How to play frozen balls?

[Fastolfe]

Hello everybody,

I played a game yesterday against a guy from the club, and the following shot came up: one object ball was frozen onto the long rail, very close to the side pocket, and my opponent called a safety and froze the cue ball onto that object ball, so that the line between the two balls was almost perpendicular to the long rail. No other shot was realistically available and I was trying to get out of a long string of safety shots because I was "getting cold".

So, what I did was play the shot by playing the cueball with full left english, ramming my cue VERY slowly into the cueball, effectively squeezing the object ball between the cueball and the rail, until the cueball popped to the right and into the pocket, leaving the cueball with a perfect shot.

Trouble is, my opponent cried foul, and argued that I couldn't play the cueball forward if it was frozen against the object ball. So I showed him the rules at http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_fouls#6.7 and he conceded that it might be possible to play frozen balls forward, but not against the rail, as the squeezing action necesarily implied that the cueball hit the object ball while in contact with the tip (duh...) but it couldn't be tolerated like if the path in front of the object ball had been clear.

So which is it? was my shot legal or not?

 

[Dead Crab]

The way that you have described it:

1. If the object ball was already frozen to the rail and your opponent just laid the cue ball along side it, this would be a foul.

2. Your squeezeplay shot sounds like a foul due to sustained tip contact.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Both shots were illegal as mentioned above. Your opponent didn't drive a ball to a cushion, and you played a push shot. The fouls in the World Standardized Rules are listed at http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_fouls but you will probably need to read the rest of the Rules (and the Regulations, which are in a separate section), to understand how some of the fouls are handled.

 

[Fastolfe]

Sorry, I didn't explain properly: my opponent didn't purposedly freeze the cueball onto the object ball, the cueball simply ended there after a successful safety shot. So his shot was valid.

However, mine wasn't, you're correct. I forgot about the push shot rule. I set up the shot again today at the pool hall, trying to play it as fast as possible without miscueing, and although it can almost look valid, the tip obviously stays in contact with the cueball a lot longer than normal. On top of that, if the object ball slips out too fast, the cueball rolls around the tip and contacts the ferrule.

In short, it's a shot best forgotten. Thanks guys!