When do you normally decide to play safe?

R

RiverCity

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been videoing myself playing lately, and a rack came up that got me thinking about how/when people determine to play safe.
For me, I very seldom shoot a "tough" shot in any kind of tournament or money game... I usually dont shot wild even when Im just screwing around, unless I'm working on ball pocketing primarily on that given day.
When I was learning to play, I asked a guy when in the course of a rack, that he decided he needed to duck, and his response was "When I screw up too bad I cant fix it easily....". So I took those words to heart, and only take the tough shot if I cant come up with an easier to play safety.

This rack, I had the 4 ball which barely passed the 9, so I accepted a thin cut on the 5 ball. But that thin cut set up a chain reaction that led to me over shooting my desired position for the 6. My head didn't let it go, and I ended up shooting too softly for the 7. Figuring I could safe easier than bank the 7 while jacked up over a ball..... the safe was the only decision in my mind.

So the question is this, with the exception of those racks that you look at the lay of the table and know, Ill have to play safe because ball "x" doesn't have a pocket......... When do decide you are going to play safe?
Chuck
 
If its a low percentage shot that can cost me the game, I will play safe. I my shape on the next ball is low percentage, I will play safe. BIH is much better. JMO.

Southpaw
 
If I break and make a ball, after putting up my break cue, I stand back a bit from the table and analyze the table... This is when I decide whether or not I will play a safety...

The other time I play safe is when I make a mistake during a run and my chances of getting out aren't as good...

I do play alot of 2 way shots in 9 ball... Espescially on tough shots....
A statement that I hear alot is: Damn you miss good... I just laugh because I knew I was playing it both ways...
 
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A great thread. Let's just say it is complicated. So many questions need to be answered.

Even this will be an oversmplification, but when you decide that the current turn will end with a safety. you must first decide whether to play all the way up to the clustered ball and then play safe or to play safe even before that. Far too many automatically play up to the first clustered ball and play safe, and that's a bad policy, because the clustered ball may or may not offer strong defense, while a ball prior may offer superb defense..

Consider this layout in which you've hit a solid break but bad luck has left you this awkward postion.

CueTable Help



Most of the players I play against, the best ones included, will pocket the one and then play a safe off the left edge of the two ball, leaving me far away from the two, but generally with a look at the whole ball. That's because the two ball, as positioned, does not offer superior defense that is easily executed.

Contrastingly, the one ball does. Did you find the shot? Simply send the one ball two rails into the back of the two-eigt cluster to break them out while hitting a stop shot that pins the cue ball to the six ball. The layout is wide open now, and your opponent is kicking and is in very big trouble.

Once you've decided that your inning will end with a safety, study the layout and figure out which ball offers the safety that is most likely to develop a win.
 
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When I was playing well, my philosophy was.... Never let my opponent see the lowest numbered ball...EVER.

I tried REAL hard to make every ball and get good position. But, 9 ball being such as it is, it doesn't always work out that way. I didn't try any position shots that I personally thought were out of my skill level, unless I KNEW I was still going to be able to see the lowest numbered ball.

Safety play has always been my strong suit, so I can fall back on safety play any time it looks like the out is less than a 50/50 chance.

It's hard to say exactly WHEN I would decide to play a safe.. I mean, one must try to run out, of course... And when one misses position, of course that is a time to play safe..

So, to less experienced players, I would say avoid getting in "auto" mode, where you pocket balls until you miss position, and THEN play safe. If that is happening often, then you need to think more about what good position would be in the shots leading up to common mistakes.

Russ
 
1. If I face a low percentage shot against a strong player...especially when there are no layout problems (clusters/blocked pockets etc.) so that a miss is a sell out.

2. When I have a fairly high percentage shot but no realistic path to get shape on the next ball. Doesn't make sense to pocket a shot and then leave yourself in a worse position than you were before the shot.

3. When I have an easy lock up safety that can get me BIH....IF
A) I don't have a connect-the-dots layout or
B) I have an excellent chance at 3 fouling the opponent.

4. When playing against a MUCH stronger player, I often use my "Junk Man" game which means that I will duck on ANY shot that is lower than an 80% shot when there are no layout problems and a miss is a sell out. MUCH better to leave such an opponent with junk and a return safety than to sell out.

In addition, leaving junk frustrates the opponent and help not to let him/her get in stroke and rhythm.

HOWEVER, I am an excellent kicker and can hold my own in safety duels against some pretty tough players. Absent that skill, my Junk Man game wouldn't work.

Regards,
Jim
 
As soon as I realize I can not run out, I design a safe. It may be on the current ball or a ball or two ahead...

The goal is to get back to the table in a better position than you left it. SJM mentioned that scenerio quite well... So plan a safe that is advantagous to you and will offer an, eventual, out.
 
Shortside K said:
When its too late.
Click to expand...

LOL! I bet we've all been guilty of that at some point!

I didn't play nearly as much safety as I used to in England until recently. I was looking for runouts more often & needless to say it cost me a few racks. So now I've gone back to using my head a little more & if I don't like the layout then my opponent is going to have to kick at something!

