Techniques

[Patrick Johnson]

Thanks. The midpoint = midway between the balls?

So kinda like contact point to contact point…?

Yep all correct.

Now that I think of it, it’s exactly like contact point to contact point. For any shot at any distance, the line from CB contact point to OB contact point bisects their center-to-center line.

Guess I’ll add Contact Point Geometry to my pool lexicon (thanks again).

pj
chgo

 

[maha]

that's all it is and you look at whatever and however can give you the best contact point on the cueball and to the object balls contact point.

you have to know which deviation on either hurts the most on the shot so that may determine whether to use english or not
same with high and low.
with very low i look at the cueball as being a little off is more hurtful than high for most shots.
object balls traveling longer ways needs more precise hits. so that target is most important.

all that should be second nature as you get good. if it doesnt you need to rethink how you approach things.

 

[boogieman]

So, do any of you out there in radio land have particular techniques for certain shots?

IOWs, when a certain shot pops up do you auto-magically utilize something different than your usual to successfully execute said shot?

Lou Figueroa

When I'm banking across the table into the side I'll do two things. I'll touch the slate with my finger where the most forgiving part of the pocket is, and occasionally I'll imagine a pocket floating out in space and shoot the ball at that pocket. I have no idea why but it works. Touching the slate helps cement the location into spacial awareness. It looks a bit silly but we can't take ourselves seriously all the time.

Also when kicking one rail, unless it's absolutely necessary, I'll never use anything but high english and use speed to shorten or lengthen the CB path. I don't know the physics of it, but the high gives the CB a really predictable route off the rail. If I have to hit the OB harder for some reason I'll move down the rail and shorten it with speed. Spin's great, but not on a kick shot, there's too many variables to be pinpoint accurate with spin. If you hit it soft enough for spin to take you'll probably leave your opponent a shot if you were to miss, not to mention throw effects and such. "Spin it to win it" doesn't apply to kicking IMO.

I will often only use high for 2 rail kicks too. Same thing, more predictable once you learn where to hit it without side spin.

 

[Paul_#_]

If there's an inch or more of space between the balls, I put my thumb on the cloth at the mid point and my index at the contact point on the object ball. Thumb to index is enough to supply the stick direction.

it’s exactly like contact point to contact point. For any shot at any distance, the line from CB contact point to OB contact point bisects their center-to-center line.

If the line is halfway of the gap between cue ball to object ball's contact point, this is not the line between center-ball cue ball to center-ball ghost ball. That should be the aiming line.

Photo:
The red tape is contact point of object ball.
The yellow tape is mid-point between cue ball and contact point on object ball.
The green tape is mid-point of the ghost ball.
The black line is the line from object ball to pocket .

 

[Sealegs50]

I was taught to run a frozen (or nearly frozen) object ball down a rail by hitting the rail first with inside spin. While I usually sink the OB, for some time now, I consistently scratch the cue ball in the opposite corner pocket. I know there are rules for avoiding double-kisses in banks. However, I tried unsuccessfully figure out a set of rules for when to use that rail-first-inside-spin shot and when to avoid it. Now, I pretty much avoid it.

 

[maha]

just use more or less spin and or speed so it doesnt go to the scratch pocket.

 

[straightline]

If the line is halfway of the gap between cue ball to object ball's contact point, this is not the line between center-ball cue ball to center-ball ghost ball. That should be the aiming line.

Photo:
The red tape is contact point of object ball.
The yellow tape is mid-point between cue ball and object ball.
The green ball is mid-point of the ghost ball.
The black line is the line from object ball to pocket .
View attachment 800990

No that's ghost ball you have there.

The mid point in question is on the line of centers and only becomes relevant when a line is drawn from there to the OB contact. This same line can be extended back to the CB where it magically intersects the reciprocal contact point. Abracadabra etc... This is the basis of CPG.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

If the line is halfway of the gap between cue ball to object ball's contact point

This technique assumes we don’t know the line from contact point to contact point - it’s a way to find it (by bisecting the center-to-center line).

…the line from CB contact point to OB contact point bisects their center-to-center line.

pj
chgo

 

[straightline]

Can't resist posting this stuff.

