Creating "margin of error" and playing zones are achieved by first understanding what your main and secondary targets really are....if you try to use center ball you will have to aim at the center of the pocket (with less than a half ball "margin for error" on either side)....if you play the shot off center to purposely throw the ball you can aim at the severe edge of the pocket and basically deflect it in to the center....if it doesn't deflect you will hit the part of the pocket you are aiming at, and if it deflects too much it will go into the other side of the pocket....you can't do this if trying to use "center ball" because there's always going to be the chance that you hit it off center on the Wrong Side and it misses the pocket by a half a ball or more.
This same system is used in golf where they aim at the far right side of the fairway (or green) and draw the ball to the center.....OR they aim at the far left side of the fairway (or green) and fade the ball to the center....in both cases if the ball doesn't curve it hits where their aiming, if it curves the way they anticipate it goes into the center and if it curves more it will still go to the other side of the fairway....this is how you create margin for error......what you will start to understand is it's the same thing in pool, only the fairway is the object ball and there's one extra thing that happens in pool (the object ball travels to the pocket)....but the system to accomplish this ZONE is exactly the same...it's just not commonly shared by the greatest players (I never shared it when I was competing) and a lot of the time it's just better not to analyze your playing too much or you'll get too self conscious and your game will suffer...but only temperately
CJ:
I definitely "get" the concept of creating a margin of error for oneself -- the analogy of using "fade" in golf to maximize the "window" of fairway width applies here.
But I think you'd be wrong to make a bucket statement that all pros shoot at the pockets this way. (I'm not saying you are making the statement, but I'm trying to head-off any implication you're trying to make in this direction.) Sure, it makes sense to, say, use a bit of outside spin/english on a cut shot, and aim to the outer edge of the pocket. This way, you have a couple things working in your favor: 1.) if you get the formula right, you'll hit exactly where you aim, with the result being a pocketed ball; 2.) if you overcut slightly, you'll hit center pocket; 3.) if you use a bit too much spin, you'll throw the ball to the opposite side of the pocket, which still results in a pocketed ball.
Do you agree that I understand what you're trying to convey?
My point is that not all cueing sports rely on spin and throw to pocket the ball. A good example is snooker. When you watch these pros (say, Ronnie O'Sullivan, or Stephen Hendry), you'll see they RARELY use spin, and instead cue center axis of the cue ball as standard. The reason is for the ACCURACY they need. They're aiming at:
- a pocket with rounded edges
(which will spit a ball out if the object ball hits what "would have been" the chiseled face on a pool table pocket);
- that's half the size of a pool table pocket
(there's not much more than an eighth of a ball "wiggle room" in either direction);
- at twice (or more!) of the distance on a pool table
(this goes without saying -- snooker tables are 12-foot tables).
In this scenario, "spin" is much too unpredictable. For one thing, the balls they are aiming at are smaller than pool balls (which means it's even more imperative to know the "center axis" because the opportunity for cueing off-center would be
increased on a smaller ball). And for the second thing, the "throw" that spin itself imparts (on both the cue ball and the object ball) is much too variable to be relied on to pocket the ball under the three circumstances bulleted above. These pros have mastered the concept of cueing on the center axis of the cue ball. Their fundamentals are built on the concept of perfect cueing. Look down the cue -- whether behind or in front of the snooker player -- and watch. Compare that with many (most?) pool players, and you'll see that the alignment of a snooker player is more precise and repeatable than a pool player.
The only time you see spin (i.e. cueing off-center on the cue ball) being used in snooker, is when the object ball is close to the pocket, and the player is trying to maneuver the cue ball to "do something" -- e.g. open the pack of red balls, or to get position up-table on the yellow ball, etc.
Do you agree, or no?
-Sean
