Your opponent breaks and leaves this. 9' table. This happened to a friend last night (hes an 8 also) and he ran out. How would you attempt this rack?
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What do you do?
- Thread starter cubc
- Start date
Blackjack said:Hmmmm... I would rely on my 14.1 skills. Nuff said.
That was the first thing that came to mind last night when watching this. I thought "if I could play straight pool like schmidt or blackjack I would have np with this"
The second thing that came to mind was.. I'm glad I'm not shooting this. I wouldve tried to get on top of the 2 and just and thin it to get on the 4 but I still dont like those odds in terms of the breakout... Just felt a little clueless.
I personally think him running out was luck but it sure looked nice.
From the overhead view, the 6 could be dead off the 7. Hit the 2 full and the 6 goes and just play shape for the 2 when doing so. That breaks up the cluster as well.
Hit with a little high inside - not too hard, you just want to contact the cluster enough to separate the balls from touching each other. In this shot, I hit on the right side of the 2 ball, I don't think it really matters which side you hit, just don't hit it flush on the nose, or you'll stick to it.
This is a pretty nice leave, maximum effect with minimal effort.
This is a pretty nice leave, maximum effect with minimal effort.
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I guess I need more practice with shots like this. I would be too afraid to miss the cluster by a little since the CB has to travel so far and get hooked on the bottom cluster. I actually brought my cues to work today so I could stop by on the way home to set it up and try it.
Heres what he did.
Turned out kinda like this which was incredibly dangerous in my opinion.. But it worked.
Heres what he did.
Turned out kinda like this which was incredibly dangerous in my opinion.. But it worked.
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cubc said:
This is a perfect situation where 14.1 knowledge can help you out in 9 ball. Sometimes in 14.1, you will get left a crazy break shot that is going away from the rack. I had one break ball on Saturday that was similar to this, but I was contacting a full 14 ball stack. Once you learn how to get the ball to go into the apex of the stack, you will not imtimidated by these. I'm not saying you'll always make contact, I'm just saying you'll learn where the cue ball is going. Without the 14.1 knowledge, you won't know where you're going, but you'll be getting there fast.
lol
EDITED AFTER SEEING WHAT HE DID:
Yeah, that's kind of dangerous because you are letting go of the cue ball. In this situation, I want the cue ball to stay above the 2 - that's just a straight pool player's preference, you always want to be shooting at those two corner pockets - its a dead give away to spotting a good straight pool player.
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cubc said:
I'd take the simpler route (I assume this is what Blackjack is talking about):
pj
chgo
Blackjack said:
BlackJack, is the reason you want to stay above the 2 because of your 14.1 experience or because of the necessity of playing position on the 2 ball?
14.1, you can shoot any ball afterwards, 9 ball, you have to rely on position on the 2. I know you realize this, but, just trying to get your thought process on the correct direction coming into the stack. Do you feel the better breakout comes from in the front of the stack, or, from behind it?
Oh, and I would probably play the shot that Patrick already diagrammed.
olauzon said:
Probably a touch of inside to counteract the sidespin picked up off the long rail - need to see the table to be sure.
The cut on the 1 is real thin too, and the CB hits closer to the side pocket (on the long rail) and farther from the corner pocket (on the short rail) than I show - I wasn't being real careful with the drawing.
pj
chgo
olauzon said:
I think Pat's cue ball route is probably more accurate - I usually don't have the "birds eye" view - but my diagram shows what I "basically" would want to do in this situation. This won't be the last time someone will point out my cue ball routes. I'm better in the table than I am on paper.
Klockdoc,
I want to stay above the 2 ball because coming in BEHIND the stack, you may send the 2 ball completely up table, and if you hit it hard enough, it might end up there with the 5 ball. Coming at it from on top of the stack, you tend to hit the shot at a more precise speed, actually going for a predetermined target - instead of walloping the crap out of the ball and hoping for the best.
14.1 knowledge is applicable in all games, especially when you have balls located on the spot. I'm pretty sure there are about as many ways to contact that 2 ball as there are 14.1 players in the world, but coming in behind the stack... not very smart - you are surrendering the cue ball to the elements of the table, and I don't like to do that no matter what game I am playing.
Cubc,
FWIW I had a shot like this when I played Louis Ulrich last year in a tournament. I basically broke out the balls in the same manner. When you play a great champion like Louis, you have to come with shots like that, you have your nerves to contend with - and if you are unfamiliar with this situation, you'll miss that cluster every single time. When I played Louis, I was actually locked up in a safety and had to kick a few rails to get to the "spot area". I relied on my 14.1 knowledge and I won a battle neither of us expected me to win. (But... I still lost the match...)
I think the key here is speed. Both Blackjack and cubc illustrate nice break shots but the fundamental problem with either of them is the required accuracy to get a good hit. I don't doubt these guys can pull of this type of shot but I'm not sure anyone would be happy about having to play it.
You want to hit the shot firm enough that if you miss the cluster altogether, you'll still end-up on the good side of the table to make a clean hit on the 2. There are tons of safety options and you want that as your back-up plan.
You want to hit the shot firm enough that if you miss the cluster altogether, you'll still end-up on the good side of the table to make a clean hit on the 2. There are tons of safety options and you want that as your back-up plan.
