Pocketing the white ball
- Thread starter blacktop37
- Start date
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
It really depends on the situation. Most times you can avoid a scratch through english, inside can be very useful. You can also avoid scratches with follow or draw, depending on the situation. Proper speed is also important. It can't scratch if it doesn't have enough legs to make it into the pocket. The whole concept is, know where your CB is going (tangent lines, 30 degree rule - see Dr. Dave's resources) and modify the path in order to avoid the scratch.
Sometimes we get oddball scratches, but most can be avoided. Basically you'll want to learn your cue ball and actually play shape on it to avoid scratches. Stay down after the shot and watch what the CB does while practicing. Staying down and taking the motion/info in will program your "pool computer" faster.
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Forget the pocket. Pay attention to the cueball.
blacktop37
Member
You guys are inspiring me to keep going I think I can do it especially with the very helpful videos on YouTube!
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blacktop37
Member
Okay I give up what does an orange 5 ball mean? 
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blacktop37
Member
Your post is the one I like the best I thought there was something wrong with my brain it's good to see someone else struggling I'm sure you're still better than I am!It’s hard, I’m 55 played probably 30 years all added up. I still don’t have a clue where the ball is going sometimes.
It’s great you are playing and keep trying you’ll improve. If you can get a instructor that would be best. There’s lots of knowledgeable people on here.
Enjoy your self, welcome to pool,
Fatboy
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Haha. The five ball has been orange since day one...but a well known company released a set of balls where the 5 ball is purple and the 4 ball is (pink?) extremely confusing.Okay I give up what does an orange 5 ball mean?
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These people are taking steps to bring pro pool to the world under their control - a mostly good thing- except for that godforsaken purple 5 ball.
To some of your earlier points:
Never sacrifice a probable scratch just to make a ball. Once you start getting decent at pool (and playing other good players) if you’re playing 8 ball you really don’t want to be making your own balls unless you think you can run out (or make a few and get to a lockup safety). Doing so just opens the table up that much more for your opponent. No one is ever “winning” in a rack of 8 ball because they have fewer balls on the table. It’s all about the finish.
I guess if you had to pick one, making the ball is more important than cue ball position, but it’s really a 50/50 thing. You need to be able to make the shots with whatever speed and/or English is required for position.
Once you can make the shots with center ball, just realize that left spin on the cue ball will “throw” the object ball a bit to the right.
But the cue ball will also deflect to the right when leaving the tip of the cue, and it’s left spin will swerve it back to the left some
. Sounds like you could never account for all the factors but your subconscious is a super computer- watch the effect of the balls and you will feed it information all the time.The most important thing for me was understanding that “throw” factor. Line up a ball and the cue ball in a straight line, a few inches apart. Hit the object ball in the center but with some left or right spin on the cue ball. You will see how far off the line it can be thrown.
Speed control is nothing but practice, if all you ever done is play by yourself it is very very hard to get to anywhere past a beginner level. If you can play position on balls and make 3-4-5 in a row pretty well, then not scratching is simply a matter of playing position to an area not a pocket. If you have no progressed to where you can make more than a few shots in a row with good position, then the scratching part will just be happening till you learn to control the cueball more. It's really a matter of the skill level. All you can do is practice some drills for position, there are a ton of them out there for free to find, just keep doing them and getting out to play with others, better players, will help. If you are just on your own, you will have a hard time correct for errors because you won't know exactly what those errors are. Need to have someone there to watch you play to then get you some pointers on what to change or what to work on in practice.
I always joke with people I meet that I end up teaching things to, you need an asshole like me to come up to tell you what you are doing wrong before you can get better LOL I've had people tell me they played for years but can't draw the ball well, looking at them shoot it was immediately clear they were not actually hitting the cueball low enough, but without me seeing it, they had no idea what or how to fix that issue. In order to start to correct things, you first need to know what needs to be corrected. Without lessons from an instructor or at least a player that is good enough and has the correct knowledge to be able to teach, it's going to be a struggle.
Throw a piece of printer paper on the table. Use only the cue ball, and 2 object balls.
Set the shot up for the 1 ball, and place the paper where you want to land for the 2 ball.
Make the first object ball, and try to get the cue to land on the paper, for the second ball.
Start with something simple. when you can hit the paper, then just place the paper in the correct spot for the next ball, and see what it takes to get there. After you've done this enough, you'll start to see the correct lines. Just a little sidespin can change your angles off the rail. A little draw with sidespin can change it even more. You just need to spend the time on multiple (different) angles.
If you play the 1 ball with center ball, note where the cueball lands.
Now try the same shot, with 1/2 tip of right, and see where the cueball goes.
