Rail shots

[Patrick Johnson]

Yeah, my point in saying that is simply about practicality. You have no idea how many people I see at the poolroom practicing things like jump shots and masses. I mean, they literally will pull you aside and ask how to shoot a masse! Seriously, I tell them the same thing every time. I jack-up, say a prayer and hit the side of the cueball. If I get the desired result, awesome. This game is about mastering simple situations. It's NOT about accummulating trivial shots. Now, I admit, I knew this shot and I've used this shot but I gotta say, in the grand scheme of things it's amounted to very little in my pool-life.

I agree the frozen rail shot is rare, but it's easy to learn and execute - and not trivial when it comes up. But I think you're throwing the baby out with the bath on this masse thing. It's easy to learn to aim a masse shot and it's much more useful than you admit, same for jumps. Relying on a kick when an easier and more accurate masse or jump is available is an unnecessary and significant hole in your game.

pj
chgo

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

I agree the frozen rail shot is rare, but it's easy to learn and execute - and not trivial when it comes up. But I think you're throwing the baby out with the bath on this masse thing. It's easy to learn to aim a masse shot and it's much more useful than you admit, same for jumps. Relying on a kick when an easier and more accurate masse or jump is available is an unnecessary and significant hole in your game.

pj
chgo

No, I mean, there's only so much to gain by knowing these shots. You get a basic feel for it and you move on. I think there are a lot of beginner/intermediate players that spend WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much time working on these specialty shots and not enough time working on how to avoid them.