whatever in the world is the ghost ball?

sunnyone

sunnyone

cum grano salis
Silver Member
proud to ask a question that everyone in the room will know the answer to except me!

sunny
 
The imaginary ball that you want to replace with the cue ball, at the contact point of the object ball. Kind of:)
 
To explain another way, imagine a line from the pocket through the ball you want to sink. Imagine where that line would exit the backside of that ball.

Now, on the same line, imagine a cue ball touching the object ball. So your line has 3 things all in a row: pocket, object ball, imaginary cue ball (touching the object ball)

When you aim, you try to put the real cue ball in the exact same spot as the imaginary cue ball. If you do that successfully, you should sink your object ball.

ghostball.JPG
 
Buy The 99 Critical Shots of Pool by Ray Martin and you will be well versed in Ghost Ball :thumbup:

~Roy
 
Roy Vadas said:
Buy The 99 Critical Shots of Pool by Ray Martin and you will be well versed in Ghost Ball :thumbup:

~Roy
Click to expand...

But it anyway just to learn about pool! This book is a necessary tool to learn pool.
 
sunnyone said:
proud to ask a question that everyone in the room will know the answer to except me!

sunny
Click to expand...
Here's an article from On The Break magazine that explains Ray Martin's view. These days most people refer to it as an aiming system.

Ray Martin and the Ghost Ball

by Bob Jewett

In 1977, there weren't very many books available on how to play
pool. Willie Mosconi's "Winning Pocket Billiards" and Luther
Lassiter's "Modern Guide" and "Billiards for Everyone" were the
most common, but not very complete. Books by Clive Cottingham
and Edward Knuchell covered more territory but were harder to
find. In that year, Ray Martin and Rosser Reeves brought out
"The 99 Critical Shots in Pool." The publisher Random House has
just announced a 30th anniversary edition of the book with a new
introduction by Ray Martin. The rest of the content of the book
is unchanged, but if you don't already have a copy of this book,
it should be among the first dozen books in your billiard library.

One important concept that Reeves and Martin covered well --
and perhaps first, so far as I can remember -- is the ghost
ball. The concept of the ghost ball is pretty simple: it is
the position of the cue ball at the instant of the collision
with the object ball. Using this concept may tax your powers
of visualization. Can you imagine a white sphere where the
cue ball should be sent? It may take practice.

These days, the ghost ball concept is often associated with
the corresponding aiming system, but that was not what Martin
had in mind. In fact, about aiming systems he said:

"There are as many remedies [for aiming] as there are recipes for
cooking. Some players divide the object ball into 1, 1/2,1/4, 1/8,
1/16, 1/32, etc. Others (who may be good with divining rods)
measure in cue-tip widths. Others see imaginary 'luminous spots.'
Others (see below) picture an imaginary cue ball touching the object
ball and the two pointing into the pocket (about as good an idea
as any), and shoot the cue ball to fill this space.

"There is only one true solution: Start sinking balls! Set up ball
after ball, in front of pocket after pocket, and -- sink balls! Suddenly
the eye and the brain begin to take over, and you begin to sink balls.
So start! Sink balls! Sink balls! Sink balls!"​

So, if Ray thought that the Ghost Ball system of aiming was
pretty much worthless, why did he bring up the concept? To use
on carom shots. Ray was mostly talking about 14.1 in his book
and at that game (and at eight ball) you frequently run into
tight clusters of balls with no obvious shot. Using the ghost
ball technique can often show you an unmissable shot in a layout
you thought was hopeless.
CropperCapture[4].png
Shot A in the diagram is a typical situation. The cut on the
3 ball looks impossible, and in fact it is more than 90 degrees,
but if you hit the 1 ball first, the cue ball will hit the 3 ball nearly
immediately. If you can imagine a ghost ball as in the expanded
version of the shot at the bottom, you can predict very accurately
where the 3 ball will go. As drawn, the balls are sitting just right
for the 3 to go into the pocket.
CropperCapture[6].png
The shot as drawn is easy to predict because the cue ball moves
only a very short distance between the 1 ball and the 3 ball.
You can be off by quite a lot on where you contact the 1 and
still land in about the same place on the 3.
CropperCapture[5].png
Shot B is quite a bit harder to predict because the balls are
farther apart, but they are sitting just right for a ghost ball
carom. What I look for in a situation like this is the line from
middle of the ghost ball to the middle of the 4 ball and then to
the pocket. This happens to be a straight line. I can then use
my uncanny ability to scratch to play the cue ball off the 2 to
make the 4. If the shot is not sitting quite straight I need to
figure where on the cushion to send the ghost ball from the first
object ball.

Another trick to help with Shot B if you can't visualize the
ghost ball is to note the line from the left edge of the 2 ball
past the right edge of the 4 and on to the right side of the
pocket. This will be the path of the right edge of the ghost
ball.

A final trick for aiming close caroms like these is to first find the
line the ghost ball wants to take. You know that the cue ball and
(first) object ball always travel at a right angle to each other. Just
send the first object ball at a right angle to the path you want
the cue ball to take from the ghost ball position. If you can shoot
the 2 ball along the indicated line, the cue ball has to pocket the 4.
Be sure not to have any draw or follow on the cue ball or it will bend
off the right-angle line.

Well, one last trick. If the balls are sitting almost perfectly
for the shot, but you need to pull the object ball over just a
little, you can use some side spin on the cue ball to adjust the
angle with throw.

