How would you play this out?

[Black Cat 5791]

CueTable Help

I was in a match this was the hill - hill game. This was the layout that I was faced with after running 6 balls to this point. I didn't feel comfortable with the cross table bank. I chose to do cut the 11 in the side with top left english so as to cross the 8 and be able to play it in the same side pocket.

The unfortunate thing is that though I made the shot the cue ball drifted with the english into the lower left corner pocket. Needless to say my opponent had ball in hand and quickly ended the match from there.

The captain on my team was furious. He felt I should have played a more conservative shot by cutting it in the side pocket but have left myself with the longer 8 to the upper left corner pocket instead.

Let's hear some suggestions.

Black Cat

 

[TX Poolnut]

I suppose the only difference is how you would have left him if you missed. The position from your captains suggestion would have left the opponent with a much sharper cut had you missed the 11. I think perhaps the longer shot is the best choice because there is also no possible scratch and you could easily draw the rock back a bit too, again, keep your opponent from having an easy shot, in case you missed the 8.

 

[suckershot]

Well, how's this...I like the way you played it if that is precisely how the balls were on the table; in other words, if they 8 was as easy in the side as your layout makes it look, then I like your way. You must've hit the 11 like a freight train and spun the hell out of it if you managed to scratch all the way down in the lower corner pocket. I will say this however: the more conservative shot proposed by your captain provides sort of a safety net in terms of not leaving much of a shot if you miss the 8, providing you're on the correct side of the 8 and simply stop the CB or perhaps even draw the ball a little bit. But if you're confident in your shot and abilities, there is no reason to even think that you should have to play conservatively.

As a side note, about your captain being furious...come on, that's a little silly. I assume you're in some sort of organized league. It's just pool for crying out loud. Tell your captain to turn down the competitive juices a little bit. We all want to win, but geez...get over it.

 

[Blackjack]

The rule to follow is to always do what is simplest. This is a no brainer out with the 11 in the side, and the 8 in the top left corner afterwards. Why would you want to complicate that? I learned a long time ago that the fancy shots may look nice and impress the railbirds, but you won't win too many games with that stuff. I guess that you learned that when you scratched. I don't understand the league mentality of "Captains" being furious because you would make an error like this. Learn from the mistake and move forward like a champion. Responding to it emotionally solves nothing (like your "captain") make the mental note and chalk that one up to experience. In looking at this layout, you could have very easily put the 11 in the side with a follow stroke and just came off the rail a few inches for position on the 8 (like shown in the below diagram) and ended up at the position marked "A" - or somewhere in that general area.

CueTable Help

 

[Black Cat 5791]

You must've hit the 11 like a freight train and spun the hell out of it if you managed to scratch all the way down in the lower corner pocket.

As a side note, about your captain being furious...come on, that's a little silly. I assume you're in some sort of organized league. It's just pool for crying out loud. Tell your captain to turn down the competitive juices a little bit. We all want to win, but geez...get over it.

Well I can honestly say I juiced it pretty good, the cue ball didn't really hit the first rail with any real speed, I hit it as more of a stun run through, but when the running english hit the rail it took off. The funny thing about it is that it literally trickled in the pocket actually sat on the lip then fell took forever to get there. But a scratch is a scratch, a loss is a loss. I just felt like he went overboard with his outburst.

Black Cat

 

[RiverCity]

Probably the easiest would have been to kill the cue ball and try to stop on the long rail so when you shoot the 8 in the upper left corner you have a very slight back cut away from the side, also leaves an off angle rail shot if you miss the 11.
Chuck

 

[JoeyInCali]

I think Black Cat punched the cb instead of a follow stroke.
I'd have shot the 8 at the top corner too.
You miss, you leave em tough.

 

[Black-Balled]

What'd ya hit so hard for?!?

Don't sweat it- just learn from it. You will be happy to have that shot every game.

 

[Cornerman]

The captain on my team was furious. He felt I should have played a more conservative shot by cutting it in the side pocket but have left myself with the longer 8 to the upper left corner pocket instead.

Let's hear some suggestions.

Black Cat

I agree with your captain.

Fred

 

[uwate]

You could have also have shot it into the side with right and a bit of draw and gone three rails. You have to hit the first rail just before the first diamond to miss the 5 and come around for a shot on the 8. Hit badly you can scratch in the side off of the second rail or scratch in the upper left hand corner off of the third rail. This is an easy shot though once you have shot it a few times. I like it alot better than trying to load up the inside english and go the one rail to shoot the 8 in the same pocket.

 

[jsp]

I chose to do cut the 11 in the side with top left english so as to cross the 8 and be able to play it in the same side pocket.

I see nothing wrong with your shot selection. You simply just hit the shot too hard, or hit it with too much spin. On any given easy cut shot, you can always screw things up if you put too much juice into it.

 

[PROG8R]

Too much COWBOY for me

I would have played that shot exactly as BlackJack drew it up.

TAP TAP TAP Backjack

Next time K.I.S.S. it you'll think us later and so will your captian.

 

[Williebetmore]

Let's hear some suggestions.

Black Cat

BC,
I assume you must of been playing on a 10 foot table with ultra tight, triple-shimmed pockets (because, other than a snooker table, that would be the only type of table where your shot would make any sense at all).

If the shot Blackjack diagrams is too hard for you, then getting position on the eight your way is even more of a gamble. I would slow roll it to get even with the eight or have the cueball slightly closer to the long rail than the eight. Blackjack's position A is a little far from the rail, bringing in the possibility of a side pocket scratch.

Of course, the inside English shot that you performed is absolutely essential to have in your arsenal, but ONLY when absolutely necessary; NOT in this situation. You should practice that inside English shot about 3 or 4 hundred times until you can control the final destination within a balls width or two on the closer long rail. Scratching in the corner as you did is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE, you should be able to control the route better.

Having said all of that, it still would have been cool if you could have pulled it off (not smart, just cool).

 

[Black Cat 5791]

This shot came up last night in my Thursday league where I'm actually the Captain of this Team. Executed it to perfection, helped to lead to a runout. I've used it before and that's why I'm comfortable with the shot. On that one particular night the game was one the line and I juiced it. His feeling was that I should have played conservative. I went for the win, and had a misfortunate outcome. I thought he over reacted. That particular session I played for him I played 7 matches won 4 lost 3. It's not seven out of seven but still who wins every match. I would have been 5 & 2 if not for the mishap.

Black Cat

 

[Andrew Manning]

The captain on my team was furious. He felt I should have played a more conservative shot by cutting it in the side pocket but have left myself with the longer 8 to the upper left corner pocket instead.

I agree with your captain, except for the being furious part. You opened the door for something to go wrong. Playing the 11 and setting up for the longer shot in the corner is fool-proof, unless you're on a snooker table. It's an easy soft shot on the 11 with natural position so all you have to do is cinch the ball with no side spin and a soft stroke. Then it's a straight shot with your cue ball a foot and a half from the object ball, if that. If you can't make that 10 times out of 10 with the game on the line, you need to seriously examine your stroke. You don't leave any opportunity for anything to go wrong this way.

-Andrew

 

[scottycoyote]

i agree with your captain and black jack too. Like he said.....keep it simple, never use 2 rails when you could use 1, the more stuff your cueball has to do, the more chance you have of something going bad. Plus the corner pocket is bigger pocket than the side with the 8 at that angle. You go 3 rails, you could bump the 5 and get unlucky, you could end up in the middle with no shot in the side and a hard cut in the corner..........why do all that when a soft shot on the 11 leaves you a nice easy straight in 8 in the corner.