To guage the quality of a player, what shots to you watch for?

Cornerman said:
The stun follow
The stun with outside, to-and-through the center of the table
Inside, double the corner
Outside, double the corner

Draw back at the wrong angle with outside, natural off the cushion (need a WEI diagram on this one, and I don't know what others call it)

I suppose any of the standard pattern (star patterns? ) in 9-ball.

Freddie <~~~ misses all of them
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I think I understand most of your shots and I like them (if I'm thinking of them correctly).

The one I'm not sure about is your 2nd shot. Can you help me out with that one?

Inside, doubling the corner is a pretty common shot that a lot of guys avoid at all costs. You have to be able to shoot that one. The doubling the corner with outside is not nearly as common -- if I'm thinking of the right shot. This one takes a real precise stroke and a good one.

For me, I'm always impressed with guys that can spear in long straight ins and drawing or following on those shots is all the more impressive. Now if they get the cue ball even a bit closer to the rail and they are jacked up a bit and they can still fire it in -- that impresses me the most.
 
A great amateur player I know who is in the VNEA hall of fame always had an edge on me until we were sitting around talking one evening. This was years ago and I have followed his lead for years. I asked him, why do you always sit there, in the chair looking like a spectator until your match. He said, if you didn't bring your game with you, do you think your going to find it here. To this day, I follow his lead, show up early, hit balls and once the light is on, leave it that way, why shoot your way out of confidence is basically what he said and I have followed to the best of my abilities.
 
hang-the-9 said:
I don't have a lot of shots I can shoot better than most, but banking with shape I am pretty good at. One of my favorite shots is cross side bank with draw + side spin to bring cueball 3 or 4 rails around for shape for a ball on the bottom rail.
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Nice. Just yesterday a guy had that shot against me, but the last ball was about on the spot. He way over hit it, but made it in the side anyway. :angry:
 
Most bangers will just shoot a combination shot really hard without thinking about where the first ball (the ball *not* being pocketed) will end up. If a player shoots a combination and controls where that first ball goes, they know what they are doing.

Likewise when breaking out a cluster of balls. Most bangers will just slam the cue ball into the pack and hope for the best. A real player knows which direction is best to attack the cluster, and to not necessarily hit it hard.
 
I played against this guy in Vegas last year for $20. He even gave me the break and let me choose the game.

Chose 10-ball. A (soft) dry break for me. Then he ran all 10 balls including some insane shots. He was shooting like garbage during warm-ups. His name was Mike Massey or something like that. Nice enough guy, and he even smiled while taking my $20.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Good point about the pressure, but here you are just kinda looking out of the corner of your eye to see how this new guy is playing.
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In that case I just pay attention on not just one or a few shots but I look for basics and how effortless he can make the game seem.
Looking at just one or a few shots can be relative to what you think is a hard shot. To him it maybe a routine shot even if he doesn't understand the physics behind it.

Wizard's GS4
 
Anybody moving the rock multiple rails with running english is no banger.

Still I play anybody 3 sets just to be sure I cant beat them...then adjust or move on.

I will spot the world if someonevis good action. So few players with heart and money...skill is the least important factor. Gamble is all I care about, that I can work with.
 
I watch a guys stroke, how he moves whitey, gets the proper angles. Also does he know the diamonds and rails to hit safes. Does he play safe well of think 2 way shots. How hard someone hits the balls is a give away too
 
ElLeon said:
I played against this guy in Vegas last year for $20. He even gave me the break and let me choose the game.

Chose 10-ball. A (soft) dry break for me. Then he ran all 10 balls including some insane shots. He was shooting like garbage during warm-ups. His name was Mike Massey or something like that. Nice enough guy, and he even smiled while taking my $20.
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HAHAHA, did he want to introduce you to a "friend" of his named Efren??
 
I don't even have to look at the shots he makes. I look to see if he has kamui chalk and an ld shaft. It's a tell tale sign of a player. And if he has this stick forget about it.
 
My antennae twitch when I see stun follow/stun through.

When someone falls nearly dead straight and pounds the ball across the table in a controlled way,
cheating the pocket fully and not adding unnecessary draw or sidespin.

I also notice when people make a railfirst shot that's nowhere near the hole, either
as a kick they played to make or as a way of dealing with falling too straight.

I notice when someone is smart with ball in hand and isn't scared to set up a sharp angle.

I become alarmed when people drill in jump cuts that I have trouble making with a level cue.
 
The force which someone needs to move the CB around is very revealing. That and an easy, comfortable familiarness with the use of reverse english are dead giveaways.
 
How natural a player is in figuring out weird kick angles is a big hint. If you see a guy hit a few un-natural angle kicks far from a rail like it was no big deal, you probably have a pretty good player on your hands.

Also, if a player looks comfortable taking the cue ball in the opposite direction of where it needs to be before ending up in the intended position, he is probably pretty good. Most players can run the cue ball in the opposite direction, but unless they have a lot of experience under their belt, they probably aren't very good at it and don't land in the intended area often.
 
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I don't pay much attention to the shot as I do on how they clear the delivery stroke.
Anybody can hide their speed but eventually they reveal themselves with the delivery stroke.
It may be few times in 50 shots but it will happen.
 
If playing on a bar box, do they look through the window on the side of the table to see what balls went in on an 8 ball break.
 
I watch to see how easy the make the game look, for example, if they consistently get shape with the perfect distance and angle to make the next shot as easy as possible.
Good players can shoot massive draw and spin shots, but great players will hardly ever need to use them.
 
1. His stroke
2. CB control
3. Patterns

If all of the above is better than mine, I just hand him a pink Mao note and move on to my drills >(
 
JC said:
Watch how they move whitey ahead a foot on a straight in shot. If they use the same stroke as they shoot the stop shot that's a sign of a player. If they baby the stroke and roll the balls, that's the otherwise.

JC
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^^^^^
Best answer I've seen so far.

Also I think how they use the cueball on hanging balls is an enormous sign of their level of play too. There's a bunch of ways to play the hangers but only very good players pick the correct one for the given shot IMO.
 
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