Using Ray Martin's ghost ball method of aiming close caroms is
a technique you need to practice before you use it. At first
try using an extra ball to stand in for the ghost ball when
sighting. You may find that you tend to aim a little full or
thin on the shots, and it's best to find and solve that problem
on the practice table rather than in the league finals.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Here's an article from On The Break magazine that explains Ray Martin's view. These days most people refer to it as an aiming system.

Ray Martin and the Ghost Ball

by Bob Jewett

In 1977, there weren't very many books available on how to play
pool. Willie Mosconi's "Winning Pocket Billiards" and Luther
Lassiter's "Modern Guide" and "Billiards for Everyone" were the
most common, but not very complete. Books by Clive Cottingham
and Edward Knuchell covered more territory but were harder to
find. In that year, Ray Martin and Rosser Reeves brought out
"The 99 Critical Shots in Pool." The publisher Random House has
just announced a 30th anniversary edition of the book with a new
introduction by Ray Martin. The rest of the content of the book
is unchanged, but if you don't already have a copy of this book,
it should be among the first dozen books in your billiard library.

One important concept that Reeves and Martin covered well --
and perhaps first, so far as I can remember -- is the ghost
ball. The concept of the ghost ball is pretty simple: it is
the position of the cue ball at the instant of the collision
with the object ball. Using this concept may tax your powers
of visualization. Can you imagine a white sphere where the
cue ball should be sent? It may take practice.

These days, the ghost ball concept is often associated with
the corresponding aiming system, but that was not what Martin
had in mind. In fact, about aiming systems he said:

"There are as many remedies [for aiming] as there are recipes for
cooking. Some players divide the object ball into 1, 1/2,1/4, 1/8,
1/16, 1/32, etc. Others (who may be good with divining rods)
measure in cue-tip widths. Others see imaginary 'luminous spots.'
Others (see below) picture an imaginary cue ball touching the object
ball and the two pointing into the pocket (about as good an idea
as any), and shoot the cue ball to fill this space.

"There is only one true solution: Start sinking balls! Set up ball
after ball, in front of pocket after pocket, and -- sink balls! Suddenly
the eye and the brain begin to take over, and you begin to sink balls.
So start! Sink balls! Sink balls! Sink balls!"​

So, if Ray thought that the Ghost Ball system of aiming was
pretty much worthless, why did he bring up the concept? To use
on carom shots. Ray was mostly talking about 14.1 in his book
and at that game (and at eight ball) you frequently run into
tight clusters of balls with no obvious shot. Using the ghost
ball technique can often show you an unmissable shot in a layout
you thought was hopeless.
View attachment 136122
Shot A in the diagram is a typical situation. The cut on the
3 ball looks impossible, and in fact it is more than 90 degrees,
but if you hit the 1 ball first, the cue ball will hit the 3 ball nearly
immediately. If you can imagine a ghost ball as in the expanded
version of the shot at the bottom, you can predict very accurately
where the 3 ball will go. As drawn, the balls are sitting just right
for the 3 to go into the pocket.
View attachment 136124
The shot as drawn is easy to predict because the cue ball moves
only a very short distance between the 1 ball and the 3 ball.
You can be off by quite a lot on where you contact the 1 and
still land in about the same place on the 3.
View attachment 136123
Shot B is quite a bit harder to predict because the balls are
farther apart, but they are sitting just right for a ghost ball
carom. What I look for in a situation like this is the line from
middle of the ghost ball to the middle of the 4 ball and then to
the pocket. This happens to be a straight line. I can then use
my uncanny ability to scratch to play the cue ball off the 2 to
make the 4. If the shot is not sitting quite straight I need to
figure where on the cushion to send the ghost ball from the first
object ball.

Another trick to help with Shot B if you can't visualize the
ghost ball is to note the line from the left edge of the 2 ball
past the right edge of the 4 and on to the right side of the
pocket. This will be the path of the right edge of the ghost
ball.

A final trick for aiming close caroms like these is to first find the
line the ghost ball wants to take. You know that the cue ball and
(first) object ball always travel at a right angle to each other. Just
send the first object ball at a right angle to the path you want
the cue ball to take from the ghost ball position. If you can shoot
the 2 ball along the indicated line, the cue ball has to pocket the 4.
Be sure not to have any draw or follow on the cue ball or it will bend
off the right-angle line.

Well, one last trick. If the balls are sitting almost perfectly
for the shot, but you need to pull the object ball over just a
little, you can use some side spin on the cue ball to adjust the
angle with throw.

Using Ray Martin's ghost ball method of aiming close caroms is
a technique you need to practice before you use it. At first
try using an extra ball to stand in for the ghost ball when
sighting. You may find that you tend to aim a little full or
thin on the shots, and it's best to find and solve that problem
on the practice table rather than in the league finals.
Click to expand...

Very nice Bob!!!
 
I've mentioned the arrow system before and here is a link to what it is and how to make the device....all for free. To truely understand this, you do need to buy Straight Pool Bible by Babe Cranfield, a must have book really.

http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2004-12.pdf

The point of the arrow is where the cue ball needs to be at the time of contact with the object ball to pocket the object ball, just like ghost ball.

The point of the arrow is what I call the contact patch of the cue ball. Notice that the point is on the same line as the contact point on the object ball and the contact patch is always 1/2 ball from the edge of the object ball. That point never changes regardless of the angle of the shot. The only time that point changes is with spin, but even then you have a idea of which way to move the point to adjust for spin.

The arrow can also be used to learn caroms or any shot where you need to learn where the cue ball will go after hitting the object ball.

With the arrow device, you have a real world point to aim at.

Its the simple things that work the best.......
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top