One-Pocket Situation #2

SUPERSTAR said:
Do it like this!
Click to expand...

Since the 1 is touching the rail, the double kiss is just too big a risk for this shot. The 1 will stay stuck or worse yet, closer to the pocket; game over. Plus, the shot is too straight on to get the cue ball that far uptable without hitting it so hard that a ball may go back to your opponents side if you fail to pocket anything, but you need it up there to keep the opponent away from the banking patch in case it doesn't.

If the 1 were off the rail and the cue a little more inside the cut of the 2, then I would definitely give this a try; make the 5 and your out.
 
The Exception!!

If you are playing on a rainy day in a real humid room and the rails are going bananas, I most likely would still take the shot, but would most likely say a prayer before hand and i would make SURE that i overcut it, maybe even into the top of the 8 on purpose.

Odds of something bouncing all over the place and selling out with a thicker hit are magnified tenfold under those conditions should you hit it a little firm.

But then again, if it were raining cats and dogs, i wouldn't be playing one pocket to begin with. It's like playing pinball, and that being the case, i just as soon risk my cash flipping coins rather then watching everything bank short and bounce way to far.
 
Great shots, everybody. Actually, the one I expected to be suggested the most was to softly roll the 4 ball in hopes of ending up with something like this:
 
Last edited:
After looking at the suggested shot of driving the 2 into the 1, however, I started thinking that that might actually be a better shot. If I tried it, I think I would attempt to catch the 1 pretty thin in order to prevent a kiss. Your opp. could always stick you back in your corner, but you'd be out of the trap and he would have some work ahead of him rebuilding strength on his side. Good shot, I think.
 
Last edited:
Apparently I missed an update. This is the first time I saw a 9 ball on the table. Even then, I would not shoot this as the cue ball would be hard to stop considering its proximity to the rail. It looks like the shot also caused a loss of ball and the opponent has an easy response by moving the 9 to the foot rail and leaving you by your pocket.

I am assuming that there is a larger gap than shown between the 9 and 15 since the cue ball must have passed through it after contacting the 4.
 
Aaron_S said:
After looking at the suggested shot of driving the 2 into the 1, however, I started thinking that that might actually be a better shot. If I tried it, I think I would attempt to catch the 1 pretty thin in order to prevent a kiss. Your opp. could always stick you back in your corner, but you'd be out of the trap and he would have some work ahead of him rebuilding strength on his side. Good shot, I think.
Click to expand...

The main problem I have with this shot is that you are trying to control the direction and final position of 4 balls at the same time. A lot of things could go wrong. I used to shoot shots like this a lot and have sold out enough to know that it is bad table maintenance.
 
jjr183 said:
Apparently I missed an update. This is the first time I saw a 9 ball on the table. Even then, I would not shoot this as the cue ball would be hard to stop considering its proximity to the rail. It looks like the shot also caused a loss of ball and the opponent has an easy response by moving the 9 to the foot rail and leaving you by your pocket.

I am assuming that there is a larger gap than shown between the 9 and 15 since the cue ball must have passed through it after contacting the 4.
Click to expand...

I think he was hitting the 4 soft enough not to catch a rail, and the 9 is a ball that was spotted up. He's trying to leave the cue ball on, or very close to, the spot so that the ball that is spotted up will be frozen to it.
 
Aaron_S said:
Great shots, everybody. Actually, the one I expected to be suggested the most was to softly roll the 4 ball in hopes of ending up with something like this:
Click to expand...

Nah, then he would shoot into the side of the 9, knocking it to the rail and going two rails with a touch of inside english, putting you right back where you were, but with another ball on his side.. He might even get you frozen to the back of those balls.. Speed lays pretty good.

Yikes! :D :D :D

Russ
 
The 2 into the 1 looked like a natural to me as soon as I looked at the diagram. It seems the nearly natural angle for the cue ball would send it up table near the side rail between the side and far corner pocket.
 
jjr183 said:
The main problem I have with this shot is that you are trying to control the direction and final position of 4 balls at the same time. A lot of things could go wrong. I used to shoot shots like this a lot and have sold out enough to know that it is bad table maintenance.
Click to expand...

So did Ronnie Allen. But he didn't sell out.. Just need to be more accurate, is all. :D

Russ
 
I would shoot the 15 ball into the 4 ball, which banks toward your side. Follow the cue ball up table, leaving a straight in shot on the 1 ball. You're opponent might make the one, but difficult to get position on the other balls, or he might sell out.

Regards,

Doug
 
I like hitting the 5 into the eight, I don't like the two into the one you have to hit it perfect to clear the two and not double kiss. Hitting the first shot the cue ball is always going to be safe and if you've stuck your opponent on the two he's going to have to come up with a good shot to protect you from banking the one that you've just made available. The other option of rolling to the spot IMO is giving up a ball that you don't need to and your opponent still has the advantage. Leaving the cue ball up table is only going to get you in trouble the best you'll get back is right back in the same spot if they don't elect to shoot.
 
Salamander said:
I would shoot the 15 ball into the 4 ball, which banks toward your side. Follow the cue ball up table, leaving a straight in shot on the 1 ball. You're opponent might make the one, but difficult to get position on the other balls, or he might sell out.

Regards,

Doug
Click to expand...

