OK, 14.1 Players, Here's Another Tricky Position

[sjm]

It is always with reservations that I subject my own play to the scrutiny of the forum, but I'll, once again, put my own play under the microscope to serve the common good. Go easy on me, guys.

Once again, the game is straight pool. In a practice match against the great Johnny Ervolino, who has multiple three-hundred balls runs on his playing resume, I messed up on the final ball of the previous rack to leave the position shown. I led 88 - 70 in the race to 100, so if I could break this rack open, I had game on the table.

I managed to hit the rack while pocketing the one ball here, but because I played the shot with a jacked-up cue, I didn't generate much power, and didn't manage to spread the balls at all. I ended up having to play safe, and one safety battle later, Ervolino ran thirty and out for a 100-88 win.

When the match was over, Johnny showed me an interesting approach to the break shot shown. Would anybody like to guess what it was?

 

[Williebetmore]

It is always with reservations that I subject my own play to the scrutiny of the forum, but I'll, once again, put my own play under the microscope to serve the common good. Go easy on me, guys.

When the match was over, Johnny showed me an interesting approach to the break shot shown. Would anybody like to guess what it was?

SJM,
Anyone who doesn't like to get embarrassed needs to quit pool immediately and take up solitaire. Anyway, thanks for taking one for the good of the forum.

I look at this shot and do not see a break shot. I would cheat the pocket a little, and draw up table to get straight on the 11 and 13. Then play the exact safety that Crane played in your previous thread, you are always a favorite from there. But then again, I've only played about 100,000 fewer racks than Ervolino - I can't wait to hear the correct answer (if Johnny E. thinks its correct - ITS CORRECT)(I'm actually salivating at the thought of learning a new shot).

 

[Celtic]

hmm

When you say you hit the rack and managed to pocket the 1, which first? I think shooting the 14 with a touch of bottom and drawing back to make the 1 is a good shot, and it should break the pack up pretty good. I dont play alot of 14.1, hardly know the rules, but that looks like the shot to me. You can hit the pack as hard as you need to really, with almost no bottom the cueball will still come back and make the 1 due to the rack being tight.

Thats the only offensive shot I would play there.

 

[Williebetmore]

When you say you hit the rack and managed to pocket the 1, which first? I think shooting the 14 with a touch of bottom and drawing back to make the 1 is a good shot, and it should break the pack up pretty good. I dont play alot of 14.1, hardly know the rules, but that looks like the shot to me. You can hit the pack as hard as you need to really, with almost no bottom the cueball will still come back and make the 1 due to the rack being tight.

Thats the only offensive shot I would play there.

Celtic,
Whoooooaaaaa!!! I never even thought of that. Depending on the exact position of the 1, that could be awesome (and from a lot of different cue ball positions, especially early in the game when mistakes can be survivable). I'll bet I've had shots similar to this many times during straight pool league, and your shot never crossed my mind. I knew there was a reason I lurk around here.

 

[sjm]

When you say you hit the rack and managed to pocket the 1, which first? I think shooting the 14 with a touch of bottom and drawing back to make the 1 is a good shot, and it should break the pack up pretty good. I dont play alot of 14.1, hardly know the rules, but that looks like the shot to me. You can hit the pack as hard as you need to really, with almost no bottom the cueball will still come back and make the 1 due to the rack being tight.

Thats the only offensive shot I would play there.

Nice going Celtic. Case closed. That's the shot Ervolino said I should have played. I tried it for practice, and smashed the pack wide open leaving an easy layout. Guess I just didn't have the kind of mind to come up with a shot like that, but I've recognized the position ever since.

 

[TATE]

Nice going Celtic. Case closed. That's the shot Ervolino said I should have played. I tried it for practice, and smashed the pack wide open leaving an easy layout. Guess I just didn't have the kind of mind to come up with a shot like that, but I've recognized the position ever since.

Sorry guys - I like this shot. When the object ball is this close to the pocket, you can cheat the pocket and work the rack. My first choice is to cheat the pocket and by hitting the one thin on the left side into the corner using a little draw, or if you have the courage to really hit it thin, low left is better. The draw causes the cueball to rebound quickly off the cushion and into the rack. Ideally you hit the corner ball, but you can hit the rack from any direction and set up break shots from there.

Chris

 

[sjm]

Sorry guys - I like this shot. When the object ball is this close to the pocket, you can cheat the pocket and work the rack. My first choice is to cheat the pocket and by hitting the one thin on the left side into the corner using a little draw, or if you have the courage to really hit it thin, low left is better. The draw causes the cueball to rebound quickly off the cushion and into the rack. Ideally you hit the corner ball, but you can hit the rack from any direction and set up break shots from there.

Chris

Well, Tate, I'm glad someone subscribed to my original approach, but I'd have to say that, once Johnny showed me the "draw off the fourteen into the one" shot, I really found it quite easy to execute. Still, as always, what to do here is a matter of opinion. Anyway, thanks for participating in the thread, and I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[cardiac kid]

Hey Tate,

I like the draw shot into the rail as well. I think its executeable but, I know I can't bridge over the rack in the position shown. Additionally, we have not addressed an additional difficulty to the problem posed. The masters we enjoyed so much had an additional rule to contend with that we currently don't use. If a shirt cuff or sleeve touched a ball, it was a foul. The Deacon might have been able to bridge over the rack, but not me! In the end, our games "velvet fog" suggested the right shot for the position.

 

[Celtic]

Yeah, it is pretty obvious in the picture that the rack is going to be in the way shooting the 1 ball and you are going to have a totally crap bridge, possibly to the point of stroking the ball with your bridge hand not even on the table. With the rack in the way of any reasonable bridge I dont like shooting the 1 ball. Take the other 14 balls out of the way then sure, simple, it is those balls that make it so hard and a shot worth asking about to begin with though.