I find the hardest shot for me is when both the cue ball and object ball are directly on the rail. Any slight hit offline completely messes up the shot. I see this all the time with my opponents as well. Seems like everything has to be perfect for this shot and I was wondering if anyone has this problem too or maybe has advice for aiming it?
how to aim this shot?
- Thread starter lms9t
- Start date
Both balls are frozen to the rail a lil inside English will help I also like to aim both left edge to left of cueball and objectball and vice versa with the right edges personally speaking
I can bet that on one side of the table you hit rail first (although it is not that easy for you to notice this when shooting - but the result is cue ball is pushed in the rail and from there in towards the playing area and you are bumping in the object ball from the side and throwing it in the cushion a little - enough to miss the shot), while on the other side of the table you hit too much on the outside of the ball.
What you should try is to actually aim to be a little wrong (for example when you shoot along the left cushion aim a little in towards the rail, while for the right cushion shots aim a little on the left side of center on the object ball - or vice versa, it depends on your eye dominance and shot perception).
What is even harder is a shot where both cue ball and object ball are frozen directly on the rail, and also the side pocket is in between the cue ball and object ball. A lot of times you will hit the side pocket edge...so you should shoot with inside english and have the cue ball masse (just a bit) around the side pocket and then come back on the rail to hit the object ball just right. It's not that difficult as it sounds, just practice it a little to get used with the speed and how much spin to add and you will learn the shot. I saw this shot in Ray Martin's 99 critical shots and at first I thought it's way too difficult for me to execute it - but after 5 minutes I started pocketing them easily.
Thanks guys I actually tried the inside english/eye dominance problem thing you described tonight and it worked out pretty well. I'm still a little inconsistent with it as sometimes I use too much/not enough but it's definitely helping. Part of it might be the tables I play on here at school - a lot of dead rails, points sticking out, and curves, especially on the rails. I find that I have practically no control of the cue ball with this shot though. When I tried any top or bottom it threw it off completely. I keep trying to adjust but just can't seem to get the hang of it, at least I'm making it more though. Can't even tell you how many apa matches I've blown from having that shot
I'm willing to bet that when you put draw or follow on it that you are not hitting the center line of the cue ball. You're probably hitting off to one side or the other. Do this, set the shot up and instead of using the cue ball use one of the striped balls with the stripe lined up straight to the shot. Do your draw shot then grab the striped ball and see where your chalk mark is. I'm guessing with this little assistance, having the stripe there as a target, you'll hit center more than you do with a cue ball.
MULLY
When both are frozen, use inside and it will make the cueball hug the rail,and shooting easy is better. As someone posted above,if the cueball is on one side of the side pocket and the objectball on the other just aim off the rail just enough to miss the side corner and with inside the cueball will come back and hug the rail,also shooting this shot easy is a must.