So... yer gonna take two balls that don't go for your opponent, and yer gonna split them up so they do... And then yer gonna give him a great shot, and hope he doesn't run out?

So what if he lags the 1 ball in, (it's a REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLY easy shot at lag speed) and then knocks two balls away from your pocket? That assuming he doesn't just run out.

Remember, generally, One Pocket players are at a certain execution level before they take up the game.

Russ
 
kyle said:
I like hitting the 5 into the eight, I don't like the two into the one you have to hit it perfect to clear the two and not double kiss. Hitting the first shot the cue ball is always going to be safe and if you've stuck your opponent on the two he's going to have to come up with a good shot to protect you from banking the one that you've just made available. The other option of rolling to the spot IMO is giving up a ball that you don't need to and your opponent still has the advantage. Leaving the cue ball up table is only going to get you in trouble the best you'll get back is right back in the same spot if they don't elect to shoot.
Click to expand...

At this angle, if you drive the 5 into as much of the side of the 8 as you can while holding the cue ball, the 8 will hit the 1 ball, selling out.

You need to get over to at least 1/2 ball on the 8 in order to two rail it out of there..

Russ
 
Just as an FYI, this scenario is almost identical to one in the book "Shots, Moves & Strategies". The authors' advice is to softly roll the 4-ball.

Aaron
 
And that's also before the modern era of Efren aggressive 1pocket where you can't leave anyone ANYTHING.

Back when i first started playing, i can see how people would have left a straight in shot on the 1 or something similar, and back then, a lot of opponents would have opted to DUCK instead of shooting at the 1, but those days are OVER.

That shot will get you BROKE very quickly today.

Glad i suggested that ball spotting up to block the ball scenario as well, considering it was sort of the answer that was being looked for.:D
 
Russ Chewning said:
So... yer gonna take two balls that don't go for your opponent, and yer gonna split them up so they do... And then yer gonna give him a great shot, and hope he doesn't run out?

So what if he lags the 1 ball in, (it's a REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLY easy shot at lag speed) and then knocks two balls away from your pocket? That assuming he doesn't just run out.

Remember, generally, One Pocket players are at a certain execution level before they take up the game.

Russ
Click to expand...

Yes, because I'm moving the 4 toward my pocket. I expect that he will make the one, but if I execute the shot properly, he will only be able to safely shoot it by laging. It is doubtful that he will have an offensive shot at his pocket after the one due to the many balls around my pocket. He might move some toward his pocket, but I'll like my position better than were I just was.

Regards,

Doug
 
SUPERSTAR said:
And that's also before the modern era of Efren aggressive 1pocket where you can't leave anyone ANYTHING.

Back when i first started playing, i can see how people would have left a straight in shot on the 1 or something similar, and back then, a lot of opponents would have opted to DUCK instead of shooting at the 1, but those days are OVER.

That shot will get you BROKE very quickly today.

Glad i suggested that ball spotting up to block the ball scenario as well, considering it was sort of the answer that was being looked for.:D
Click to expand...

I gotta say, if you can execute it, I like the 1-2 "punch". :D

If not, then the 4 ball is the way to go. I think Efren shoots the 1-2 all day long, every single day...

Russ
 
Salamander said:
Yes, because I'm moving the 4 toward my pocket. I expect that he will make the one, but if I execute the shot properly, he will only be able to safely shoot it by laging. It is doubtful that he will have an offensive shot at his pocket after the one due to the many balls around my pocket. He might move some toward his pocket, but I'll like my position better than were I just was.

Regards,

Doug
Click to expand...

First of all, you can't move the 4 ball towards your pocket.. The 15 is cutting it too thin.. The best you can do is to bank it back over to your side of the table by the 3/6.. If you hit it that hard, the 15 ball is coming back up table.. Oh yeah.. Because of the friction of pushing the 15 against the 4, the 15 ball will pick up left spin. Which will take it over to you opponent's side of the table..:D

Second of all, if you were to hit the 15 ball thin enough to to bank the 4 ball over by the 3/6, the cue ball will end up in the middle of the far rail, not straight in on the 1. That makes a BIG difference.

Third, you better have good speed to follow through an OB and freeze the cue ball to a rail 6 feet past the OB. Because if you leave him even two inches off that bottom rail, he is running out on you.

Unless the One Pocket shooters in your room are just generally very very bad shooters. If so, you need to go up the road an hour or so, and find some straighter shooters.:p :D :p :D

Russ
 
jjr183 said:
The main problem I have with this shot is that you are trying to control the direction and final position of 4 balls at the same time. A lot of things could go wrong. I used to shoot shots like this a lot and have sold out enough to know that it is bad table maintenance.
Click to expand...

As far as controlling 4 balls is concerned, I personally don't approach this type of shot with that mindset. I would just be thinking that if I could get a decent hit on the 1-ball, then everything else would be automatic; removing the 8 ball would only be a bonus, not a priority. The priority, I think, would be hitting the 1 thin enough to avoid the kiss, because that would very likely be a sellout.

While this shot does involve some risk, and, depending on skill level, may not even be an option for some players, the thing I like about it is it's potential to drastically change your odds of winning the game. Removing the 1 and the 8 from opp's side would have to be considered a huge payoff, but, for sure, it's each individual player's job to decide if it's worth the risk.

Thanks for your input to my thread,
Aaron
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top