Poolology: Side Pocket Aiming

7stud said:
Curiously, the calculation works if I ignore the warning on p. 83 and p.85 that states that for ob's on the center line, you should use the 10, 20, 30 grid lines. If instead I use the 40, 60, 80 grid lines, then the position value is 20 (see p. 84), and with an alignment value of 14, the overhang is 14/20, and the overlap is 6/20, which is approximately a 1/4 hit.
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You are a genius
still dont know why you dont answer post #38
 
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Bob Jewett said:
Have you tried my suggestion yet? How many did you make in the second set?
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9/10, 10/10

I missed the second shot trying to see if a 1/4 ball cut would work. The table I'm practicing on has big pockets. I variously aimed slightly thinner than a 1/4 ball cut, an 1/8 ball cut, to slightly thinner than an 1/8 ball cut. I think everything went in from the middle of the pocket to the point on the left side of the pocket.

When I encountered the shot during practice, it felt thinner than a 1/4 ball cut, and after I sunk the ob, I thought I would check the Poolology calculation for the shot. I made several mistakes doing the calculations, after which I resorted to rereading the section on Side Pocket Aiming, which contains a special rule for ob's on the center line between the side pockets. However, the special rule doesn't produce a meaningful fractional cut, so I was hoping someone who has read the Poolology book could check to see if I was doing things correctly. It feels like I am making some basic error--why have a special rule that produces non meaningful results?
 
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7stud said:
What am I doing wrong for this shot:

View attachment 714840

I had to revisit the side pocket grid lines for this shot. The 1-ball is on the center line between the two side pockets, and the Poolology book says that for balls on the centerline, you are supposed to use the 10,20,30 grid lines to figure out the position value (p. 83, 85). As far as I can tell, the position value for the 1-ball is 7, i.e. three ticks inside the 10-10 line. The alignment value is 14, which gives a nonsensical overhang of 14/7. What am I doing wrong? Or is it that the grid doesn't apply to balls inside the 10-10 line? But looking at the diagram, I could easily move the 1-ball in the direction of the other side pocket until it sat directly on the 10-10 line, then I could move the cb so that the alignment value was again 14, and once again that would give me a nonsensical overlap of 14/10. I must be doing something wrong.
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Common sense answer: When the numbers don't make sense, the shot falls OUTSIDE the parameters of the system. It's really 100% as simple as that. I believe the book explains that, and it has been stated here too many times to count. I'll post a picture of the side pocket shot setting on 10 that shows the cb-ob alignments for the basic quarter aims.
 
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Here is an ob sitting at a position value of 10 for the side pocket. Each of these cb's shows the basic alignment values representing each quarter aim point. The system works just fine for each of these shots because the numbers work. An alignment of 2.5 indicates a 3/4 aim will work. An alignment of 5 indicates a 1/2 ball shot. An alignment of 7.5 is a 1/4 shot. With an alignment value closer to 9, the system would indicate that a 1/8 aim would work. If the alignment were 10, the numbers no longer work and it's time to use some common sense.
Screenshot_20230823-182400_Gallery.jpg
 
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7stud said:
What am I doing wrong for this shot:

View attachment 714840

I had to revisit the side pocket grid lines for this shot. The 1-ball is on the center line between the two side pockets, and the Poolology book says that for balls on the centerline, you are supposed to use the 10,20,30 grid lines to figure out the position value (p. 83, 85). As far as I can tell, the position value for the 1-ball is 7, i.e. three ticks inside the 10-10 line. The alignment value is 14, which gives a nonsensical overhang of 14/7. What am I doing wrong? Or is it that the grid doesn't apply to balls inside the 10-10 line? But looking at the diagram, I could easily move the 1-ball in the direction of the other side pocket until it sat directly on the 10-10 line, then I could move the cb so that the alignment value was again 14, and once again that would give me a nonsensical overlap of 14/10. I must be doing something wrong.
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Your issue is you are trying to use a system instead of just making the ball.

Honestly, why do you need a system for this shot, honestly?

Your alignment soon is on the opposite side of the pocket. The 7 value is for when the alignment and position value are on the same side of the pocket.

So let's looks at the other position values, 40, 60, 80... So each diamond is worth 20. The first diamond is 40z so the center line must be 20..

14/20... It's like a 1/4 hit... Your diagram literally shows you are almost aiming down the hypotenuse of a triangle that is 10/10 or 1/1 sides... Like the definition of a quarter ball hit....
 
Thresh said:
"Your issue is you are trying to use a system instead of just making the ball.

Honestly, why do you need a system for this shot, honestly?"
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Best quote of the day! Lol

Once again... I don't understand what's so complicated about this. Come on 7Stud, what is so hard to understand about this?
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7Stud said:
.... I thought I would check the Poolology calculation for the shot. I made several mistakes doing the calculations...
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What "calculations"??

You are making the Poolology system so much more complicated than it actually is. There is no math, no "calculations" to do. If so, it probably wouldn't be so popular.

It is really simple: Example... You step up to the table and look at an ob positioned on 10. If the centerline between cb and ob points to 5 on the rail, it's a halfball shot. If the line points to 2.5 it's a 3/4 shot. If the line points to 7.5 it's a 1/4 shot (quarter-ball hit). If it points to 9, it's likely a 1/8 shot.

Zero calculations needed.

The system begins to break down as the alignment value gets closer to the ob position value (thin cuts, around 1/8 or thinner). Other than that, it works very well for the vast majority of shots.

I believe most people that have the book understand this. I mean, there's a reason it's still selling very well after 6 years on the market. In fact, my daughter sent me this screenshot a couple days ago of the top 100 pool books selling on Amazon. I don't mind one bit coming in at #2 beind Dr. Dave's Illustrated Principles. That's an excellent book. Of course, the list changes daily, if not hourly, but she sends me a screenshot about once a month.

Screenshot_20230824-015814_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
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