vapoolplayer said:
i apologize in advance if the following is something you already know, but it seems that you're a little confused on what is being said.
i'm guessing from the above statement that you are putting follow and draw in the category of "english".
"english" is sidespin, left or righthand spin
when the term "center ball" is used, it encompasses stop, follow, and draw.
so when capelle says "pro's use english 20 percent of the time" he means that pro players use stop, follow, and draw 80 percent of the time.
if you watch pro players, they usually leave enough angle that they do not need to add any sidespin to attain position because the cue ball takes on a natural spin after contact with the object ball.
some of them (such as earl) prefer to spin the ball in at times. this is called "helping english".
i myself, on average use sidespin about once each rack.......so that would be close to the 20 percent as mentioned above.
VAP
Thanks for clarifying things VA.I was doing this drill (see wei table below)the other day using four different cue ball locations as illustrated by the one,two,three and four ball. In other words imagine that the 1,2,3 and 4 are your cue balls.I would then cut the eight ball in using extreme tops,tops,center ball,bottoms and extreme bottoms.I used no sidespin whatsoever in this drill and just hit the 5 different center ball locations on the cue ball.I only chose 5 and I'm sure you could strike the cue ball in 7 or more locations up and down the center of the cue ball if you really wanted to get anal with it.
Without the sidespin, I found my potting percentage was respectfully high.I also found that from all four cue ball(1,2,3 and 4) locations and from one(or more) of the five cue ball HIT( top,center,bottom etc.) locations that I could get shape on either side of the nine, or hit the nine(or come close). If I hit the shots harder, I could also come back up table and get shape on either side of the eight again.
What my experiment showed me was is that I can keep my potting percentage high and get to such a wide variety of shape locations without the use of english.I also noticed if I slopped the eight in or made it clean that I could span the shape zones a diamond or more in width, all without english.I also noticed how I struck the ball(hard,medium and soft) also presented many more shape options without the need for sidespin.Furthermore, I noticed my speed control was much better in the absense of english.This above info isn't rocket science and most guys on the forum already know this shit and it's not new for me entirely either.I'm just trying to prove a point that I (we) don't need as much sidings as we are using to get around the table.
START(
%Aq4X2%Bn3X2%Cj9X3%Dg7X3%EB3\0%FB3\1%GB5\2%Hr7O6%ID0O8%JB3\0
%KB4\1%LB3[7%MB0\1%NB3\0%OB3\2%PB0\1
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WEI TABLE:
http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/~wei/pool/pooltable2.html
Anyways I liked Blackjacks article(checkhis link)on speed control mentions a lot depends on your stroke.Good players with good strokes can take the cue ball to a lot of places going up and down the center of the cue ball.That's virtually how snooker players survive.A good player can also add miniscule amounts of english like 1/16,1/8 or a 1/4 tip of english and spin the living hell out of the cue ball, accuratley making the pot and taking the cue ball to where a novice would need 1/2, a full tip or a 1 1/2 of english.As we all know and dream.....it's in the stroke.
I've got tapes of the WPC 1999-2004(and many other matches) that features the worlds best pros shooting that cue ball with the red dots on it.Next time I watch a match I'm going to pay attention to how often they use sidespin and draw my own conclusions on Capelle's 20% theory.
Anyhow, I'm going to continue to try to get around the table with as little english as possible and use it as I need it to get back on line.In many occasions I'm sure 1/4 tip can do the trick.I will set up many different variations of drills like the one illustrated to educate myself further.I'll see if my game improves any and let everyone know 6 months down the road.
I know this A+ Philipino locally who told me he used to be spin crazy. He told me that he learned to get around the table center ball and also learned an aiming system. He is a regular winner of our Sunday tourneys and won our bigger tourney here last year which featured 6 pros.I'll try out his (and Capelle's) recommendations and keep you posted.RJ
ps. Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions I received from AZ....there is an amazing amount of help offered here.This place is the best.
