How many rails?

The Piper

The Piper

Get Ugly...
Silver Member
Many people out there, and myself included, believe that it is always best practice to move the cue ball as little as possible as you are going from one ball to another. Maybe one rail for position.

A friend of mine, told me that he is a three rail player. I never believed him, until I really started to play him. He actually uses 2 - 3 rails on each shot to get position. ( BTW he ran 5 racks that way)

He doesn't know why or how, it's just easier for him, to see it, and it just "feels right" for him.

Does anyone else know of anyone who plays like this? Do you play like that?

ALSO, he only plays 9 ball this way, straight pool is orthodox style of play, and he won't touch 8 ball or one pocket because it's boring.
 
a lot of times it is actually easier to judge the speed for position going 2 rails as opposed to 1 rail , simply ecause it allows you to put a firm stroke on the ball, but using it every time that shot comes up seems a bit eccessive.
 
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using mutiple rails gives you a greater chance at staying online for your next shot in most occations as well as increasing you feel for the the speed of the table as previously state by selftaut.
M.C.
 
There's no rule for every shot, but if there's a shot where you could either go one rail or three for the position on the next ball, choose the one that requires a more "natural" english and speed. If you have to load up the CB with maximum inside to go one rail, versus letting your stroke out to a nice comfortable firmness with just a little bit of running english to go three rails, then by all means, use three. Whereas if you'd have to force the ball with high-inside to go three rails, where medium-soft draw will get you there off one rail, use one.

Also, there are considerations with rolling along the line versus across the line. One position route probably has a lot more margin of error in speed control than the other, since one probably goes through a much fatter part of the position zone than the other.

So don't make rules about "always go the least number of rails", just learn to study the shot and use common sense to figure out which way makes things easier on you. The game's simple, we make it hard.

-Andrew
 
The Piper said:
A friend of mine, told me that he is a three rail player. I never believed him, until I really started to play him. He actually uses 2 - 3 rails on each shot to get position. ( BTW he ran 5 racks that way)

ALSO, he only plays 9 ball this way, straight pool is orthodox style of play, and he won't touch 8 ball or one pocket because it's boring.
Click to expand...

I tend to want the cueball coming towards my next object ball down a line that will give me shape to the next. That way I can be off on my speed control a little bit and either way i will have the same angle for shape to the next ball. Its when you come across the 50yrd line for getting that shape to the next ball that leads to problems. If you are a little short you get the wrong angle and by coming across the more you cross it you may end up with a tough cut. Usually the next object ball is on the other end of the table and an easy way to get there is 2 or 3 rails with running english.

As I watch the pros on TV however they tend to do the easiest shot to get the cueball back to the middle of the table so they are always shooting 4' shots instead of 7-8' shots. Makes the game easy that way. However they still need that right angle for easy shape and to me this is best done with the cueball heading toward the OB along the correct side of that 50yrd line.

Also, your friend should throw in some 8ball once in a while because it teaches you proper run out patterns, breaking out clusters (which also happen in 9ball), and strategy. All I used to play for the first 5 years I started learning was 9ball on 9 footers. When I moved back home after college all there really was in the area was 8ball on 7 footers. After playing in some local bar tourneys with ball in hand rules I realized that even though I could BNR 2 or 3 racks in a row at 9ball that my 8ball game sucked. In the 4 years since I have learned the game of 8ball and am a pretty competent player at 8 now. Can't wait to get into a house soon and get my 9 footer up and practice Straight and One-pocket.
 
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I think andrew nailed it. The reason you change the path is to make the cue ball move more along the line you want, so you have a bigger margin for error. If you can send the cueball even 5% 'straighter' along that line with a multiple rail path, then that's the path to use. Usually. Common sense applies, if going 1 rail means moving it 4 feet and going 2 rails means moving it 10 feet, then a small improvement of the 'line' isn't worth the extra difficulty in terms of speed control.

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I wouldn't use a hard and fast rule either, but you can spot a definite pattern among top 9 ball players: If the angle you have on a corner pocket cut will send the cueball towards the side rail, of course you see 1 rail. If the angle will send it towards the short rail, you will almost always see 2 rails unless the OB is pretty close to the pocket (and even then you will see 2 rails sometimes if the cueball has to move a long distance).
 
