I was watching a video of Souquet and Lechner (2021 International) and Josh Filler was giving commentary. Max cut a ball in the corner and went into the side of the pack and he got stuck. Joshua said he would have used draw as that adds follow coming off the rail. Just got me thinking. This wasn't the initial break shot; is that why to use draw instead of follow? I always see the break shot demonstrated with follow and that is how I hit it, but maybe because there are no gaps that is ok, but with a stack partially broken, draw is better? Thoughts? You can watch the video too. It is on youtube. Great to see inside of the head of Josh Filler. He provides a lot of insight.
Rail break shots
- Thread starter batmmann5
- Start date
Ok, fine, in case anyone wants to actually look at the shot. It is at the 1:34 point. 1 hour 34 minutes. The American turned into the International. Anyway, here you go. This is the actual situation. How do you play this? See screenshot.
He may be speaking in generalities here. It doesn't apply to this situation. If you were to draw this shot you'd miss the rack entirely.
Best thing is hit it with left and go 3 rails for the 2 or 8. With 2 balls over there it increases the margin of error for achieving a favorable result and would be the preferred choice.
His choice wasn't terrible and would likely have gotten ok results 7 or 8 out of 10 times but 70 or 80% in straight pool isn't going to cut it. I can say with 100% certainty that Ralf would have taken the 3 rail option.
This is a good learning example. Many times players will avoid a shot they're not comfortable with even when they think it might be the correct way to go.
News flash: Stop doing that. Leaving your comfort zone behind is the path to improvement.
Best thing is hit it with left and go 3 rails for the 2 or 8. With 2 balls over there it increases the margin of error for achieving a favorable result and would be the preferred choice.
His choice wasn't terrible and would likely have gotten ok results 7 or 8 out of 10 times but 70 or 80% in straight pool isn't going to cut it. I can say with 100% certainty that Ralf would have taken the 3 rail option.
This is a good learning example. Many times players will avoid a shot they're not comfortable with even when they think it might be the correct way to go.
News flash: Stop doing that. Leaving your comfort zone behind is the path to improvement.
