Useful 8-Ball Drill (OB over pocket)

[Colin Colenso]

This is a handy drill to develop cue ball positioning from a ball that is over a pocket.

Moving the CB away from this ball with control can be difficult, as firm follow encounters the karate chop effect, which is highly variable depending on the angle of hit and the slickness of the table.

In this drill, the stun / touch draw with left english is utilized to move the CB two rails and back to near where the CB started, usually a little below the center of the table.

Play this shot over and over until you develop control from the different angles.

An advanced version of the drill is to remove the 3 balls on the side rail and then play the same shot but firmer, traveling 3 and 4 rails for position. Knowledge and a feel for these shots from the different angles is very useful for positioning the CB up table from over a pocket, and also for extracting balls from rails and clusters.

Note: The photo is UK 8-Ball balls, but the drill is also practical for US Pool Balls, particularly in 8-ball, where balls finish over pockets more often.

Enjoy!

Colin

 

[midnightpulp]

This is a handy drill to develop cue ball positioning from a ball that is over a pocket.

Moving the CB away from this ball with control can be difficult, as firm follow encounters the karate chop effect, which is highly variable depending on the angle of hit and the slickness of the table.

In this drill, the stun / touch draw with left english is utilized to move the CB two rails and back to near where the CB started, usually a little below the center of the table.

Play this shot over and over until you develop control from the different angles.

An advanced version of the drill is to remove the 3 balls on the side rail and then play the same shot but firmer, traveling 3 and 4 rails for position. Knowledge and a feel for these shots from the different angles is very useful for positioning the CB up table from over a pocket, and also for extracting balls from rails and clusters.

Note: The photo is UK 8-Ball balls, but the drill is also practical for US Pool Balls, particularly in 8-ball, where balls finish over pockets more often.

Enjoy!

Colin

Nice. Been looking for a good drill to practice this all too common situation.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Nice. Been looking for a good drill to practice this all too common situation.

It's a little tricky at the start, but quite consistent and predictable once you get a feel for it.

I play it with draw and heavy english, and try to have the draw almost coming to a slide as it hits the OB.

Here are the 3 and 4 rail versions. As a drill, you could start with the red path shot and then continue with the black path for several shots, then start again with the red path.

You can also try the same paths with the CB further out from the pocket. These paths are a very handy way to move the CB around the table without scratching. Heavy english makes scratching less likely too.

Colin

 

[Colin Colenso]

Here's a drill format for the around table shots from over the pocket.

Play the 1-ball and 2-ball alternately using left and right english respectively. After a while, swap the 1 and 2 balls to pockets D & C.

Colin

 

[bdorman]

Here's a very good instruction drill video by Bert Kinister along those same lines.

Fast forward to 4min33sec (for some reason it won't let me "Copy URL at this time")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ-xWRVDP2w

Bert's a heck of a character and you have to sit through some other stuff before he gets to the drill...but even his rambling is usually pretty worthwhile.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Here's a very good instruction drill video by Bert Kinister along those same lines.

Fast forward to 4min33sec (for some reason it won't let me "Copy URL at this time")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ-xWRVDP2w

Bert's a heck of a character and you have to sit through some other stuff before he gets to the drill...but even his rambling is usually pretty worthwhile.

Nice video. I watched that a couple of years ago.

The only problem with it, other than his assistant who struggled getting enough side english, was that it didn't show how the same paths can be made not only from near the rail, but all the way across the table.

The further you move across, the harder you need to play the shot, and perhaps even a bit lower. The heavy english becomes more crucial as the CB angle is further across.

Colin

 

[Colin Colenso]

Here's another drill, this time using inside english when the object ball is to the edge of a pocket.

In this one, you'd alternate potting the 1 and 2 ball.

You can also move the OBs to the other side and play the shot 3 rails (side, foot, side) and alternate that way.

Or set up OBs to different edges of all 4 corner pocket and maneuver the CB around the table as required, to improve your proficiency with this shot and to learn the speed and angles from various starting positions.

Colin