Should all miscues = foul?

Back when music was good, I used to play a lot of bar pool with bar rules, you could not play a safe because that was called dirty pool.

We used to lick your thumb when no one was looking and wipe the chalk off the tip. Then miscue to play a safe.

No one was the wiser.

Won a lot of beers doing that.

Kim
 
I am not one to go siting rules right out of the rule book, but I am 90% sure that is most major tournaments and the BCA that a "scoop" misscue is a foul... The CB is on top of your cue....

An unintentional miscue is not a foul. Read the rules.

A scoop jump IS a foul, but only because the BCA rules defined to be so. (Which I think is retarded, but that is an argument for another thread. The rule is the rule.)

Slow motion video shows that the ferrule and the shaft DO NOT contact the ball in a scoop jump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWWMy5tj69s

So, if it is a foul, it is because the rules define a scoop jump as a foul, but not because of illegal contact.

Unintentional miscues, including unintentional scoop jumps, are not fouls.

See the rule below.

1-34 Jump Shots and Massé Shots
1. Jump shots are legal shots. However, it is a foul if you intentionally cause the cue ball
to rise off the bed of the table by "digging under" or "scooping" the cue ball with the cue.
If such a motion is unintentional, it is considered a miscue, and not a foul in and of itself.​
 
Should all miscues

Sometimes we miscue and the CB still hits the OB followed by rail contact, a legal shot...........or is it? The majority (? > 90%) of super slow motion videos that I have seen show that miscues result in a double hit on the CB.......most with tip contact first then with the side of the ferrule or shaft. These double hits can't be seen with the naked eye.

If the above is true (perhaps Dr Dave would know what the percent really is and provide some links to some super slow motion miscues), should all miscues be considered a foul?
Regardless of the percentages of video evidence, the answer is no. Not all miscues are fouls.

The BCA Rule Book describes in the General Glossary a miscue as,

"A stroke which results in the cue tip contact with cue ball being faulty. Usually the cue tip slides off the cue ball without full transmission of the desired stroke. The stroke usually results in a sharp sound and a discoloration of the tip and/or thecue ball at the point of contact."

Under General Rules it states that," Legal shots require that the cue ball be struck only with the cue tip. Failure to meet this requirement is a foul."

Further in the rule regarding Illegal Jumping of Ball(3.25 in my book), it describes the out come as not an evident foul unless it can be determined that the cue ball had contact with the shaft or ferrule. So, it is not an automatic foul when this "dig" or "scooping" action occurs. The outcome is the same for miscues. When it is evident that contact with the ferrule is made, it is a foul.

I had this happen to me last Friday Night in a tournament. Even though I made contact with one of my object balls, and subsequentially touched a rail, I informed my opponent I had in fact contacted my ferrule on the miscue. A Foul.

For any accomplished player, it is unmistakeable when this happens. You Hear it, and Feel it.

Hope this helps.

cajunfats.
 
I know a man who plays 8-ball at the Press Club.
Sooo...I asked him if 'scoop' shots were allowed in that place....
....he swore at me...:angry:
I told him that I didn't think anything he said should be unprintable.:yikes:
He said "Your dumb jokes should be unprintable.":embarrassed2:
 
I don't think it would cause a ton or arguments if the rule applied to everyone. If you miscue and make the ball, foul. If I do the same, foul.

I think any time you double-hit the CB (except when frozen) or touch the CB (during your stroke) with the ferrule or shaft... foul.

I always hear the "would create arguments" concept, but struggle to understand it if the rule was the same for all. That's like complaining about a table roll when both players are playing on the same table.

I believe the rule is miscues aren't a foul because it's "unintentional." Yet scooping is really an intentional miscue. Therefore, if you're hooked "by a hair" and your opponent can't see, you can act like you're drawing the ball and "unintentionally" miscue over the obstruction and make the ball and act like you can't believe you forgot to chalk your tip.

I KNOW I'm clearly in the minority here.... but I've NEVER understood why players fight against "objectivity" when it comes to rules of play.

Words like "intentional," "unintentional," and "obvious" should never be used in the wording of rules. Blanket rules make the most sense:

- If during the stroke you touch the CB w/ the ferrule or shaft, it's a foul.
- If during the stroke you move another ball, it's a foul.

Etc, etc. When the rules are setup in certain, objective terms (and people learn the game with those objective terms), there are no fights -- it's outcome-based.

Unfortunately, we all play a game of subjectivity in a lot of areas:

Player A) "Sorry, I didn't mean to move that ball. I'll put that back...."
Player B) "HEY!! THE BALL WASN'T THERE, PAL!!!" (moves it to where it was)
Player A) "Gimme a break, C'mon dude. You know it was right here >>>>"X".
Player B) *unscrews*

or

Someone shoots the 9ball and you hear the *CLACK* *CLACK* of the shaft bashing into the CB and the player makes the 9ball. OOPS -- wow, I can't believe I made it!! I got lucky to make it with a miscue!!
(my opinion, the guy made it during a foul and the rules allow him to chalk a win because it was unintentional).

It is what it is and my rant would never change things.

Objectivity = good
Subjectivity = bad

You completely ignored the part of my post that said well executed draw shots sometimes sound like miscues. That's where I think the arguments would start. I've heard commentators often say, "It sounded like he might have miscued a little bit."

I think it would be a bad idea to change the rule.
 
Objectivity = good
Subjectivity = bad

Strongly agree. I would remove the subjective language and either it's always a foul or never a foul.

Will people argue? Meh, who cares... people will argue about anything. Guys will argue that fouls should be behind the line because that's how they play at joe's bar. A random scrub will swear he didn't push when he obviously did. You can't 100% remove argument from pool, but if you want to try... removing subjective rules is a great start.

Just playing devil's advocate here but, would it be so bad if it's (almost) never a foul? Maybe make an amended rule to prevent scoop jumps,which are hazardous to the cloth. Miscue = ok, but if the cue ball hops over an impeding ball then it's a foul.
 
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