Which Pocket & Why?

I tried the shot.

When I stepped to the table, I thought I'd like the right pocket better. My numbers proved otherwise.

I shot each shot in groups of 5, alternating pockets. The first group was bad. Then, I got the left shot down fairly well, and I was making that wiht much higher make percentage. The right side shot, I never got a really good handle on it, and was still hitting it poorly at the end of 25 atttempts.

My shooting style was:
Left shot: pocket speed, center outside spin.
Right shot: firm speed, low outside, slap the rail and come out.

That is how I would have shot each shot in a game situation, as that is what I felt most comfortable with for each shot.

Results and video below. Video is edited to remove all the dead space. But there was no cheating:) I warmed up hitting 2 racks, but not these 2 shots at all. If you can get past the first 5 shots on each pocket, my make percentage is way better afterwards.

Screen Shot 2018-03-18 at 1.49.35 PM.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNtqd-R1qwY
 
iusedtoberich said:
I tried the shot.

When I stepped to the table, I thought I'd like the right pocket better. My numbers proved otherwise.

I shot each shot in groups of 5, alternating pockets. The first group was bad. Then, I got the left shot down fairly well, and I was making that wiht much higher make percentage. The right side shot, I never got a really good handle on it, and was still hitting it poorly at the end of 25 atttempts.

My shooting style was:
Left shot: pocket speed, center outside spin.
Right shot: firm speed, low outside, slap the rail and come out.

That is how I would have shot each shot in a game situation, as that is what I felt most comfortable with for each shot.

Results and video below. Video is edited to remove all the dead space. But there was no cheating:) I warmed up hitting 2 racks, but not these 2 shots at all. If you can get past the first 5 shots on each pocket, my make percentage is way better afterwards.

View attachment 487442

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNtqd-R1qwY
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Interesting. Try the right corner pocket with no english, just a nice medium or firm speed aiming the center of the CB straight for the edge of the OB. You might drastically increase your make percentage.

On the back cut, though you did awesome, try aiming for the right edge of the OB and then use about half a tip of right/outside spin. I use back hand english, so I aim straight for OB edge then pivot my tip over to apply the outside spin (not much...the left side of my tip ends up being at the center of the cb, producing a half tip of spin)
 
BC21 said:
Interesting. Try the right corner pocket with no english, just a nice medium or firm speed aiming the center of the CB straight for the edge of the OB. You might drastically increase your make percentage.

...snip...
Click to expand...

I tried again. 10 successive attempts at only the right pocket with two shooting methods.

Low center only, aiming for a half ball hit (note, I never aim this way...): 6/10
Then for giggles, I tried my way again from the video. Low outside. : 9/10

I do think the outside spin is a better shot, as you have better control of the CB coming off the rail. The center low only comes off the rail at a much faster speed, and it heads in the general area of the pocket. I had one scratch. (Although I also had one scratch with outside spin in the video series..)

Pool is a funny game:)
 
Lower right pocket all day long. You can easily see both lines --- cb to the ob and then from the ob to the pocket from the shooting stance. The shot to the left pocket is a back cut. You can see the line from the cb to the ob but the line from the ob to the pocket is not clearly visible from the shooting stance because your stance is turned away from the pocket. That means with a back cut, you have to trust 100 percent what you determined from a standing position because you can't see properly to tweak anything once you're down.

You have to know this if you're any kind of player.
 
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iusedtoberich said:
I tried again. 10 successive attempts at only the right pocket with two shooting methods.

Low center only, aiming for a half ball hit (note, I never aim this way...): 6/10
Then for giggles, I tried my way again from the video. Low outside. : 9/10

I do think the outside spin is a better shot, as you have better control of the CB coming off the rail. The center low only comes off the rail at a much faster speed, and it heads in the general area of the pocket. I had one scratch. (Although I also had one scratch with outside spin in the video series..)

Pool is a funny game:)
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Yes, fractional aiming is different for sure if you're not accustomed to it. And yes, pool is a funny game. I guess that's what makes it so much fun! :thumbup:

I shoot the right pocket with center ball, firm, dead on a half ball aim, and the CB comes off the side rail and rolls to the middle of the end rail. Or I can float it to the left pocket, half ball aim about half a tip of outside English (backhand style), and the CB goes off the right side rail andd then to the middle of the end rail. It's good to practice the shot into both pockets.
 
FranCrimi said:
Lower right pocket all day long. You can easily see both lines --- cb to the ob and then from the ob to the pocket from the shooting stance. The shot to the left pocket is a back cut. You can see the line from the cb to the ob but the line from the ob to the pocket is not clearly visible from the shooting stance because your stance is turned away from the pocket. That means with a back cut, you have to trust 100 percent what you determined from a standing position because you can't see properly to tweak anything once you're down.

You have to know this if you're any kind of player.
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excellent post
 
FranCrimi said:
Lower right pocket all day long. You can easily see both lines --- cb to the ob and then from the ob to the pocket from the shooting stance. The shot to the left pocket is a back cut. You can see the line from the cb to the ob but the line from the ob to the pocket is not clearly visible from the shooting stance because your stance is turned away from the pocket. That means with a back cut, you have to trust 100 percent what you determined from a standing position because you can't see properly to tweak anything once you're down.

