Question for Freddie the Beard, George Fels or anybody else

alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
who understands this shot. Go to 58:30 of this video and you will hear them describe a shot Irving Crane evidently had mastered but I can't envision the exact shot they are discussing, and evidently the players at the table don't know the shot either.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16196541

Wei table skills might be needed.

Thanks,
Al
 
alstl said:
who understands this shot. Go to 58:30 of this video and you will hear them describe a shot Irving Crane evidently had mastered but I can't envision the exact shot they are discussing, and evidently the players at the table don't know the shot either.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16196541

Wei table skills might be needed.

Thanks,
Al
Click to expand...
The situation they are talking about is that your opponent has played safe at straight pool leaving a full rack of 15 balls and the cue ball is somewhere in the kitchen, perhaps "frozen on the Brunswick". The shot that Irving Crane liked to play from this situation is this:
CropperCapture[15].png
Crane said that if he didn't get the safe on three tries, he deserved to lose 15 more points. I've also seen Eddie Kelly play the shot in a tournament.

The shot is illustrated on page 100 of Mosconi's "Winning Pocket Billiards".
 
That shot also comes up in one pocket when your opponent has scratched and has to spot a ball and there's say 4 balls lined up on the spot. 2 rails into the side of the balls moving 2 or 3 of them to your side and sending the cue up table.

It's a great shot to have in your one pocket arsenal but make sure you practice it a lot before you attempt it.
 
Thanks guys. I think it was Fels who said Crane used to play safeties against himself for 30 minutes a day. Hard to out move a guy like that.
 
In his match against Balsis in 1966 a similar shot came up and Crane simply went two rails into the back of the stack and froze the cue ball against the middle ball. Must not have been exactly the angle he preferred for the shot.

8:40 of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06-M12lQWE

I tried it a few times on my table. Not a shot you want to try unless you know exactly what you are doing because if you hit the corner ball you will blow the rack open.

I doubt if many of today's 14.1 players, most of whom are converted 9 ball players, would play that shot.
 
alstl said:
In his match against Balsis in 1966 a similar shot came up and Crane simply went two rails into the back of the stack and froze the cue ball against the middle ball. Must not have been exactly the angle he preferred for the shot.

8:40 of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06-M12lQWE

I tried it a few times on my table. Not a shot you want to try unless you know exactly what you are doing because if you hit the corner ball you will blow the rack open.

I doubt if many of today's 14.1 players, most of whom are converted 9 ball players, would play that shot.
Click to expand...
In your link Crane laid on the back of the rack because he wanted to open up a few balls that he could either shot at or used to play safe with should Balsis put him back up table. He did not want Balsis to put him back up table again he wanted to play safe around the rack.

The Crane safety as it became known was goofy. Maybe it worked better on a 5 x 10 who knows, but I never saw anyone in a serious game ever play that safety.
 
Last edited:
macguy said:
... The Crane safety as it became known was goofy. Maybe it worked better on a 5 x 10 who knows, but I never saw anyone in a serious game ever play that safety.
Click to expand...
I've seen both Crane and Kelly play it as mentioned above. Both were playing on 4.5x9 tables. But to confirm your opinion, when Kelly played the shot perfectly (in the 1969 US Open and stumbling drunk), his opponent Danny Gartner remarked, "Nobody plays that shot!" Gartner played pretty good, too, but he lost that match.
 
He could sure do it

I watched Crane practice that shot at Johnston City. He had no problem with it and would continually repeat the shot from the position he left himself from the previous attempt. I am sure he would have no problem shooting that safety under any conditions. He would just "glaze" the rack and wouldnt open up a ball even. Dont ever think that he wouldnt play it under the hammer.

Beard
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top