Snooker "Z Shot" Difficulty Level: Woah!

[hang-the-9]

Someone brought up the Z shot Efren did vs Strickland which usually gets tossed around as one the greatest shots ever, I think not just because he made the shot but that he did it after a bad roll on a safe and the game was for the tournament. Plus Earl's reaction is great and shows that he is often a great sportsman that appreciates quality play even by his opponents.

BUT... this shot is a lot more impressive https://youtu.be/A98Wz9N_JZM?t=11s

Figured it deserved its own post.

 

[Ron Swanson]

That's a fluke, followed by a few routine shots. Weird video.

 

[alphadog]

That's a fluke, followed by a few routine shots. Weird video.

Efren's shot was a fluke following a fluke.

 

[hang-the-9]

Efren's shot was a fluke following a fluke.

That is correct, was going to post the same thing, Efren even said in the interview he was just hoping for a good hit since the shot was so tough.

But the chances of the snooker fluke in that clip happening is probably an order of magnitude greater than the shot Efren made.

 

[hang-the-9]

That's a fluke, followed by a few routine shots. Weird video.

They seem to be routine for a pool player but the audience reacted like they were great shots. On a snooker table they very likely are. In the other post I actually said the same thing, for a pool player on a 9' table, most of those shots would be not hard for a B player to play.

 

[midnightpulp]

That's a fluke, followed by a few routine shots. Weird video.

I agree with you for once.

After watching and playing pool so long, no "imagination" shot impresses me in snooker. The whole gimmick around those "amazing" shots is the fact they're made difficult by the size of the pockets and the table length.

 

[Celtic]

That is correct, was going to post the same thing, Efren even said in the interview he was just hoping for a good hit since the shot was so tough.

Yeah, Efren's shot was no less of a fluke than that snooker shot. They are the same thing, both players played a hit hoping for a safety and accidently made the ball. Neither shot is "that" impressive in that regard, good kicks to hit the ball, but the following pots were both simply luck.

Efren's Z-shot for all it's fame would not be on my top ten list of great pool shots. Efren has shot many non-fluke shots far more impressive than that over the years.

The crazy stroke shot Corey Deuel played in the US Open against Mika on the other hand, that would be right near the top of my list. I have never seen anyone do a shot in actual competition like that before or since.

 

[jb1911]

Any shot like that is 95% luck.

 

[SloMoHolic]

Please allow me to toot my own horn for a bit. I got stuck and made a nice Z-kick, although it wasn't nearly as dramatic as Efren's or the above-linked snooker Z.

It happened during a pre-livestream practice game when Rhea (yes, Rhea) missed a shot and rattled the cue ball in the jaws of a corner pocket, leaving my object ball on the center of the opposite rail.

As others have mentioned, I was just hoping for a hit, and as it turned out, I got a good one.

I didn't end up with a great leave after that, and honestly, I don't even remember if I won that game.

I'm still proud of it.

The missed shot is at around 2:50 in this video, with the Z kick shortly after. (I'm on my phone, so I don't know quite how to directly link to that time in the video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrO8AvLBEA

Lol

Thanks,

-Blake

 

[hang-the-9]

Any shot like that is 95% luck.

I think on a pool table that is maybe a 5% shot, on a snooker table, it's probably less than 1%. I doubt anyone could make that kick from that cueball position, even one rail much less 3, 1 out of 100 times.

 

[sjm]

The greatness of a shot is in its context.

Efren's Z-shot came at double hill in the final of the elite Sands Regency 9-ball event against fellow superstar Earl Strickland. If he produced anything less than a miracle shot (which we all know involved both luck and skill), he would lose the tournament. Had he made the same exact shot in the first round while leading 7-0, the shot would be trivial, but he made it when the match was riding on it.

I recall seeing the great Ken Griffey Jr homer 440 feet to the OPPOSITE field. Remarkable indeed, almost impossible, but Bobby Thomson's pennant winning three-run homer against the Dodgers in 1951 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth is far more impressive to me because of its context. The Giants snatched the pennant from their rival at the nth hour.

Because it magically transformed a near certain loss into a victory against a great rival is why Efren's Z-shot is the greatest shot of them all.

 

[Ron Swanson]

I think on a pool table that is maybe a 5% shot, on a snooker table, it's probably less than 1%. I doubt anyone could make that kick from that cueball position, even one rail much less 3, 1 out of 100 times.

The guy could play that shot all day every day for the rest of his life and not pot it like that again.