Beware_of_Dawg said:
Promise? And...you want to play some for your lunch money?
What Would You Have Done
- Thread starter av84fun
- Start date
Promise? And...you want to play some for your lunch money?
Edit - this is in reply to Mully's post, though I clicked Quote but guess not. Your shot though end up leaving the 8 in a tough spot for you to make, and easy for the other guy to play a solid return safe. I would play to leave 8 near a pocket, and work on getting the other guy a tough hit on his ball.
TX Poolnut said:
I thought about that long and hard but eventually decided to do the other two way shot...I thinned the 8 for the VERY tough combo on the 9 intending to send the CB back up table and hope for the best lay of the 8/9 if the combo didn't go.
What happened was that I hit the combo pretty well and sent the 9 pretty close to the corner.....BUT...the CB caught the point (upper) on the bottom side pocket and went directly back down table for a straight in on the 8 for a loss that knocked me out of the tournament.
I like your carom suggestion but I am better at combos than caroms. I also like mully's shot...which never occurred to me in the heat of battle.
THANKS for all the suggestions.
Regards,
Jim
Andrew Manning said:
Yeah, when I was diagramming that I could envision the CB hitting the 9 too. It probably would, but as we both agree, key point is getting that 8 as close to the center of the rail as possible.
I like the bank on this too in the corner pocket to my right from where I'm shooting with a natural course on the 9 ball. But choosing the bank or ducking would have to come down to how I was playing that day and especially how my banks were going that day. The duck seems high percentage though. Your opponent is going to have to be a helluva cut master to slice that in from the center of the end rail with a shallow angle *AND* if you don't hit the 9 you stand a great chance of leaving the cue ball behind it using that inside spin.
I appreciate all the kudos I'm getting for this shot but like I said, I saw something very similar to this diagrammed by Nick Varner and how to play the safety in P&B magazine many many moons ago and it was at a time when I would practice all those diagrams that they put in the mag. I have a lot of confidence in this shot.
MULLY
Last edited:
SUPERSTAR said:
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with going for it if you have the confidence to get out with the bank. I also agree that a miss hit on that safety and you do leave them a shot, a long shot, but still a shot. The safety I diagrammed isn't perfect but percentage wise I think you're going to be coming back to the table more often than not. But I can't disagree with anything you say here.
MULLY
TX Poolnut said:
Thats what I would do also. If I couldnt get the ball to the head rail I would play the speed to leave the 8 a little past the side rail. All depends on what angle you can get coming off the eight.
From the way its diagramed it didnt look like I could hit the 8 and stick whitey behind the nine ball very easily. Looked like the carom was going to happen.
Another thought is to play the easiest shot and IMO that is to bump the eight behind the nine on the side rail to the first diamond. Pretty esay hook and even if it sticks out a little its tough.
Last edited:
It appears that some posts are looking at it as 8b, some as 9b.
I say it is 14.1.
No problemo, Senor!
I say it is 14.1.
No problemo, Senor!
Some people will go for this bank and others will go for a safety. I would just like to say that if you decide to duck on this there is one very very important thing to remember. From that distance you are not going to be able to control both balls with accuracy. Whichever duck you choose, whether it's the one I diagrammed or any other, you need to make a decision as to what you want to accomplish with either the 8 or the CB. If you want to get that CB behind the 9 then you need to focus on that and do it. Any top player will tell that safety play gets more difficult the further away you are and that both balls can't be controlled very well. After years and years of experience getting into situations just like this I have found that the shot I diagrammed is the highest percentage of getting you back to the table. Hell, it was a Nick Varner shot, how could it possibly be wrong?!?
Anyway, the point of this is this. Decide which ball you're going to control because both can not be done. You can get that other ball in a general area of course, but you can only be pin point with one of them.
MULLY
Anyway, the point of this is this. Decide which ball you're going to control because both can not be done. You can get that other ball in a general area of course, but you can only be pin point with one of them.
MULLY
TX Poolnut said:
I foresee a lot of games being lost like this. The carom is on but it's shady at best so far from the pocket. Also, to shoot the carom the 8 will take a natural course up table towards that corner pocket rather than up the center. The only way to play the carom and not have that 8 take an angle off that end rail is to use inside spin. Doing that you just dropped your making the carom percentage by more than 50%. Very aggressive shot. I'm not saying it can't be done but I'm willing to bet you lose with that shot more than winning with it.
MULLY
I use to have a pro living here with me and he always told me to look for two-way shots. I think thats why I immediately saw the shot I recommended. It's been drilled into my brain. :smile: Honestly, I didn't even see your shot until I read through the thread. Maybe I'm trying to do too much in this inning.mullyman said:
I like to play safeties, especially easy ones like you suggested because you almost can't go wrong. I guess it comes down to whether you want to go for the win now or wait till the next inning and hope you get somethig better to shoot at. Personally, I like to go down swinging.
For me, there are so many variables in this shots' outcome that it's hard to think beyond the current inning. I know I am very good at caroms, so I'd probably just go for it. If I hang the 8 or otherwise leave him some shot on it, I'd have to blame it on the Pool Gods or Travis Trotter.:grin:
I just talked to Jim about what he did on this and from his description this is what I see.
He went for the combo, missed the 9 by about a ball, the cue ball came up table and hit the tit of the side pocket and came back down in good position for his opponent to take the set. hehe!! Jim, we've all been there, my man. Next time you're at the pool hall set it up again and give my shot a few swings.
MULLY
all the shots suggested should be tried actually so you can see which one you're most comfortable with
He went for the combo, missed the 9 by about a ball, the cue ball came up table and hit the tit of the side pocket and came back down in good position for his opponent to take the set. hehe!! Jim, we've all been there, my man. Next time you're at the pool hall set it up again and give my shot a few swings.
MULLY
all the shots suggested should be tried actually so you can see which one you're most comfortable with
I would have banked the eight up table leaving as cose to the rail as possible and trying to leave the CB behind the 9 or on the rail.
I wouldn't , probably , try to carom the 9 (to make it) since I would probably leave it in the jaws and an easy loss of game if there is a bank back left on the 8.
I wouldn't , probably , try to carom the 9 (to make it) since I would probably leave it in the jaws and an easy loss of game if there is a bank back left on the 8.
RRfireblade said:
Yeah, you just described the shot I diagrammed on the first page. I think that's the best call in a situation like this. Granted, you could hit the 8 too soft and leave a shot, you could hit it too hard and leave a shot, but with all the different choices available, I think the percentage to get back at the table is highest with this one.
MULLY
that doesn't mean you're going to get back to the table with a clear shot for the win though.
mullyman said:
That's why I said 'trying'.
RRfireblade said:That's why I said 'trying'.
Yeah, I wasn't really attacking your shot as much as pointing out the percentages that are going to be in your favor. Face it, with only 2 balls on the table and no open shot you're pretty much stuck having to come up with something and in my opinion, at hill/hill, it's best to find the highest percentage available. If the set was at zero/zero I'd probably go for the bank on the 8. Nothing to lose really. It's not like I'm up against Johnny Archer and he's going to string 5 racks behind it.
That's another thing to take into consideration. How well does your opponent shoot? What is likely to happen if you go for the safe and miss it? A lot of variables come into play on something like this.
MULLY
Didn't read this whole thread, but I would have done what Mully diagrammed...the crossover bank safe which leaves both balls rail to rail, If you get safe, all the better. Just don't nudge the 9 near the pocket, because they can bank or carom the 9 in on their next shot.
This crossover bank safety comes up all the time in different variations and does not need to be hit as hard as you would think.
This crossover bank safety comes up all the time in different variations and does not need to be hit as hard as you would think.