 
This is what kind of overwhelms me a bit as a relatively new "serious" player. I walk up to a table and start thinking about how I'm going to try to get on the third ball ahead, but I feel like the possibilities overwhelm me and eventually I just get down and shoot because I'm worried I'm taking too long. I assume this fades with more and more play, but I oftentimes have a bit of a weak plan as far as how I'm going to get on the ball three balls ahead because I feel overwhelmed.
 
It use to take a while... But now to see the point takes 2 seconds, and after leaning down to give a shot takes 3-4 seconds.

I changed the way how to aim and also the stroke. And from then one I feel much more confident and I see that my percentage of making the difficult shot blow from 30% to 75-80%.

And I started this like month ago.

The Key to my "mystery" way of seeing and making shots was studing by taking apart biggest shot makers. I recomend that to everyone!
 
not everyday is the same, sometimes it comes faster one day than the other. but dont sit there and study an easy shot. if you make it- you make it- and if you dont- then you dont.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Was that a ploy to get us to watch a CTE video? I actually watched the whole thing. He doesn't even shoot the shots so you can't say that is his normal shooting speed (it may very well be, but this video does not prove that)

You have fast players and slow players. I doubt there is any correlation between speed of shooting and any use or non-use of aiming systems.
Click to expand...

I'm shocked that you watched the whole video. I selected the time so that no one would have to spend their time watching the whole video.

Some people believe that an aiming system can "bog you down" and I have seen in person how quickly Stan can shoot using CTE/Pro1 but this video demonstrated that the decision time it takes to decide how you are going to line up and shoot a shot, is a very quick timeline.

I wanted others like yourself to tell me if they could make the decision to shoot any faster or slower than what Stan shows in the video. I think you are correct. An aiming system has little to do with the time it takes to decide to shoot a shot.

I'm a couple of seconds man for the most part but I can take a full minute to shoot a shot but most of the time the amount of time I take has nothing to do with an aiming system. Once I am standing behind the cue ball and the proper distance away from the cue ball, any time more than a couple of seconds is most likely dedicated to deciding the path of the cue ball, speed of stroke etc.

I may hold the record of the most amount of time ever taken to shoot one single shot. in a tournament. :embarrassed2: Most of you have already seen the longest shot, time-wise, ever recorded in a tournament match (5.5 minutes) but if you haven't seen it you can see it by clicking here.

God bless Robb Saez for being so patient. :D

JoeyA
 
All depends

under normal circumstances 3-6 seconds at most

If i in a money game with a fast player this could be a minute or more as i walk around the table , mumble to my self , point at the balls like i am doing an air diagram , and when i hear that first agravated sigh , I get ready to set the hook
 
Rotation games seem to need a rhythm for most players to do well and there are several things you always consider.
After you get proficient it doesn't't take long to know what to do and you do it or don't.
One pocket is totally different for most people, the biggest mistakes I see,even by higher level players,usually nine ballets is they don' check the rack enough.
I keep watching a guy who plays very high level lose game after game because he misses adead ball or a move that puts him in jail for the rest of the game.
I know he would go off if I ever tried to help him,so I don't
9 ball to me is like bowling the pins are always in the same places and you end up shooting the same shots over and over with minor variations .
It bores me to death.
In one pocket the difference of 1x16th of an inch can mean the world.
People who play really fast tend to never see lots of better opportunities.
Obvious when the whole rail goes wow what did he do that for
There are obviously exceptions to the rule, I have seen Scott Frost run unbelievable outs
in a couple of minutes. And I know players who one stroke and play at high levels.
But the majority of people spend too much time posturing and not enough time thinking from all the videos and live matches I have watched in my life
I play slow normally but I am crippled.
I usually take about a minute to look the table over initially and if I get on the next ball then
I don'spend any more time as I am playing until I get funny on a ball or see something I
hadn't thought of initially and I might spend some time looking at those possibilities
I think a minute or 2 for the first shot is usually plenty and maybe 30 or 45 seconds on most of the others.
As far as shot clocks and changing rules is concerned.
Most people don't understand one pocket so it will never be a game viewed by the masses, they don't even want to watch rotation.
So forget the pie in the sky and leave the game alone for the people who enjoy it.
 
