What is meant by "Pop" the cue ball?
- Thread starter gordml
- Start date
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
This guy gets it.
I think Sigel was just talking about a punch shot with some hit to it so that the cue ball can get to the rail and back out before any topspin takes it forward along the rail.
As for the break hop... There was a great slowmo break in a recent chanpionship on a matchroom production where they marvelled at how the breaker hit the cueball which left the table surface and returned perfectly with as square a contact on the 1 as you could ever hope for. It hopped a bit. Not something you need to try for. It will just happen at speed with a solid hit as the CB is never coming in perfectly along the cloth but is hopping its way to the rack as burn marks show us. Square hits at speed with that little bit of CB hopping will result in a hop more often than not. I don't think you have to try to do anything other than hit fast and square to make it hop.
But Sigel's 'pop' has nothing to do with the 3 pages of break convo. Just a 'pop'. like, you know, just give it a pop!
lol. For real man… don’t talk about and over analyze it…Just pop the damn thing!!!This guy gets it.
I think Sigel was just talking about a punch shot with some hit to it so that the cue ball can get to the rail and back out before any topspin takes it forward along the rail.
As for the break hop... There was a great slowmo break in a recent chanpionship on a matchroom production where they marvelled at how the breaker hit the cueball which left the table surface and returned perfectly with as square a contact on the 1 as you could ever hope for. It hopped a bit. Not something you need to try for. It will just happen at speed with a solid hit as the CB is never coming in perfectly along the cloth but is hopping its way to the rack as burn marks show us. Square hits at speed with that little bit of CB hopping will result in a hop more often than not. I don't think you have to try to do anything other than hit fast and square to make it hop.
But Sigel's 'pop' has nothing to do with the 3 pages of break convo. Just a 'pop'. like, you know, just give it a pop!
A little further away from the cue tip?
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
From the point on the rail the cue is coming from or from the bridge hand. Just to lower the cue's angle of descent and flatten it out. But really, you will never get pure flat and the CB will always have some level of hop to it. Whether dead square or just a tiny hop off is gonna be down a bit to luck..... or I guess superhuman precision in terms of matching up speed and cue elevation to get a perfect contact.
Right.
Yes, but don't try to make the CB hop (as was suggested at the beginning of this discussion) - instead try to keep the hop low to deliver maximum force into the rack. More hop doesn't add anything; it's a symptom of a non-square hit.
pj
chgo
The hop on the break is simply a symptom of a tight rack and a full hit. A tight rack and a full hit will also give you generally a better spread. So, logically, a hop on the break can be an indication of a good spread to come.
If the rack isn't tight, the CB will experience less mass at impact with the rack and the hop will be significantly less.
If the rack isn't tight, the CB will experience less mass at impact with the rack and the hop will be significantly less.
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
Ye, I said about as much above. The goal is a fast square hit. A hop will often occur as the CB will get some amount of air under it after it is struck slightly downward and doesn't really get a chance to regain a roll along the surface of the table at high speeds.
I imagine he was probably talking about a center ball-ish pop, or stun shot. Just a guess.
It's much easier to respond if you don't read the thread..... But Sigel's 'pop' has nothing to do with the 3 pages of break convo. Just a 'pop'. like, you know, just give it a pop!
I think Mike has his own set of words for pool. So does JJ.
Howdy All;
Funny how 'pop' became 'hop'.
Back in the North-East, Pop has a meaning akin to a short forceful stroke,
as in I popped him one and he ended up with a blackeye/bloody nose, things
like that. "Pop" as used would be a short stroke with force. IMO, YMMV.
chucklin'
hank
Funny how 'pop' became 'hop'.
Back in the North-East, Pop has a meaning akin to a short forceful stroke,
as in I popped him one and he ended up with a blackeye/bloody nose, things
like that. "Pop" as used would be a short stroke with force. IMO, YMMV.
chucklin'
hank
Sounds like a decent speed stun shot.
I think the older generation of players had a different vocabulary. Here's CJ Wiley in a brand new video talking about different strokes, including the pop stroke.
I haven't read the thread, so just one more opinion. I don't remember the last time I heard the term pop the cue ball. The first time I heard it was back in the last ice age, sixties or early seventies. Back then you could pop somebody in the nose when they were having difficulty understanding something. A short full power shot but not really drawing back or punching very far through the target. You weren't trying to deck somebody or knock them out, you were just trying to get their attention or explain you disagreed with their point of view.
Popping the cue ball was much the same, a jab with the cue stick with little follow through. It involved the rapidest possible acceleration from the transition. The difference between this stroke and the dreaded jerk forward was largely imaginary, perhaps it was a few hundredths of a second smoother start. It had it's uses but not many. It worked on a short rack break on a bar table, nine or six ball.
There are better ways of short rack breaking and I think the stroke is best forgotten as getting too fond of it is likely to lead to jerking at the transition, not a good thing.
My four cents anyway. Everyone can forget my two cent opinions. I just paid my car insurance today. It jumped 68% in a year!
Hu
Popping the cue ball was much the same, a jab with the cue stick with little follow through. It involved the rapidest possible acceleration from the transition. The difference between this stroke and the dreaded jerk forward was largely imaginary, perhaps it was a few hundredths of a second smoother start. It had it's uses but not many. It worked on a short rack break on a bar table, nine or six ball.
There are better ways of short rack breaking and I think the stroke is best forgotten as getting too fond of it is likely to lead to jerking at the transition, not a good thing.
My four cents anyway. Everyone can forget my two cent opinions. I just paid my car insurance today. It jumped 68% in a year!
Hu
I saw this last night and tried it for a few minutes. Guess what. A world class player is correct that different strokes give different cueball effect. The penny shows it. Maybe these guys know something.
CJ built his game to win money in tough spots. He did that with regularity. He and his road co-horts did/do know a few things.