The Shot: One decision determines everything else...

J

jjohnson

Registered
Similar to Schrodinger's Cat, as you stand before the pool table, no one knows for certain what the next shot will be.
But once you decide where you want the cue ball to end up after the shot, the entire shot is precisely defined.
Your decision includes the cue ball, the object ball, the pocket, and the path of the cue ball.
These four parameters are part and parcel to the shot. They cannot be separated. They are essential parts of the whole shot.

Here's proof. Break a rack of 9-ball. Take ball in hand. Before you set the cue ball where you want it, decide where you want the cue ball to end up after you shoot the shot. Now place the cue ball on the table. You see, you just decided the current cue ball position, what object ball you intend to shoot, the path of the cue ball, and where you want the cue ball to end up.

This means that once you decide the shot, you have nothing more to decide. Nothing more to think about. Nothing more to say.
From where you've ended up placing your feet having arrived at the table, to the final moment you release the cue ball to make the shot,
every detail of the shot is predetermined.

You just need to do it.
Execute the the entire shot from beginning to end.

What's the problem?
 
When I break a rack of 9-ball, I analyze the entire table before I shoot the first ball.

At the beginning, I look to see where the 9-ball will go from its current position and where the ball before the 9 is and how I will get from that ball to the 9.

Then I map everything backwards.

If there are balls that need to be broken out, I work that into the positioning so that I will know what I intend to do before I shoot the first shot.

If I know I can't run them, I plan everything to get to the best possible safety that will give me BIH at the most opportune time.

I look for safeties that will allow me to break out clusters while locking up my opponent at the same time so that I will have a better table layout when I get BIH.
 
jjohnson said:
Similar to Schrodinger's Cat, as you stand before the pool table, no one knows for certain what the next shot will be.
But once you decide where you want the cue ball to end up after the shot, the entire shot is precisely defined.
Your decision includes the cue ball, the object ball, the pocket, and the path of the cue ball.
These four parameters are part and parcel to the shot. They cannot be separated. They are essential parts of the whole shot.

Here's proof. Break a rack of 9-ball. Take ball in hand. Before you set the cue ball where you want it, decide where you want the cue ball to end up after you shoot the shot. Now place the cue ball on the table. You see, you just decided the current cue ball position, what object ball you intend to shoot, the path of the cue ball, and where you want the cue ball to end up.

This means that once you decide the shot, you have nothing more to decide. Nothing more to think about. Nothing more to say.
From where you've ended up placing your feet having arrived at the table, to the final moment you release the cue ball to make the shot,
every detail of the shot is predetermined.

You just need to do it.
Execute the the entire shot from beginning to end.

What's the problem?
Click to expand...
Well people who know this, already know this and probably have it pared down to automatic. Main issue I see is the 95% who don't know this, may try to follow that undefined advice.
 
HawaiianEye said:
When I break a rack of 9-ball, I analyze the entire table before I shoot the first ball.

At the beginning, I look to see where the 9-ball will go from its current position and where the ball before the 9 is and how I will get from that ball to the 9.

Then I map everything backwards.

If there are balls that need to be broken out, I work that into the positioning so that I will know what I intend to do before I shoot the first shot.

If I know I can't run them, I plan everything to get to the best possible safety that will give me BIH at the most opportune time.

I look for safeties that will allow me to break out clusters while locking up my opponent at the same time so that I will have a better table layout when I get BIH.
Click to expand...
Yours is the ultimate pro strategy.

What I am alluding to is the actual mechanics involved. For instance, the cue ball path is determined by the point of contact between the cue tip and the cue ball, and the contact point of the cue ball on the object ball. And the forces exerted at these points. And the cue stick alignment. And so on and so on. Effectively all these many shot criteria are predetermined just because you decided your final cue ball resting position.

Now, since you know all these things, you must bring everything into alignment and conform to these confinements. For instance, you must align the cue stick accordingly. So you must know how to make the alignment happen. You must know how to look and see with your eyes and how to use your body to bring the cue stick into conformity with the shot line. But you must already have determined the shot line knowing where the contact points are and where you must send the cue ball, for starters.

Have you ever heard that song: Your foot bone is connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone is connected to the leg bone. The leg bone is connected to the knee bone. The knee bone is connected to the thigh bone. Etc. Etc.

