Masse Shot

[Tennesseejoe]

There are many ways to get position from shooting the 2 ball in the side pocket to shooting the 3 ball in the same side pocket. I am not looking for optional shots. This masse shot comes up from time to time. Many years ago I was proficient at this but it is very difficult for me to get the cue ball to move more than a few inches toward the ghost cue ball now. Is it because the cloth is thinner now or I am getting too old? I am 80. Any suggestions?

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Any suggestions?

Start with easier shots and work up to it.

 

[David in FL]

I'm not completely sure what you're asking, but if you're talking about affecting the direction that the cueball comes off the 2 ball through the use of spin, you might want to look at this…

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I can give you a couple of options for getting where you want to go, but not necessarily with any "massé". Regardless though I would never choose to play the three ball in that pocket unless there was some mandatory reason to do so that's not shown on this table.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I am 80. Any suggestions?

Get younger.

pj <- worked for me
chgo

 

[Bob Jewett]

I'm not completely sure what you're asking,...

The action is sometimes referred to as "post-collision masse". The idea is to play the 2 ball with left draw and a lot of elevation. The cue ball can be brought straight sideways for the 3 ball. (There is some masse before the collision.)

It is easier if the cue ball is closer to the 2.

This kind of shot was a standard in Lou Butera's exhibitions where he had only two balls under the rack at 14.1 and he was on the wrong side of his key ball. He would masse back for position.

If you practice Willie Mosconi's "ring around the side" drill, this kind of shot is sometimes necessary to continue but is usually easier than in the diagram.

 

[Tennesseejoe]

Start with easier shots and work up to it.

The action is sometimes referred to as "post-collision masse". The idea is to play the 2 ball with left draw and a lot of elevation. The cue ball can be brought straight sideways for the 3 ball. (There is some masse before the collision.)

It is easier if the cue ball is closer to the 2.

This kind of shot was a standard in Lou Butera's exhibitions where he had only two balls under the rack at 14.1 and he was on the wrong side of his key ball. He would masse back for position.

If you practice Willie Mosconi's "ring around the side" drill, this kind of shot is sometimes necessary to continue but is usually easier than in the diagram.

I went back to the table to work on this and finally got back to moving the cue ball toward the ghost ball 18 inches or so, but also had about 6 inches of forward movement. Later tonight I will place the cue ball closer to the object ball and try a lower cue tip placement to get the draw I want.
Do you think the cloth thickness had anything to do with performance? Thanks for giving me the confidence to do this again.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Do you think the cloth thickness had anything to do with performance? ...

Cloth and balls can cause major problems for masse shots. I recently gave a demo on a table that was covered with a dirty rug. The balls were the cheapest I've seen in a long time. They conspired to prevent anything that resembled masse. A little swerve was OK, but the cue ball stuck to the cloth if you elevated much. Snooker cloth (heavy, napped wool) is also hard to masse on.

 

[Oikawa]

In the example you show, I'd elevate about 25 degrees, put maximum left and shoot it hard. With the CB roughly 1 diamond away from the OB, with that shot you don't need any aim adjustments so it's easy to execute the pot. The tricky part is controlling the CB enough, without jumping off the table. Your example shot isn't too tricky, but I find it much easier to put a bit of draw into that exactly same shot and let the CB come off towards the long rail past the side pocket instead of using no rails. I know you said you aren't looking for optional shots, but my point is that when doing those kind of masse shots, I find it much more reliable to control the CB when coming off with draw or follow instead of center ball to come off near the tangent line. Not just because of the margins of that specific positional shot, but in general, they just give me more control.

Out of the shot factors, I'd say pay extra attention to having the right amount of elevation. Too little and it's almost impossible to get enough action. Too much and CB (or OB) starts flying off the table more often.