The blue line is the line of centers. The red line is the line of contact. The black line is the shooting line.

When the balls are close together, I place my thumb on the point where red intersects blue and my index finger next to the OB contact point. This line segment from thumb tip to index tip provides the contact line. Now you know where the black line should point.

The yellow line is provided to show the black shooting line intersects the base of the ghostball.

 

[Paul_#_]

, I place my thumb on the point where red intersects blue and my index finger next to the OB contact point. This line segment from thumb tip to index tip provides the contact line. Now you know where the black line should point.

It isn't the line between the thumb and contact point that is the aiming line; its the line parallel to that thumb/contact-point line --- the aiming line goes from cue-ball center parallel to your thumb-to-contact-point line.

I suppose the line between thumb and contact point could be the aiming line except that it has a helluva lot of right English.

 

[The_JV]

I hear you, but my banking tip is different: consider adjusting stroke speed and shot softness before adding sidespin or top/bottom spin. Softer shots create wider angles and are easier to predict than shots with spin and force.

I actually approach it from the completely opposite point of view. I prefer to hit banks firmly to shorten them up. The idea is that random equipment variables that effect banks, (cloth and cushion type/wear) can be negated to some degree by forcing compression. Meaning there's a greater likely hood that two identical banks on varying equipment can be hit the same manner with force rather than softly.

Should be said that I avoid banks unless absolutely necessary and I don't have the luxury of playing on consistent equipment.

 

[NobodySpecial]

So, do any of you out there in radio land have particular techniques for certain shots?

IOWs, when a certain shot pops up do you auto-magically utilize something different than your usual to successfully execute said shot?

Lou Figueroa

If I have a steep bank that I need to shorten up, I'll usually hit it with more of a jab than just shooting harder with my normal stroke. If I have a crossing bank that I really need to have open up as much as possible, I'll use a long stroke and try to hit it as smoothly as I can.

 

[maha]

your stroke will have nothing to do with how the bank reacts. that is fiction.

 

[alphadog]

your stroke will have nothing to do with how the bank reacts. that is fiction.

Not true.

 

[Black-Balled]

So, do any of you out there in radio land have particular techniques for certain shots?

IOWs, when a certain shot pops up do you auto-magically utilize something different than your usual to successfully execute said shot?

Lou Figueroa

For long shots where I'm jacked up, I aim a bit to the side of the pocket and increase my make%.

I never thought I was crooked. Then I learned I was.

And it can be corrected!

 

[maha]

analysis paralysis.

you hit the only spot on the object ball that sends it directly to the pocket,
with the spot on the cueball that you want to contact that spot.

 

[Black-Balled]

Not true.

I'd suggest anyone who doesn't think stroke type directly impacts what happens to CB/ OB play some 3 cushion with a good player.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I'd suggest anyone who doesn't think stroke type directly impacts what happens to CB/ OB play some 3 cushion with a good player.

The problem is that there are only so many things a cue ball can be doing and a single, standard stroke can achieve essentially all of those things.

However, lots of players do mental preparation by thinking of a different kind of stroke, like maybe a punch. The mental preparation gets them to hit the ball a little lower or a little softer than usual, and so they get the action they need on the cue ball. The could do the same shot -- prepare the cue ball in exactly the same way -- with their normal stroke but hit lower or softer.

There are some top carom players who have a catalog of strokes and some who have only one. I prefer the simpler approach.

 

[alphadog]

The problem is that there are only so many things a cue ball can be doing and a single, standard stroke can achieve essentially all of those things.

However, lots of players do mental preparation by thinking of a different kind of stroke, like maybe a punch. The mental preparation gets them to hit the ball a little lower or a little softer than usual, and so they get the action they need on the cue ball. The could do the same shot -- prepare the cue ball in exactly the same way -- with their normal stroke but hit lower or softer.

There are some top carom players who have a catalog of strokes and some who have only one. I prefer the simpler approach.

I like what you say but it's pretty difficult to throw/masse with a standard stroke. A short snap draw and the jumpshot may be other deviations.

 

[maha]

alphadog. you liked bobs post after saying mine was untrue.