Sooner or later it's inevitable; you must learn pocket speed. It's boring. It takes the fun out of the game, but it must be done.
Question is, how?
Some interesting posts about this. Some differing definitions on what pocket speed is. First there is the speed that is the exact speed at which a ball rolls cleanly into the pocket with just enough energy to make it over the shelf and fall into the hole. This speed should be learned as a baseline but should never be used for the following reasons some of which have already been mentioned. It it touches anything on the way into the hole it will not have enough energy to make it into the hole.
The most important reason, in my experience, is even at low speeds the shot must be executed with authority or it will become subject to what I call cloth effects. If you just try to barely roll a ball into the hole it will become drifty. Dirt, imperfections in the cloth, all kinds of things come into play. If you go to that speed and add a little acceleration to it even though it it the tiniest amount, the ball will hold a truer line. Straight pool players have all seen this. Shoot one from out of the stack into the far corner a little angle off of straight and hold the cue ball movement under 2 inches. You will see that on any table under the best conditions slow rolled balls will drift around all kind of ways.
I refer to the optimal speed as pocket speed plus one. Shoot the ball like the pocket had another pocket behind it and that is the one you are aiming for. The pocket plus one more pockets distance.
I was watching some snooker guys the other day who were doing a perfect example of what I am talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD2JmdmS1Oo
This was a safety battle but note that even though they were both hitting the ball at low speed, their cueing of the ball was still crisp and with authority.
What they were doing is also one of the ways I learned pocket speed. Put a ball in the pocket. Shoot another ball into it without making the first ball. Just roll up and touch it. Once you can do that, it is a simple matter to add to it and make the ball. One of the best things you can do is have the second object ball make the first and drift forward into the pocket replacing the position of the first without going to the side and touching the pocket jaws and not go into the pocket. Just replace the first ball on the pocket shelf. This will really hone your low speed skills.
It's kind of like the short game in golf. It is a critical skill set but no one ever wants to practice it.
. I value the lol's more than the physics lectures on here, because this is a pool forum, not a university. You've gotten some very servicable definitions on pocket speed, granted it would be hard to put into a formula, but someone of your immense intellect should be able to pull it off, maybe even come up with a better one. Get cracking!