Rotation games seem to need a rhythm for most players to do well and there are several things you always consider.
After you get proficient it doesn't't take long to know what to do and you do it or don't.
One pocket is totally different for most people, the biggest mistakes I see,even by higher level players,usually nine ballets is they don' check the rack enough.
I keep watching a guy who plays very high level lose game after game because he misses adead ball or a move that puts him in jail for the rest of the game.
I know he would go off if I ever tried to help him,so I don't
9 ball to me is like bowling the pins are always in the same places and you end up shooting the same shots over and over with minor variations .
It bores me to death.
In one pocket the difference of 1x16th of an inch can mean the world.
People who play really fast tend to never see lots of better opportunities.
Obvious when the whole rail goes wow what did he do that for
There are obviously exceptions to the rule, I have seen Scott Frost run unbelievable outs
in a couple of minutes. And I know players who one stroke and play at high levels.
But the majority of people spend too much time posturing and not enough time thinking from all the videos and live matches I have watched in my life
I play slow normally but I am crippled.
I usually take about a minute to look the table over initially and if I get on the next ball then
I don'spend any more time as I am playing until I get funny on a ball or see something I
hadn't thought of initially and I might spend some time looking at those possibilities
I think a minute or 2 for the first shot is usually plenty and maybe 30 or 45 seconds on most of the others.
As far as shot clocks and changing rules is concerned.
Most people don't understand one pocket so it will never be a game viewed by the masses, they don't even want to watch rotation.
So forget the pie in the sky and leave the game alone for the people who enjoy it.
 
Last edited:
My vision always plays tricks on me. It can take anything from 2 secs to a full minute! :boring2:
 
book collector said:
Most people don't understand one pocket so it will never be a game viewed by the masses, they don't even want to watch rotation.
So forget the pie in the sky and leave the game alone for the people who enjoy it.
Click to expand...

I quite enjoy watching a good one pocket match even though i do not play one pocket very well , I am un unrepentant 9-baller as i came upin the mid to late 80s when 9 ball was the premeir gambling game.

9-ball is checkers , one pocket is chess its very facinating watching tw strong one pocket players match up like chess it usually comes down to one simple mistake by one side or the other

I like straight pool 14.1 as well , its slow but for me playing straight pool taught me cue ball control that carried over very well in my 9 ball game
 
I would have to say, that in reading the time of the average response, Earl has already run the rack. He never ceases to amaze me. 'Long live the Pearl'.
 
Interesting question Joey :-)

This depends for sure (very sure) also on the expirience of a player. If we have a player, who s not *that exprienced* with handling *pressure situations*, you will see a person very often struggling (while deciding).
If there s a table layout, he *never* seen before....he has to work it out concsiously. To work out a plan just has to do with how many times you had *that picture* in front of you. (and maybe practiced a situation/position/shot several times).

So if you have had that picture already in your mind (your brain-computer), you ll pull it out for sure in seconds. The sooner you get it, the more confident you ll be!
And then just go over to *execution-mode*.

Practicing is also about *filling your brain with food*. Not just muscle memory which is needed to execute *physical stuff*-- the big *Pool of knowledge* in your head- that s the key in such a situation.

I had a guy in training, who really was a superslow player. And he often complained about this. He was not really lucky with taking so much time over and over again.
One day i have let him play *for fun* 10 tables of the *brainwash skill*. One rack would have taken 7-9 minutes (seriously).
From 10 racks he was able to clean 2 tables successfully.

AFter that i asked/forced him to try this out:
Seeing the *open table* i told him to WATCH FOR 3 minutes at it (before he shoots the first ball!). And i told him that he really should take these 3 minutes to really really use the time just to plan how to work the table.

I then let him play 5 table-layouts.
He cleaned now again 3 tables...but 3 out of 5.
And the full racks he cleaned perfectly took him 5 minutes each.

He was very surprised about it. after a few weeks he reduced his *planning time* down to 2 minutes. and nowadays he needs about 4-6 minutes per rack, which is a *normal* speed imo.

Feed your brain-and your game will thank you :-)
 
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