How Would You Play This? Keeping Things Routine

CueTable Help



This shot is very similar to the lesson given by Buddy Hall in his CLOCK SYSTEM video lesson.

If you use 12:00 at the spot to hit the cue ball and the cue ball goes in the side pocket on this shot, you can move the clock one hour forward or backward and come very close to moving the spot where the cue ball hits the second rail by one diamond. Each hour on the clock represents one hour.

CueTable Help



Similarly: For one o'clock you get the following shape.

CueTable Help

The basis for this system is you have to find out where on the second rail the cue ball hits normally, when you use 12:00. It might hit a half diamond before the pocket or a half diamond past the pocket. ONce you determine precisely where you consistently hit on the second rail, that is YOUR 12:00 and you can add a Diamond's distance up or down the rail by hitting the cue ball adding or subtracting an hour.

This isn't exactly the same shot as what Jude demonstrated but it is very similar and speed is everything on both shots. On the original shot, you have to be careful about juicing up the cue ball because when you combine low and side spin you can juice the cue ball very quickly getting an errant path on the cue ball. You just have to practice the shot until you KNOW what speed of stroke is needed. With practice you should become very consistent with shape and NEVER scratch.

I suggest anyone should practice Buddy Hall's Clock System as it will help your game immensely and give you lots of confidence. There may be some YOUTUBE stuff out there with Buddy demonstrating this system.

I don't know why the last diagram isn't showing the arrow and the path of the cue ball moving up one diamond but the cue ball doesn't scratch in the side with 1:00. It travels to the diamond just past the side pocket.. sorry. ahh, I finall got the line to move. :-(
JoeyA
 
Last edited:
Jude Rosenstock said:
Actually, if you play it the two-rail way (as several have stated), it's very likely you'll fall dead straight on the 9 which is why it's a wonderful way to go. The gray line in my diagram below is the route you'll likely see. It's a very common situation and one that I will play no matter how far away the 8-ball is from the pocket. Hit it with stun and the necessary amount of outside to get you to the opposite end of the table (ususally, it doesn't take much spin). Anyone not familiar with this shot should spend a few minutes to get familiar. It's a nice one to know.

Also, for those curious, the blue-line represents the path the B player took. I believe they were trying to play for the short side OR they intended to take a two-rail route and used a little too much juice (too much draw and/or spin).
Click to expand...


I would shoot draw right off one rail towards the 9. As a medium to high B, I know if I try to go 2 rails here, especially on a match shot, I may tense up a bit. Maybe not all B players will, but that's my thinking. That can cause a scratch in the side, or coming up short on the 9 leaving a bank. If you draw towards the 9, even if you hit it soft, you only have a medium tought cut into the corner at worst and an almost straight-in shot at best. The other side of that is you can overhit that and scratch into the opposite corner if the cut is too sharp and you need to hit with more speed, but I would take the cut shot anyway for the match.
 
The is so many ways to get position,:rolleyes: Id suggest to learn them all incase there are blocking balls... you guy';s and gal's, should own this situation..

CueTable Help

 
Shot

Both 2 rail shots are good, but the one shot not mentioned is to draw the cue ball with low left english (left, not right), and 'slide' the cue ball off the rail downtable from the side pocket, and into uptable range. Using right english, IMO, would bring you too much towards the side of the table that the 9 ball is, making for a much thinner cut for the 9.

A lack of knowledge in how to and when to use inside english is one of the ways I can tell what level a player my opponent is. Beginning players always use outside english, and even when they get better, old habits die hard. Advanced players have usually mastered using inside english.
 
Snapshot9 said:
Both 2 rail shots are good, but the one shot not mentioned is to draw the cue ball with low left english (left, not right), and 'slide' the cue ball off the rail downtable from the side pocket, and into uptable range. Using right english, IMO, would bring you too much towards the side of the table that the 9 ball is, making for a much thinner cut for the 9.

A lack of knowledge in how to and when to use inside english is one of the ways I can tell what level a player my opponent is. Beginning players always use outside english, and even when they get better, old habits die hard. Advanced players have usually mastered using inside english.
Click to expand...