Then try it with bottom ....
then try it with bottom right,
Then try it with left spin......etc...etc.
You will get the feel with time.
Watch how the angles change coming off the first and second rails, based on your english.
You'll find that just a little spin, can completely change the angles. Keep it simple.
Get some of these for placement.(it will help)
Everyone struggles, some with talent struggle less. But it’s never easy. It’s fun, but not easy. Take your time, learn & enjoy
Everyone struggles, some with talent struggle less. But it’s never easy. It’s fun, but not easy. Take your time, learn & enjoy
It's funny when I see players try a new shot or technique and get frustrated after like 10 tries they fail at. I tell them it's not a 10 minute or even a 30 minute learning curve, more like decades. Sure it may look easy when others do it, but that is years of play not hours to get to that level.
Geosnookery
Well-known member
I mostly play Snooker but at age 68 still learning after 55 years of playing.
Re the cueball. What I was trained to do is sometimes to ‘only’ watch the cueball after I make a shot. Don’t look at the object ball or care it’s it sunk or not. This seems easy to do but it’s not as it’s still in the mind ‘did I make the shot?’.
The goal isn’t even cueball placement but just to observe it. After a while it seems second nature where the cueball is going to go. It becones like playing catch with a basesball…no need to overthink how hard to throw or where to aim..it becones natural.
This ‘watching the cueball’ also really helps when it’s time to make a safety shot.
Of course, in a game, most of be time cueball placement is irrelevent if the object ball doesn’t sink. However, worse is scratching and giving up ball in hand.
There’s lots of practices for actually placing the cueball but make it a game and fun. What I’ll do is play solids against stripes. Every ball can be used as a cueball. The idea is to hit an opponents ball but to sink your own cueball…not the object ball. What side can clear their own balls first?
Re the cueball. What I was trained to do is sometimes to ‘only’ watch the cueball after I make a shot. Don’t look at the object ball or care it’s it sunk or not. This seems easy to do but it’s not as it’s still in the mind ‘did I make the shot?’.
The goal isn’t even cueball placement but just to observe it. After a while it seems second nature where the cueball is going to go. It becones like playing catch with a basesball…no need to overthink how hard to throw or where to aim..it becones natural.
This ‘watching the cueball’ also really helps when it’s time to make a safety shot.
Of course, in a game, most of be time cueball placement is irrelevent if the object ball doesn’t sink. However, worse is scratching and giving up ball in hand.
There’s lots of practices for actually placing the cueball but make it a game and fun. What I’ll do is play solids against stripes. Every ball can be used as a cueball. The idea is to hit an opponents ball but to sink your own cueball…not the object ball. What side can clear their own balls first?
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My best advice would be to get and use "The Pro Book" by Bob Henning. In it he diagrams and explains standard shots that include discussion on routes that avoid cue-ball scratches.
The link is to the authors publishing website, get the book directly from the author.
Have fun on your pool journey.
Dave
** THE PRO BOOK
www.bebobpublishing.com
The link is to the authors publishing website, get the book directly from the author.
Have fun on your pool journey.
Dave
blacktop37
Member
Thank you to everyone you have all given me hope I'm not going to give up I'm going to start going to a public pool hall and get help but I see a lot of things I can do at home now. I had a session this afternoon in my basement it's not that I haven't been able to place the ball at all it's just when I take some advice here I realize how much work goes into being really good.
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A lifetime work is about what it takes.
It’s a long slow process and you’ll go backwards sometimes as well. Just push through.
Remember to always have fun! When the frustration sets in, take a break.
It’s a long process, but it will come
You need to learn the 45 degree 2 rail through the center of the table system to avoid 2 rail scratches into the far corner. For one rail scratches you need to learn when the scratch is on and when to change your vertical hit and/or when to put inside or outside english on the ball to avoid the scratch. For two rail scratches into the side they are pretty avoidable by either changing from stun to roll or vice versa and sometimes putting outside english on the ball.
It also is very important to start getting in touch with whether the CB ball is rolling, sliding or a combination of both when it makes contact with the OB. This is easier said than done because what tip position and speed and distance that will attain roll when the CB meets the OB will change according to cloth conditions, humidity ball cleanness, etc. If you dont have a hold of this then where the CB goes will always be a surprise.
Basically it is all feel and memorization. For almost every shot that involves a rail there is a way you can hit the ball that will scratch. You need to learn these shots and avoid these shots or when these shots are not avoidable learn to hit them light enough that the cue ball never reaches the pocket.
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Mustanglee
Member
As your game improves you will learn how to use english to prevent MOST scratches. Not all but most. If their is no way to prevent the scratch then play safe.