It's like someone said above. It's a speed thing. Of course if you only have to move the QB a inches or few feet you don't use the rail all the time. Stop and stun come into play then. Just like when you have to go down the other end of the table after a shot...it's easier to bump the end rail and comeback a little than to try and judge where the QB is going to stop without hitting a rail. Johnnyt
 
theres a book i read where the author talks about coming into shapes on your next shot along the "attack line" which is what some of the above posters are talking about. I will usually go whatever number of rails i need to, to get in on this line. Also if you watch alot of pro events, the pros hardly ever baby a shot, they will shoot at a speed that lets them let out their stroke, and just adjust the shot accordingly, which is another thing i try to do. If my game is suffering I will often go into survival mode, which is when i try to do the simplest thing possible.
 
I was just going to add that there are plenty of stories of great players running out the table without touching a single rail. I mean, that's more of a stunt then a strategy. No matter what position route you choose, there needs to be a line of logic behind it. Degree of difficulty and margin of error should be your primary concerns but there is no steadfast rule for how many rails to use.
 
Where I send the cue ball depends alot on other obsticles. I look for every possible path and I choose the easiest, best method. Sometimes you can't go 2 or 3 rails easily due to other object balls in that path, which makes it necessary to use one rail and possible having to use inside english.
 
I have a friend who seems to do similar position play, not 3 rails all the time, but frequently more than one. He also spins the cue ball more than most.
 
I can’t get passed the fact that 8ball is boring, but he likes straight pool. :eek:

I always try to play my outs where I have 1/2 or 1/4 ball hits using just 1/2 of top or bottom; only if necessary I will change it up, but that is usually only to try and get back in line or when I am going after a cluster. Cue ball tricks can get you into a world of hurt.
 
The Piper said:
Many people out there, and myself included, believe that it is always best practice to move the cue ball as little as possible as you are going from one ball to another. Maybe one rail for position.

A friend of mine, told me that he is a three rail player. I never believed him, until I really started to play him. He actually uses 2 - 3 rails on each shot to get position. ( BTW he ran 5 racks that way)

He doesn't know why or how, it's just easier for him, to see it, and it just "feels right" for him.

Does anyone else know of anyone who plays like this? Do you play like that?

ALSO, he only plays 9 ball this way, straight pool is orthodox style of play, and he won't touch 8 ball or one pocket because it's boring.
Click to expand...
Basically, there are many times when using 2-3 rails is easier. It's important to get a good feel of when it's appropriate in order to increase your aresenal.

Fred
 
The Piper said:
Many people out there, and myself included, believe that it is always best practice to move the cue ball as little as possible as you are going from one ball to another. Maybe one rail for position.

A friend of mine, told me that he is a three rail player. I never believed him, until I really started to play him. He actually uses 2 - 3 rails on each shot to get position. ( BTW he ran 5 racks that way)

He doesn't know why or how, it's just easier for him, to see it, and it just "feels right" for him.

Does anyone else know of anyone who plays like this? Do you play like that?

ALSO, he only plays 9 ball this way, straight pool is orthodox style of play, and he won't touch 8 ball or one pocket because it's boring.
Click to expand...

It's not the number of rails you use, it's that you come INTO THE LINE for position. Three rail shots are routine and you can avoid scratching virtually always, if they come into line best, that's the shot.
 
After watching Danny Basovich talk about moving the cue ball through the centre of the table I have been shooting more 3 rail shots for shape just to keep the cue ball in a safe line and avoid pockets. That said, I only attempt to go mulitple rails when the pot is very high percentage. When the pot gets harder I look for the best way to keep the shot as simple as possible. I did watch a lot of pro's on television and it seems like there are certain shots played from one end to the other that always get played 3 rails. That is where I try to play it.

PS: I LOVE inside english so I find on many shots three rails is the automatic shot. I'm weird like that.

I do play a lot of 8 ball and truly believe you want to move the cue ball as little as possible, that said, I decide on how many rails by what path is the easiest and/or helps to avoid a scratch so I can let my stroke out a bit.
 
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