How to shoot ball on rail

[DynoDan]

Not sure if it relevant today, but way back when the balls in small town rooms were seldom cleaned & most tables were covered in slow/thick felt, extended play life always meant a significant ‘rail track’ would develop. Thus, a medium speed rail-first hit with inside english would almost always send the object ball straight into the pocket.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Not sure if it relevant today, but way back when the balls in small town rooms were seldom cleaned & most tables were covered in slow/thick felt, extended play life always meant a significant ‘rail track’ would develop. Thus, a medium speed rail-first hit with inside english would almost always send the object ball straight into the pocket.

Simonis doesn't do that nearly as much.

Way back when the top local player showed me a problem with the deep rail groove that used to develop. If the cue ball is frozen and you have a ball just barely off the cushion and a diamond or two away, you can't shoot softly or the cue ball will be pulled back to the cushion by the groove and you cut the ball away from the rail. I think that's somewhere in Byrne's books.

 

[jay helfert]

The easiest way to make the ball is to use a bit of inside English and hit the rail ever so slightly before the object ball.
BUT as Bob Jewett points out, you need to be able to play position to all areas from this shot. I would practice aiming without any English, w/inside and w/slight running english(hardest).
Practice that shot until you hardly miss it

Using inside English makes the object ball hug the rail. You're aiming to barely hit the rail first. By shooting it this way you actually have a larger aiming point and greater room for error. Once you master this shot using inside English, you will see how easy it is to make balls frozen to the rail.

 

[Black-Balled]

Forget what everybody else says. They don't love you like I love you.

It isn't possible.

 

[jimmyco]

If you have gearing outside and hit the ball and the cushion at the same instant, the object ball will scoot perfectly along the cushion. If you have more outside than that, you can hit the ball first (very slightly) and throw the ball straight into the pocket.

For any other side spin (or no side spin) you have to contact the cushion first. This is very, very old news. See Byrne, Koehler or Jewett for details. Koehler has a whole chapter on frozen ball shots. He did lots and lots of experiments.

View attachment 499905

This is how I have always played it.

But after reading this thread, I tried inside. Took a while to get used to it, now another tool in the bag.

Gotta love azb.

 

[MattPoland]

Can anyone actually aim to hit the rail slightly first? I’m not talking the spin shot. I’m thinking of any given rail shot. I feel as if I try to muck with the minutiae I will guarantee a miss. The only way I can make it (with any english) is to just shoot at the pocket like any shot. The “throw” involved in that cut isn’t any more or less than the throw in an open table shot.


Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)

 

[garczar]

Using inside English makes the object ball hug the rail. You're aiming to barely hit the rail first. By shooting it this way you actually have a larger aiming point and greater room for error. Once you master this shot using inside English, you will see how easy it is to make balls frozen to the rail.

Jay you seen him more than me but did you ever see anyone shoot these with outside better than Buddy? It just amazed me how often he'd shoot these for position with outside juice.

 

[jay helfert]

Jay you seen him more than me but did you ever see anyone shoot these with outside better than Buddy? It just amazed me how often he'd shoot these for position with outside juice.

Buddy did a lot of things better than anyone else! He was one of the most knowledgeable pool players I ever met. He was a true student of the game. Yes, his cue ball control was masterful, but he also happened to be a great shot maker when required and a great tactician as well. His record as a tournament player AND money player is unmatched in the modern era! No one ever did both better. Shane, Alex and Dennis are cut in the same mold. :thumbup2:

 

[Straightpool_99]

If I were the OP, I'd certainly not try to "cinch" balls on the rail with ONE type o spin. Balls will be on- or close to the rail A LOT of the time in rotation games especially. That means it's a very important shot to master, both in regards to pocketing AND playing postition. If you can only shoot with inside/outside or center, then you'll be at a huge disadvantage to any competent player. Getting the ball to "hug" the rail and such, should not really be a priority. The priority should be to get the ball in the hole, wether the OB lies 2mm's off the rail or frozen to it. Those two shots only appear to be different, but your task is exactly the same, shoot the ball into the pocket.

When you play American pool, you have no idea how much easier your task is, compared to games like snooker. With a soft shot, your margin of error is increased hugely, wheras on a snooker match table, your margin of error is tiny, and the balls simply will not go in if you brush the rail any kind of way, even grazing the jaw (round) will often spit the ball out.

I therefore suggest that you practise shooting the shot softly, but not too softly in the beginning. If you hit it too softly with cut angle, you may not get a clean contact. Start with a stroke that you feel will not give you a "skid" or "cling", but is still soft enough to let the pocket play large. Just play top, or draw to start with to get a feel for the shot. You'll soon realize that the shot really isn't much different, and certainly not more difficult that a lot of other shots. If you shoot it with the right speed, even tough tables will let you pocket the ball very easily. You can then experiment with other kinds of english and add speed as you go along. I think the only really difficult part of the shot is realizing that the difficulty increases a lot with speed, much more than many people think. In a game situation, it's easy to forget this or over-amp the shot due to adrenaline. If your table has been tightened by an incompetent mechanic, or even has old cloth and facings on it, keeping the speed of the object ball down is very important. That is where spin can help you, by letting the cueball move a lot without having to put power into the object ball. Center only- and spin only players limit their games, so be neither.