How To Play This Shot?

D

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
where do you maestros hit the cue ball when you are faced with this shot? do you normally just hit it about 9 o'clock? and try and drift over to position A? or would someone hit it low left, and try and pull it back to around position B on the opposite side of the side pocket?

i have been missing this shot lately. i normally just try and hit it about 9 o'clock, but i mis-judge the squirt/deflection, and usually under-cut the shot.

thanks for your thoughts,
DCP

CueTable Help

 
dead center! you have a natural angle to get good shape.
maybe half a tip bellow center to make sure that the CB won't catch top spin....
 
Low -left, final answer. Drift back between the 8 and the side.
With this angle, you don't even need to hit two rails with the cue ball.
 
Last edited:
skor said:
dead center! you have a natural angle to get good shape.
maybe half a tip bellow center to make sure that the CB won't catch top spin....
Click to expand...

dead center will bring you right back over, real close to the 8-ball and thats very risky!

perhaps its not easily seen on the diagram, but the 8-ball is slightly back from the 7-ball.

DCP
 
well, so far i have three varying answers:

1) dead center
2) half tip below center
3) a bit of left

just so everyone knows the 8-Ball is back of the 7-Ball. meaning you cant just drift straight across, the cue ball has to come back a little bit so you dont end up on top of the 8-Ball.

DCP
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
where do you maestros hit the cue ball when you are faced with this shot? do you normally just hit it about 9 o'clock? and try and drift over to position A? or would someone hit it low left, and try and pull it back to around position B on the opposite side of the side pocket?

i have been missing this shot lately. i normally just try and hit it about 9 o'clock, but i mis-judge the squirt/deflection, and usually under-cut the shot.

thanks for your thoughts,
DCP

CueTable Help

Click to expand...
I'd play low left. You have a very large position area, like the diagram below. I'd opt for low left for two reasons. First, it'll put you in the large part of the position area. Second, it takes the possibility of scratching in the side out of the equation. Even if you make a mistake and hit the shot too hard, you don't have to worry about getting behind the 9, but if you make a mistake with center ball, you might end up in the side pocket.

CueTable Help



-djb
 
if it were me, i'd play it so that i'd have a decent bank on the 8 and set myself up for a relatively easy 9ball shot. if not, then i'd put left on it and try and get to A.
 
DoomCue said:
I'd play low left. You have a very large position area, like the diagram below. I'd opt for low left for two reasons. First, it'll put you in the large part of the position area. Second, it takes the possibility of scratching in the side out of the equation. Even if you make a mistake and hit the shot too hard, you don't have to worry about getting behind the 9, but if you make a mistake with center ball, you might end up in the side pocket.

CueTable Help



-djb
Click to expand...

thanks for a definite answer DoomCue. not sure i would want to be in the back parts of your "Position Area" but i suppose that does beat scratching. the shot seems simple to me - just drift across for the 8-Ball. but like i said, when i hit 9 o'clock i have been having a hard time of judging the shot, and been under-cutting the 7-Ball.

with the side pocket looming large here, perhaps this shot and position play is not as simple as it seems..........:)

DCP
 
ziskan1013 said:
if it were me, i'd play it so that i'd have a decent bank on the 8 and set myself up for a relatively easy 9ball shot. if not, then i'd put left on it and try and get to A.
Click to expand...

Setup for a bank...you must hate your money.

Nick
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
dead center will bring you right back over, real close to the 8-ball and thats very risky!

perhaps its not easily seen on the diagram, but the 8-ball is slightly back from the 7-ball.

DCP
Click to expand...

True BUT the 7 ball is not frozen and if the cue ball will hit it with no top spin then the tangent line will give you the angle to come back for going behind the 8... half a tip bellow center with a good smooth stroke will make sure you drift back behind the 8, a bit of left will give you some extra space and will compensate for the throw of the object ball (the 7) but if you hit it too hard then you might scratch.
 
i like playing for the larger margin of error shor like dr cue said. bigger margin of error and no chance to scratch sounds like the better shot. and for me it's easier to give a fuller stroke to that shot. i don't hit 'em hard but i don't like to let them drift
 
I, like a couple others, would also play low-left hand english. You've got a lot of room for error and would rather be a little further behind the 8 rather than in front of it or on top of it. Set it up, mark the ball spots with chalk, and hit it until you can make it successfully several times. After a 20 minute session, I'd be willing to bet you will have this shot down cold, just remember, everyone plays different, so try different things and stick with whatever is comfortable for you.
 
I would be playing this shot with low left and coming up past the side pocket every time. There's everything to like about doing it this way.
  1. Helping english takes the skid out of play
  2. You can hit it a little firmer and increase accuracy
  3. The side pocket scratch and the possibility of landing too close to the 8-ball are both taken out of play
  4. The position zone is probably more than five times larger than if you just go straight across the table
  5. You're left with a much easier reach

JMHO.
 
I bet every TV pros would play shape between the 8 and the side pocket. BUT, if you're not very confident in your cueball control low-left a little more powerful and come back on the left-hand side of the side.
 
Sensation said:
I bet every TV pros would play shape between the 8 and the side pocket. BUT, if you're not very confident in your cueball control low-left a little more powerful and come back on the left-hand side of the side.
Click to expand...
I'm curious about your thought process here. Why do you think it takes more confidence to play shape closer to the 8?

This is a very common pattern shot in 9-ball (going back and forth when object balls are on opposite side rails). I'd shoot this shot the same way I posted earlier 1000 out of 1000 times.

There are a few different reasons I wouldn't attempt to stay on the close side of 8. First, a mistake might lead to a scratch. Second, it's a lot easier to get a bad angle on the 8 when you're closer to it. Third, you might end up ON the 8. I'm not taking those chances, especially in a case like this which involves a fairly routine layout.

I firmly believe that good pool is about weighing percentages successfully and choosing properly. I think the percentages are heavily in favor of low left to the other side of the side pocket. In fact, I can't think of a single negative thing playing the shot that way.

BTW, if you're playing low left and you're ending up on the right side of the side pocket in DCP's diagram, you're not playing low left.

-djb
 
This is a very intersting situation. I can be done both ways with good consistency, however I would prefer to use low left draw on this shot until I got comfortable with the equiptment. This does not require as much touch or precision. Once I got adjusted to the playing conditions I would change to hit the shot somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00 oclock. The latter requires a softer hit, more touch and feel, but the reward is better position.
 
ya know, i got to thinking about all of the responses that said Low Left. so i set this shot up, hit it low left, and scratched in the side pocket. if you are going to hit this low left, you really need to give it some juice to get it past the side pocket. and if you do, then you are creating a more difficult shot on the 8-Ball than what you need to do.

in other words, a softer "Little low left" hit will get you to scratch. the harder low left shot will get you a much harder shot on the 8-Ball you dont want. the plain half tip of "Left" shot (9 o'clock) will bring it over to the long rail and you shouldnt have to worry about the scratch.

this shot requires some touch, but now i dont think there is any way i would play this low left. i think this is just one of those shots that is harder and is more fraught with danger than what most people realize.

DCP

p.s. hope everybody realizes the 7-Ball is about one ball width off the rail in the original diagram.........
 
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