What's the fuss about "back cuts?"

[Fatboy]

Ratta can play, dont worry about him. English isnt his first language. something must have been lost in translation. simple as that.

 

[Ratta]

Ratta and others know that some things beyond our control make a shot harder on paper,
like distance and thinness etc. He's a smart guy and an accomplished player.

I think he's simply stating that by mentally labelling some shots as difficult,
you are actually decreasing your chance to make the ball. There is some strange stuff
happening with your subsconscious when you shoot. It's well known that people shoot better
when confident, and worse when scared. His experiment shows how simply "labelling" a shot
differently in your head can actually help you sink it.

So there is no practical value in thinking "that shot is hard" or "this specific shot always
bothers me and causes problems". It is MUCH more constructive to think "this shot is
basically the same as this other shot I've mastered" or "this shot is no biggie, I did it before."

Insisting that one shot is harder than others might be 'technically correct' on paper,
but for practical purposes it's a useless mindset. Your actual mechanics and approach
is the same every time, and you want to train your mental approach to be as strong
and consistent as the physical one.

Creedo my friend
thx a a lot- you described very good what i meant.
have a smooth stroke digger ^^

 

[Ratta]

Ratta can play, dont worry about him. English isnt his first language. something must have been lost in translation. simple as that.

Thx Eric,

and atm it s making me crazy again, grr.

cu hopefully soon again.

ingo

 

[jsp]

Rule number one:

master the art of pocketing any and all shots by learning how to hit
the spot on the OB that makes it go into the pocket.

And if it's harder to locate or maintain "the spot on the OB that makes it go into the pocket" when down on the shot, wouldn't that make the shot harder?

Rule number two:

Don't rely on visual clues like the rail, a point halfway to the pocket,
the outside point of the pockett, etc
These are crutches that will hold you back in ther long run.

If it helps you maintain the OB contact point location while down on the shot, how are they "crutches" that will "hold you back"?

What you are saying is just exactly like saying " I only miss jump shots
when someone from the mothership blinds me with a death ray".

Lol.

 

[jsp]

I wouldn't say this is false, but you have to think about it in the proper orientation. There is more more value thinking that all shots are difficult and require the same amount of focus/concentration (even hangers) as opposed to thinking that all shots are hangers and require the same amount of {lax} focus/concentration (even difficult shots).

Who said anything about being lax? Or hangers?
Don't exaggerate or twist it just to help your argument. That's cheap sir!

Oh please. My point is to clarify what you mean because what you say can be interpreted different ways.

I'm saying players should mentally label the shot as "no biggie",
As in "I don't need to get stressed out about this".
That's nothing like saying "it's a hanger" which has the implication that you can
just screw around and make it with your eyes closed.

And thanks for clarifying it.

I still feel the "no biggie" attitude is precisely the reason why I miss the vast majority of easy shots.

 

[dr_dave]

I often hear pool players talk about back cuts, and how they are harder than other shots. I'm skeptical. Yes, thinner cuts are usually harder than straighter shots, and shots in the middle of the table can be harder because the visual of the rail is missing. But back cuts? I don't think the average pool player even really has a clear definition of what they are.

Is this just one of those pool myths that bangers talk about, or is there there there?

Here's an excerpt from the back cut resource page (for more info, check out the page):

A back cut is a cut shot where the cue ball is shot well away from the target pocket (e.g., when the cue ball is much closer to the target pocket rail than the object ball). These shots can be more difficult than cut shots looking toward a pocket because the required cut angle can appear larger than it actually is, because you are looking away from the pocket. As a result, most people tend to overcut back cuts (i.e., they are hit too thin). For more info, see shot #6 in VEPS-I. Also, with back cuts, because you are looking away from the pocket and the near rail adjacent to the pocket, the visual cues for the pocket location are not as clear as with non-back-cuts (where you are looking toward both rails adjacent to the pocket, helping to provide better visualization of the pocket location).

Regards,
Dave

 

[CreeDo]

I still feel the "no biggie" attitude is precisely the reason why I miss the vast majority of easy shots.

I understand you're saying there's a danger of not giving shots the amount of care and respect
they deserve, if you take a careless attitude. And that "no biggie" sounds like something a person
would say when they're being careless. Like "no biggie, I'll study for the test tomorrow right before class."

That's not what I meant at all. There's always a bare minimum amount of care you need to put
into every shot. There are steps and you need to go through them.
When you miss an easy one, you're falling below that bare minimum and skipping steps.

"No biggie" means put away nervousness and fear, not "I've got a green light to halfass it".

One [urlhttp://www.drkevinroby.com/content/new-way-keeping-score-process-focus-versus-outcome-focus] good golf article [/url] said you should forget about outcome entirely and just focus on the process.
I think it's good advice. But some of us can't help thinking about the outcome. If you find yourself doing that,
at least frame everything in a positive way.. "ok, I've made this shot before, and I can definitely make it this time."
I promise you that's more helpful to your mental game than "I hate backcuts, this shot's tough,
I need to really bear down on this or I'll miss it. Labelling a shot as difficult introduces the possibility of missing
into your brain, and your subconscious will often turn even a slight fear of missing into an actual miss.