One-Pocket Shot

M

mbvl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There is a well-known one-pocket shot (described below) and I'm curious about its history. Who invented it? When? Is it associated with any particular player(s)?

Two balls are spotted and the shooter has ball in hand behind the line -- a common situation. Place the cue ball on the head string a few inches from the head spot on the side opposite your pocket. Shoot directly at the front ball with straight draw. The front ball drifts toward your pocket and the back ball banks two rails toward your pocket. It is quite possible to make both balls, and if they are the only two balls on the table, the reward is often well worth the risk.

I remember clearly the first time I saw the shot. It was at Palace Billiards in San Francisco about thirty years ago. The shooter made the front ball and left an easy shot on the second one. The shooter was Bob Jewett and his opponent was Denny Searcy.

Mark
 
mbvl said:
There is a well-known one-pocket shot (described below) and I'm curious about its history. Who invented it? When? Is it associated with any particular player(s)?

Two balls are spotted and the shooter has ball in hand behind the line -- a common situation. Place the cue ball on the head string a few inches from the head spot on the side opposite your pocket. Shoot directly at the front ball with straight draw. The front ball drifts toward your pocket and the back ball banks two rails toward your pocket. It is quite possible to make both balls, and if they are the only two balls on the table, the reward is often well worth the risk.

I remember clearly the first time I saw the shot. It was at Palace Billiards in San Francisco about thirty years ago. The shooter made the front ball and left an easy shot on the second one. The shooter was Bob Jewett and his opponent was Denny Searcy.

Mark
Click to expand...

Someone finally knocked Jewett's action. It's about time he got outed. Every time I see that sly smile on his face and he sets up a shot on the table, I know it's going to cost me something.

So for you the uninitiated I have this one word of warning. Don't bet against Bob Jewett when he sets up a seemingly impossible shot on the table. Trust me, he's made it before, many times! :)
 
If its new cloth,, shoot it every time

mbvl said:
There is a well-known one-pocket shot (described below) and I'm curious about its history. Who invented it? When? Is it associated with any particular player(s)?

Two balls are spotted and the shooter has ball in hand behind the line -- a common situation. Place the cue ball on the head string a few inches from the head spot on the side opposite your pocket. Shoot directly at the front ball with straight draw. The front ball drifts toward your pocket and the back ball banks two rails toward your pocket. It is quite possible to make both balls, and if they are the only two balls on the table, the reward is often well worth the risk.

I remember clearly the first time I saw the shot. It was at Palace Billiards in San Francisco about thirty years ago. The shooter made the front ball and left an easy shot on the second one. The shooter was Bob Jewett and his opponent was Denny Searcy.

Mark
Click to expand...

That shot works great with newer cloth. I pulled it off at the Sacramento summer jamboree a couple of years ago for the game, set, and match.
That is the first time I ever tried it in tournament competition. A lot depends on table condition and wear.
 
mbvl said:
There is a well-known one-pocket shot (described below) and I'm curious about its history. Who invented it? When? Is it associated with any particular player(s)?

Two balls are spotted and the shooter has ball in hand behind the line -- a common situation. Place the cue ball on the head string a few inches from the head spot on the side opposite your pocket. Shoot directly at the front ball with straight draw. The front ball drifts toward your pocket and the back ball banks two rails toward your pocket. It is quite possible to make both balls, and if they are the only two balls on the table, the reward is often well worth the risk.

I remember clearly the first time I saw the shot. It was at Palace Billiards in San Francisco about thirty years ago. The shooter made the front ball and left an easy shot on the second one. The shooter was Bob Jewett and his opponent was Denny Searcy.

Mark
Click to expand...


You can also make the back ball one rail. I used to make that just to piss people off when they thought they snookered me by knocking two balls off the table. (back in the days when they spotted)

To make it I put the CB about a diamond over to the right, played to hit the right side of the front ball with low inside english. You need to play with it a few times, but you'll get the hang of it quickly. To do the two rail shot, use less or no english and just let the first ball throw the second. I suspect that to get the first ball near your pocket you might have to use some draw. I haven't tried that one as much because I didn't play 1h in those days.

In 1h, same shot works from behind the stack.

Cheers,
RC
 
jay helfert said:
Someone finally knocked Jewett's action. It's about time he got outed. Every time I see that sly smile on his face and he sets up a shot on the table, I know it's going to cost me something.

So for you the uninitiated I have this one word of warning. Don't bet against Bob Jewett when he sets up a seemingly impossible shot on the table. Trust me, he's made it before, many times! :)
Click to expand...

Jay,

This wasn't a proposition bet, it actually came up in the game. And I didn't mean to imply that Bob had dreamed up the shot on the spot. Certainly both he and Denny knew of the shot and had practiced it many times. It's just that I had never seen it before. I'm still curious as to its history.

Mark
 
mbvl said:
Jay,

This wasn't a proposition bet, it actually came up in the game. And I didn't mean to imply that Bob had dreamed up the shot on the spot. Certainly both he and Denny knew of the shot and had practiced it many times. It's just that I had never seen it before. I'm still curious as to its history.

Mark
Click to expand...

I don't know either, but Jersey Red showed me this shot in the 60's. And he didn't take credit for it. Red hit it so good too. He was even money to make one ball, and would make both every few tries.
 