When I do it depends on the game, it could be early or later in the rack. There are a lot of variables that'll make me play safe.
 
sjm said:
.......
Most of the players I play against, the best ones included, will pocket the one and then play a safe off the left edge of the two ball, leaving me far away from the two, but generally with a look at the whole ball. That's because the two ball, as positioned, does not offer superior defense that is easily executed...............
Once you've decided that your inning will end with a safety, study the layout and figure out which ball offers the safety that is most likely to develop a win.
Click to expand...
And this is exactly my point. I think far too many people run until they have no other option. Taking the 1 off the table and playing a safe on the 2 in sjm's example is a perfect description of what alot of folks would do... some pros included. Ive even seen alot of good tournament players get a wild hair and try force a breakout in similar situations.
All too many times Ive seen people get to a crossroad in a rack, where there might be a slightly makeable shot and an easy safe at the same time. And they deliberate what would be the best percentage shot to go with. If faced with a tough shot to pocket with a dismal cueball position afterwards..... there shouldnt be a whole lot of thought there, the safe is the way to go. It will probably be the shot that gives you the highest percentage chance to win the rack.
Chuck
 
Rule of thumb

There are lots of factors here that would come into play.. i.e. who you are playing (a C or D player maybe who might not run out even if left with a run out opportunity). I play slightly more conservatively in a tournament setting. You have less opportunities to get back into the game if you sell out. If you're gambling it's just a matter of how much $$ you have to keep playing with... but you can be more aggressive if you've got the bullets. I would recommend creating some general rules for when you want to play a safe. Danny D's has a good one to follow.. "When the shot is tough, and shape is tough.. play safe". Sometimes, if I'm just not 'feeling' the shot or I don't like the situation I will duck. It's nice to come back to the table with ball in hand.
 
I play safe when I want to win!

I see a lot of people playing 8-ball and only the 8 is left on the table. Difficult shot on the 8. The player tries to make it and leaves the cue ball and 8 with an easy shot for the opponent. In my book, better to play safe leaving a difficult shot for your opponent. (If you want to win.)

Usually when I am not 100% sure I will make the shot, better to play safe if I want to win.

With 9-ball, when the next numbered ball after this shot is tied up and going nowhere. I'll let my opponent open that up for me. It's like if I make this ball, then what? Not much I can do. Silly to shoot the next shot, etc.

With 8-ball, I have other balls tied up or the 8 is tied up, or I am not sure I will make my shot. Sometimes I can shoot my ball into balls which are tied up and leave the cue ball in a nasty spot (playing safe). Then I have opened up may balls (solved problem) and left my opponent without a shot.

Also for 8-ball, I feel it is best to leave as many of my balls on the table as possible until I can run out. They are in the way of my opponents shots. I leave them in the way! I may play safe intentionally shooting one of my balls so it blocks a pocket.

Or in 8-ball when my opponent has just one ball left and I have all of my balls on the table. I can sometimes shoot in a few balls calling safety with each shot and leave the cue ball in an impossible spot. I get ball-in-hand after each shot. I call these "free" shots. I can clean up clusters easily with this. Ball in hand a couple of times in a row. Less risky.
 
I played 9-ball a lot lately, and ask a few pro players what there opinions are on this. First of all, you need to know what your abilities are. Are you a player that can run racks, or are you a player that can't run racks. The secons question is, can your opponent run racks? There are different combinations, also different playing style.

When you are a good player that can run racks. You need to analyse the table after the break. Can you run it and solve the problems on the table, or can't you? If you cant, you want to play safe after the break, until you solved all the problems on the table, before you are going to run it. When playing safe, you can for example aim your CB or OB to the frozenball, and move it away (to solve a problem). You don't want to play save after you potted some balls. It's much more easier to play save when there are 8 or 9 objectballs on table. When you only left 2 or 3 balls on table, its too hard to play save.

When you are playing against a bad player, you can play save a ball before the problem. For example, when the 8-ball and 9-ball is having a good position, but the 7-ball is frozen to a rail and is really difficult. You can play save (long pot for example), and let your opponent play a difficult 6-ball. When your opponent potted the 6-ball, he/she will not have position on the 7-ball. He will move the 7-ball from the rail, so you will have the opportunity to run the last 3 balls.

Different players and situations need different of playingstyle. But on normal playing, it's always better to play save after the break, if you are having troubles running the table.
 
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My rule is pretty easy. First I ask myself: can I make the ball and get shape? Getting shape includes busting up a cluster as needed. I basically say "can I get out from here, at least in theory?"

If I think the odds of making it happen are... I dunno, less than 60 percent, I look around for the easiest safety. If my odds of nailing the safety are better than my odds of making the shot... then I play safe. If not, then I take the shot.

That's pretty much it.
 
Safety

If the offensive shot and the defensive shot are of equal difficulty, I will usually opt for the offensive shot. A safety to me is no better than a missed shot if the safety is not successful.
 
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