northman said:
Hi all, I have been serious about learning to play better for about 6 months or so, my game is improving (more slowly than I'd like sometimes). I've just started playing around with english, [...]
This was my response to a "when do I use english" question in RSB a few years ago:
Aiming With English
You're asking an excellent question that unfortunately has a bit of a
complicated answer. *First, a shot hit with sidespin is a fair amount
tougher than the same shot hit without sidespin, so consider adding
english only when the object ball is fairly close to the pocket and the
cueball is not too far from the object ball. *The primary objective of the
english is to alter the angle of the cueball rebounding off the cushion. *
There are three new things to consider when hitting with sidespin:
spin-induced throw, swerve, and squirt. *
spin-induced throw: *when a spinning cueball hits an object ball straight
on, the cueball rubs across (not "grabs") the object ball and "throws" it off
course a little bit. *This is a small effect (due to the friction between
the balls), but it's not small enough to be ignored. You will see this
effect plain as can be if you set up a shot with the object ball six feet
from the pocket and the cueball just four or five inches from the object
ball. *
swerve: *IF a cueball is hit with sidespin using a level stick, it will
move in a straight line. *However, even though as-level-as-possible is the
goal, the stick is never really level. *You are always hitting down on the
ball at least a little. *Hitting down on the cueball when applying
sidespin generates "swerve." *The cueball actually curves to the side you
are hitting on. *If you hit easy, the cueball will curve a little bit
within the first few inches and then move in a straight line along the new
direction. *If you hit harder, it will go further before curving. *If you
hit harder still, or if the object ball is close, it may *get it's job
done before curving. *Adjusting for this is complicated and depends on the
cloth on the table. *This is the reason I advised against using english
when the cueball has far to travel before hitting the object ball. * You
will see swerve plain as can be just by hitting the cueball not too hard
the length of the table with an elevated cue and sidespin.
squirt: *(also called cue-ball deflection) This is a tough one, in part
because it is different for different sticks. *Imagine you hit a cueball
at 9:00 with a completely level cue (so there's no swerve), and you got to
the aim by lining up for a centerball hit and moving the whole cue
parallel till the tip is pointing at the 9:00 spot (your second
suggestion). *IFF there was no squirt, the cueball would go in exactly the
same direction as the centerball shot would have (parallel to the line of
the stick). *However, because the front of the stick on sidespin shots is
driven even more off to the side during the stick-ball collision, the
cueball must go off to the other side a bit. (Every action has an equal
and opposite reaction, or conservation of sideways momentum, or whatever
you want to call it). *The result is the cueball goes off in a straight
line that is angled off a bit (as much as 3 or 4 degrees) from the line of
the stick. *The magnitude of this effect is different for different
sticks.
So how about aiming? *For the conditions I recommended as ripe for
english, squirt is the main problem. * The move-the-stick-parallel
approach (your second suggestion) is not right for any cue. *Your first
suggestion *(pivot about the butt of the cue) is close to correct for the
extreme lowest squirt sticks available. *The correct aim for most sticks
would be achieved by beginning with a stick lined up centerball, and then
pivoting the stick about some point between your bridge hand and the joint
of the cue. *The optimum point is different for different sticks. *If it
is, say, 15 inches back from the tip, then you would apply left english by
leaving that 15-inch point fixed and moving the butt of the cue to the
right until the tip is where you want it. * Many sticks "pivot points" are
not too far behind the bridge hand for a longish bridge. *So some people
actually aim centerball and then pivot about their bridge hand. *This is
called aim-and-pivot (or sometimes backhand english). *
Most strong players do not use any such system, in part because it's
awkward to pivot about the correct point, and in part because there are
swerve and throw to consider as well on many shots. *Many strong players
who have been using the same cue for a long time have probably hit 100,000
shots with english using that cue. *They develop a memory *(an intuition)
of how to adjust depending on the the shot and the speed, etc. *In fact
there are many strong players who would not be able to explain coherently
these effects and what they depend on, but they have a working knowledge
of what they need to do in actual situations. *Some people swear by the
intuition/working knowledge as the true path to salvation and are
downright antagonistic of efforts to break it down and understand the
different effects. *But the correct opinion [
] is that enlightenment
is a harmonic convergence of the yin and yang of knowledge and intuition.
Your knowledge and understanding is a guide for developing that intuition
and is profitably kept close by.
--
mike page
fargo