Are you sure that angle allows for using inside English? It looks pretty sharp if you use inside. Can you draw the path you think the cue will travel with inside English? I am trying to incorporate inside English into my game more and more but this particular shot looks difficult toget shape on the 9.

Thanks,
JoeyA
 
JoeyA said:
Are you sure that angle allows for using inside English? It looks pretty sharp if you use inside. Can you draw the path you think the cue will travel with inside English? I am trying to incorporate inside English into my game more and more but this particular shot looks difficult toget shape on the 9.

Thanks,
JoeyA
Click to expand...


SPINDOCTER's most recent post shows this path. You would end up hitting the bottom rail on the left side of the side-pocket and then spin down table. Reverse-off-the-second-rail shots are very pretty but also frequently difficult to execute. Such a shot WOULD get the job done but I'm not sure it's worth the trade-off. It's definitely NOT routine.
 
Our 9-ball league recently concluded play-offs and I saw a B level player fail to get out from here. I was mildly shocked at the moment but later realized many players will fall into their routines and sometimes their routines are not consistent with the right shot. ...
Click to expand...
As others have mentioned, the shot is deceptive in CueTable. I set it up last night. Using the lines of the balls to cushions, I think I got each ball right within a quarter inch or so. I was playing with nearly new balls on 860 that is new but not slippery-new.

There is only one practical way to shoot the shot: the Z pattern. If you can't hit near the second diamond on the second long rail, you need to spend time on the practice table.

For the one-rail draw shot, I could barely get the cue ball to go straight towards the nine ball, whereas you need it to go towards the middle of the rail the nine is sitting on.

For the 3-cushion follow shot with left spin, I can only imagine that the person who proposed it either never tried it or set the balls up wrong when he did. In one superhuman effort, I managed to just barely get the cue ball to the end rail for the second rail. Maybe with a bar ball (large cue ball) and really sticky rails the shot could be made to work, but not with standard equipment.

I think a main lesson we need to take away from this shot is that until you get real balls on a real table, your intuition about the shot may well be wrong.
 
I'm sure you're right Bob. I can easily see that the shot only offers one good option. The only way a draw shot would work is hit the pocket on the fat side. Even at that probably have to touch the rail going in. It is a poor option, thats why I mentioned I sense danger.

Like I said move the o/b a half inch changes the shot completely. I think many just aren't aware of the exact angle diagramed on the table.

Rod
 
Bob Jewett said:
As others have mentioned, the shot is deceptive in CueTable. I set it up last night. Using the lines of the balls to cushions, I think I got each ball right within a quarter inch or so. I was playing with nearly new balls on 860 that is new but not slippery-new.

There is only one practical way to shoot the shot: the Z pattern. If you can't hit near the second diamond on the second long rail, you need to spend time on the practice table.

For the one-rail draw shot, I could barely get the cue ball to go straight towards the nine ball, whereas you need it to go towards the middle of the rail the nine is sitting on.

For the 3-cushion follow shot with left spin, I can only imagine that the person who proposed it either never tried it or set the balls up wrong when he did. In one superhuman effort, I managed to just barely get the cue ball to the end rail for the second rail. Maybe with a bar ball (large cue ball) and really sticky rails the shot could be made to work, but not with standard equipment.

I think a main lesson we need to take away from this shot is that until you get real balls on a real table, your intuition about the shot may well be wrong.
Click to expand...

You're exactly right. Taking the 2 rail z pattern is closer to "natural" for the cue ball as any other shot. Therefore it is the right shot in this situation. If hit properly, you avoid a scratch...whereas the draw shot as some players have mentioned, can provide a scratch more often or is shot too soft/hard and give bad shape. IMO, the draw would be more speed sensitive than the Z pattern.
 
WHAT Bob?? Someone SWEARING a position route is the best without setting it up on a table and trying it???

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!

If Bob Jewett (a former ACUI champion, correct, Bob?) can't get there.. Me thinks I'd like to see bran on video showing us how it's done.. :D :D

Set it up right, imo.......

Russ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top