Tips for wide angle 'spot shot' type shots?

WillyCornbread said:
Anyone have any tips or practice drills other than just shooting a million of these shots that might help me?

My stroke is pretty good, I'm able to hit center ball consistently, make most shots around the table. I can shoot stop shots from any length of the table and I can draw back in a dead straight line about 40% of the time.

I have very little issue with straight in shots, or thin cuts. I feel comfortable sighting and if I miss I usually know as soon as I hit the ball.

For some reason I just can't make wide angle and spot shot type shots more than about 10% of the time! I never really feel comfortable sighting them - like it does't resolve in my brain the way most other shots do and when I hit it I have no idea if it's going in until I see it hit the object ball.

Any thoughts other than just keep hitting them over and over - I've shot about 100 of these shots in the last 2 days with no noticeable improvement in consistency...

Thanks,

b
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Two words... progressive drill - just like everything else in pool.

Start out shooting a spot shot from a foot away.
After you can consistently pocket at least 10 in a row, move back 6 inches... lather, rinse, repeat.

Dale
 
ktrepal85 said:
Hi Willy,

It sounds to me like you've missed the shot so many times that you're not sure where to aim. This has happened to me with certain shots so I can relate. Try this out to correct to problem:

1. Set up the cue ball and object ball and mark their locations with stickers.
2. Place a ghost ball frozen to the object ball to determine exactly where the cue ball must contact the object ball.
3. Mark the ghost ball location with a sticker and remove the ghost ball.
4. Shoot toward the ghost ball sticker and you should make the shot.

Set up the balls in their original positions and shoot the shot again. Keep shooting it over and over again until your brain learns the correct aiming point. After a while you can remove the ghost ball sticker and just go off memory. Next you can move onto different cue ball and object ball locations.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'll try this, I have clear reinforcement stickers all over my table from doing other progressive drills and the BU exam stuff, but I've never thought to sticker the ghost ball to help with more precise aiming.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!
 
For tricky thin cuts, I like to visualize the 90 degree tangent line off of the object ball and then try to make the cue ball follow that path. Just an extra bit of visual information to help with making shot.
 
The phillipino's on fine cut shots visualize a line from the pocket through the OB and aim one inch behind the OB. you will be surprised how many you will sink. To make the spot shot move the cue ball about three inches off the rail and shoot center ball, aiming the shaft at the left edge of the OB and watch it go in. Most 30 to 45 degree angles can be made center ball hit to the edge of the OB, which is the ghost ball hit. It is also the most common shot on the table. NY larry.
 
If funny how most of us can cut balls up, down, left right, side to side, etc and be okay.

But when a SPOT SHOT comes up, we look like this:
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

View attachment 392294

LOL!

Wutang
 
larry732 said:
To make the spot shot move the cue ball about three inches off the rail and shoot center ball, aiming the shaft at the left edge of the OB and watch it go in.
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The CB should be about 10 inches from the side rail and on the head string for this to work.

Most 30 to 45 degree angles can be made center ball hit to the edge of the OB
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This isn't true. A half ball hit produces a 30-degree cut angle - any other cut angle requires another hit. You're probably thinking that the CB will carom about 30 degrees for any shot between, say, 25-35 degrees.

...which is the ghost ball hit. It is also the most common shot on the table.
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There is no "ghost ball hit". The ghost ball is the imaginary CB contacting the OB for any hit.

And a half ball hit is not the most common shot, although it's probably in the middle of the most common range of cut angles.

pj
chgo
 
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anbukev said:
Brandon from Select Billiards explains the spot shot simply in his newest video.

https://youtu.be/r0nu1M0xH_A
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The accurate CB location for this half-ball spot shot is on the head string about 10" from the side rail (a little to the right of one diamond from the side rail). [NOTE: The actual CB position for a 30-degree cut to the corner is 10.5" from the side rail. 10" from the side rail overcuts slightly to compensate for contact-induced throw.]

The position Brandon recommends is about 3" too close to the center of the table (measured where the CB crosses the head string) - he has undoubtedly learned the small aim correction needed and applies it subconsciously.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
The accurate CB location for this half-ball spot shot is on the head string about 10" from the side rail (a little to the right of one diamond from the side rail). [NOTE: The actual CB position for a 30-degree cut to the corner is 10.5" from the side rail. 10" from the side rail overcuts slightly to compensate for contact-induced throw.
Click to expand...

Does that work for his 7' table?
 
Patrick Johnson said:
The accurate CB location for this half-ball spot shot is on the head string about 10" from the side rail (a little to the right of one diamond from the side rail). [NOTE: The actual CB position for a 30-degree cut to the corner is 10.5" from the side rail. 10" from the side rail overcuts slightly to compensate for contact-induced throw.]
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BRussell:
Does that work for his 7' table?
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No, that's for a 9-footer. For other size tables the CB stays on the head string, but the distance from the side rail changes as shown below. [NOTE: Move CB slightly closer to the side rail to compensate for throw.]

pj
chgo

[EDIT: My shortcut method of calculating the distances for smaller tables was a little off. Here's the corrected table. Thanks to AtLarge for the heads up.]

View attachment 67344
 

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Patrick Johnson said:
The accurate CB location for this half-ball spot shot is on the head string about 10" from the side rail (a little to the right of one diamond from the side rail). [NOTE: The actual CB position for a 30-degree cut to the corner is 10.5" from the side rail. 10" from the side rail overcuts slightly to compensate for contact-induced throw.]

The position Brandon recommends is about 3" too close to the center of the table (measured where the CB crosses the head string) - he has undoubtedly learned the small aim correction needed and applies it subconsciously.

pj
chgo
Click to expand...

Yup. I argued this with CJ a couple years ago. He was claiming that "two diamonds up and one diamond over" was the correct place on the head string for a half-ball-aim spot shot. It's actually about a 32.3° cut from there rather than 30°. Then we learned about his "touch of inside." So apparently he squirts the CB a bit to achieve the thinner hit needed from "two up and one over." I imagine quite a few people use that location and do something, consciously or subconsciously, to make the correct hit for the spot shot. But, as you say, the correct location for a half-ball aim with a center hit on the CB is a couple inches closer to the side rail (I get 10.4"), plus maybe a little more to allow for throw.
 
Here's a picture from the Billiard Aim Trainer II site I found while browsing around.
 

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