It's funny that you bring this up... I made this shot knowing that both balls were frozen as part of one of my runs playing in a one pocket tournament yesterday. You can get darned close if you practice it a few times.

I'm sorry to say I don't know the history of the shot though. I think Byrne may even mention the shot in one of his books.
 
Samiel said:
It's funny that you bring this up... I made this shot knowing that both balls were frozen as part of one of my runs playing in a one pocket tournament yesterday. You can get darned close if you practice it a few times.

I'm sorry to say I don't know the history of the shot though. I think Byrne may even mention the shot in one of his books.
Click to expand...

This is a high risk shot to play in a match. I know I never would. Too much chance of selling out.
 
Do you mean this?

Page 2 shows a variation of the shot with CB on a different spot.

CueTable Help

 
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I used to play in ring games with a guy who was odds on favorite to make the front ball when they got spotted up like this. Little ****er was half Filipino. The guy would sometimes combo in 2 5's and 2 or 3 9's playing spot up 1 before the 5, 2 before the 9.

It gets pretty expensive quick when he runs three racks making some money balls two or more times each rack.

Luckily, we were only playing $1/$2 ring games. Just something to pass the time.

Russ
 
Great shot. I saw Rafael Martinez make both balls with this shot once in Vegas when he was gambling pretty high with the owner of the Cue Club. Only two balls left on the table and he needed both of them. He hit it so good the back ball went two rails and trickled in.
 
I agree with Jay that it's a pretty high risk shot. It requires extreme draw, and it's too easy to draw the cueball into the corner pocket. If you don't scratch, and you don't make a ball, it often leaves a free easy cross bank. I shoot it pretty well, but only try it when I need 1, and my opponent needs several. If you do shoot it, make absolutely sure that the balls are frozen, and lined up perfectly straight.
 
desert1pocket said:
I agree with Jay that it's a pretty high risk shot. It requires extreme draw, and it's too easy to draw the cueball into the corner pocket. If you don't scratch, and you don't make a ball, it often leaves a free easy cross bank. I shoot it pretty well, but only try it when I need 1, and my opponent needs several. If you do shoot it, make absolutely sure that the balls are frozen, and lined up perfectly straight.
Click to expand...
Actually, the shot does not require draw. Why draw is not required is a little complicated to explain. Draw certainly helps the speed of the object ball.

There is a system for aiming these frozen-ball kiss shots in Byrne's "Advanced Technique" book. I refer to it as the "ten times fuller" system. It has been discussed many times in rec.sport.billiard.

Byrne told me of a little trick Fred Whalen used when spotting three balls (or the third ball in a line) at one pocket. If you put the third ball just a little towards your opponent's side of the table -- just a few mm -- then the middle ball becomes dead to your pocket if you hit the front ball. This shot works for the same physical reason that draw is not required for the shot.

As far as the safety of the shot, if I'm hitting the ball well, I can draw straight back off the spot within a diamond on the head rail, and there is little chance of scratching. At the correct speed, both balls end by your pocket, so there is usually no free shot. Some top players like the shot and others do not. Ronnie Allen is in the anti camp.

As noted, it is critical to have the balls spotted well. If the back ball is nearer your opponent's pocket, it can't bank to yours and a kiss on the cue ball is more likely. If the back ball is closer to your pocket, there is likely to be an object ball kiss-out, as the banking back ball hits the front ball after the foot cushion.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Actually, the shot does not require draw. Why draw is not required is a little complicated to explain. Draw certainly helps the speed of the object ball.

There is a system for aiming these frozen-ball kiss shots in Byrne's "Advanced Technique" book. I refer to it as the "ten times fuller" system. It has been discussed many times in rec.sport.billiard.

Byrne told me of a little trick Fred Whalen used when spotting three balls (or the third ball in a line) at one pocket. If you put the third ball just a little towards your opponent's side of the table -- just a few mm -- then the middle ball becomes dead to your pocket if you hit the front ball. This shot works for the same physical reason that draw is not required for the shot.

As far as the safety of the shot, if I'm hitting the ball well, I can draw straight back off the spot within a diamond on the head rail, and there is little chance of scratching. At the correct speed, both balls end by your pocket, so there is usually no free shot. Some top players like the shot and others do not. Ronnie Allen is in the anti camp.

As noted, it is critical to have the balls spotted well. If the back ball is nearer your opponent's pocket, it can't bank to yours and a kiss on the cue ball is more likely. If the back ball is closer to your pocket, there is likely to be an object ball kiss-out, as the banking back ball hits the front ball after the foot cushion.
Click to expand...

And this is why I won't bet with Bob when he sets a shot up. HE KNOWS TOO MUCH!
 
me & a friend were playing 1hole this past weekend & taling about this shot.

I first saw this shot in one of grady's videos & have fallen in love with it. the way grady describes the shot seems the easiest way to shoot it to me.

Grady says to move the cueball off center about 5 or 6 inches & shoot the head ball full with low inside english. Don't think about trying to make the ball, just try to draw your rock back to the side rail just behind the headstring.

I shoot this shot every time it comes up & end up making 1 of the 2 balls probably 1 out of 5 times. But i hardly ever sell out on it.

Don't know who invented it, but THANKS GRADY!!
 
I made the head ball last time it come up and only needed one ball. Playing for money though I'll play safe.

Rod
 
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