This is how the shot is constructed with interconnected constrained pieces. Conceptually, once you determine the final resting place of the cue ball, your shot solution instantly comes into being. You must be able to see it. And you must be able to conform your body to this "conceptual shape." You don't have to think about it. You must desire and intend to seize control of the shot.

It's more than a philosophy. The shot is welcoming you with open arms ready to embrace you. Accept, adapt and willfully conform, becoming the shot . Don't fight it or you will miss the shot.
 
I used to say "if I can SEE the shot, I can make it".

When I said "see", that meant conceptualizing all of the individual parts of the process in my mind and getting feedback from my mind and body that all systems were "go" to do what I was attempting to do.

When people get up and down multiple times on a shot, it means they aren't "seeing" the shot. They are having doubts or second thoughts about some part of the process, whether it has to do with their mind or body.

Once you have played at an advanced level for a period of time, you have obtained most of the physical skills required to remain at that level or even move up to a higher level. At this point, it becomes more of a mind game where you have to ensure you are "seeing" every shot before you pull the trigger in order to improve your consistency and mental state while playing the game.
 
HawaiianEye said:
I used to say "if I can SEE the shot, I can make it".

When I said "see", that meant conceptualizing all of the individual parts of the process in my mind and getting feedback from my mind and body that all systems were "go" to do what I was attempting to do.

When people get up and down multiple times on a shot, it means they aren't "seeing" the shot. They are having doubts or second thoughts about some part of the process, whether it has to do with their mind or body.

Once you have played at an advanced level for a period of time, you have obtained most of the physical skills required to remain at that level or even move up to a higher level. At this point, it becomes more of a mind game where you have to ensure you are "seeing" every shot before you pull the trigger in order to improve your consistency and mental state while playing the game.
Click to expand...
I say this now: "if I can SEE the shot, I can make it"
But as you know, saying so and doing so are two different things.
Seeing the shot essentially means understanding what must be done to make the shot.
But doing what must be done is a completely different challenge.

But it is also a rather straight forward task, but only if you know how to accomplish it.
For instance, aligning the cue stick. You need to know how.
And you need to know the criteria that must be met to align the cue stick correctly.
Then you need to confirm that you have indeed met those standards correctly.
And you can't do any of this half ass.

If you pull the trigger thinking that you will make the shot but still miss,
maybe something subtle is going on below the radar. For instance, your eyes have muscles.
And just like any other muscle they can get tired. It starts slow and is hardly noticeable.
You must decide: can I overcome this or should I quit or should I ask for a spot and jack the bet?
 
jjohnson said:
I say this now: "if I can SEE the shot, I can make it"
But as you know, saying so and doing so are two different things.
Seeing the shot essentially means understanding what must be done to make the shot.
But doing what must be done is a completely different challenge.

But it is also a rather straight forward task, but only if you know how to accomplish it.
For instance, aligning the cue stick. You need to know how.
And you need to know the criteria that must be met to align the cue stick correctly.
Then you need to confirm that you have indeed met those standards correctly.
And you can't do any of this half ass.

If you pull the trigger thinking that you will make the shot but still miss,
maybe something subtle is going on below the radar. For instance, your eyes have muscles.
And just like any other muscle they can get tired. It starts slow and is hardly noticeable.
You must decide: can I overcome this or should I quit or should I ask for a spot and jack the bet?
Click to expand...

By the time I was at the level where I said this I had already hit a million balls.

I already had the fundamentals.

Part of the "seeing" was ensuring all the "basic" stuff was covered before I shot.
 
HawaiianEye said:
When I break a rack of 9-ball, I analyze the entire table before I shoot the first ball.

At the beginning, I look to see where the 9-ball will go from its current position and where the ball before the 9 is and how I will get from that ball to the 9.

Then I map everything backwards.

If there are balls that need to be broken out, I work that into the positioning so that I will know what I intend to do before I shoot the first shot.

If I know I can't run them, I plan everything to get to the best possible safety that will give me BIH at the most opportune time.

I look for safeties that will allow me to break out clusters while locking up my opponent at the same time so that I will have a better table layout when I get BIH.
Click to expand...
Kim Young, PBIA Billiards instructor, taught me to map out everything backwards in 8 ball as well.
 
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