You have to know this if you're any kind of player.
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In this case, with both shots almost exactly the same degree of cut, you can see both pockets equally well. The difference is that for the right cut both rails pointing to the pocket are clearly visible and for the left cut only the end rail is clearly visible. These visual cues are more important than we realize.

pj
chgo
 
Am I the only one who stepped to the table and tried both shots?

I did my attempts a week ago or so, and from memory (I'm not near my table), the left pocket was not blind at all. Neither pocket was difficult from a sighting perspective.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Am I the only one who stepped to the table and tried both shots?

I did my attempts a week ago or so, and from memory (I'm not near my table), the left pocket was not blind at all. Neither pocket was difficult from a sighting perspective.
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I agree. Shot a dozen or so into each pocket. The margin of error is nearly the same for each shot. Though a full pocket is cleanly available to the right, the ball is closer to the left pocket and the long rail can be brushed a little. It all depends on how well you hit backcuts, and apparently a lot of players have trouble with them due to not being able to see the shot well enough.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Am I the only one who stepped to the table and tried both shots?

I did my attempts a week ago or so, and from memory (I'm not near my table), the left pocket was not blind at all. Neither pocket was difficult from a sighting perspective.
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Whether you felt you were blind to the shot or not, a back cut shot will always be more difficult to see from a shooting stance. Remember, you don't get 10 tries when you're playing a match. You need to be able to make the shot on demand.

If you really want to test yourself, set up various back cuts and regular cuts and shoot each one just one time, then gauge your results, because that's what it would've been like in a real match.

Practice is important, but the question was, which one would you have chosen to shoot if you were playing a match? In the end, it comes down to what position you need on the following shot. I'll shoot a back cut if I need to shoot that shot in order to get position on the next shot. You have to know how to make all types of shots, but if position isn't an issue (which is rarely the case), then choose the shot you feel you have the highest percentage of making. If you feel that a back cut is your highest percentage shot, then you should start asking yourself why you feel that way.
 
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The lower right is a half ball hit. Half ball hits show up all over the table from all kinds of angles into all the pockets. Frequently when you have what looks like a six one way half a dozen the other shot closer inspection will reveal it's a half ball hit one direction and not the other. This is the direction to choose all else being equal because the half ball hit is like a free throw compared to a three pointer.

Practice identifying half ball angles because it's a powerful tool for those of us lacking the intellect to execute aiming "systems". Someone explained it as looking at a flight of stairs. You have seen so many that you recognize immediately if they are too shallow or steep visually. Thus the half ball angle.

I have encountered many of these scenarios where the back cut is a half ball and not the open angle. Once you recognize the shot it's a free throw without needing to really know where the pocket is or see it from the shooting stance. In this case the back cut is a breeze. You can be stuck in the jaws of a corner pocket and have the object ball out near the middle of the table somewhere and if it's a half ball hit to either of the far corners and you recognize it you can make what looks like hard shots very easily.

JC
 
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. . . And, the other corner should be cake for everyone on this forum, for the many times the lower right has a blocker ball.
 
JC said:
The lower right is a half ball hit. Half ball hits show up all over the table from all kinds of angles into all the pockets. Frequently when you have what looks like a six one way half a dozen the other shot closer inspection will reveal it's a half ball hit one direction and not the other. This is the direction to choose all else being equal because the half ball hit is like a free throw compared to a three pointer.

Practice identifying half ball angles because it's a powerful tool for those of us lacking the intellect to execute aiming "systems". Someone explained it as looking at a flight of stairs. You have seen so many that you recognize immediately if they are too shallow or steep visually. Thus the half ball angle.

I have encountered many of these scenarios where the back cut is a half ball and not the open angle. Once you recognize the shot it's a free throw without needing to really know where the pocket is or see it from the shooting stance. In this case the back cut is a breeze. You can be stuck in the jaws of a corner pocket and have the object ball out near the middle of the table somewhere and if it's a half ball hit to either of the far corners and you recognize it you can make what looks like hard shots very easily.

JC
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Back cut --- a breeze? Easy? Really? Yes, it's an essential shot to know because there are times you have no choice but to shoot it. But a breeze? Easy? Nah. Not by a long shot. Given the choice, it's better to be able to see both lines clearly from the shooting stance.
 
FranCrimi said:
Back cut --- a breeze? Easy? Really? Yes, it's an essential shot to know because there are times you have no choice but to shoot it. But a breeze? Easy? Nah. Not by a long shot. Given the choice, it's better to be able to see both lines clearly from the shooting stance.
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If a back cut is a half ball angle and you recognize it then yes, it's a breeze. Not saying this is the way to shoot all back cuts just that if it happens to be a half ball angle you can relax and shoot it like a free throw. Not trying to be a know it all as I don't nearly but I do know this. It's real and it works.

JC
 
The next time this shot comes up in a game, you will think about this post and your mind will go blank...lol...you will never make it again.
 
JC said:
If a back cut is a half ball angle and you recognize it then yes, it's a breeze. Not saying this is the way to shoot all back cuts just that if it happens to be a half ball angle you can relax and shoot it like a free throw. Not trying to be a know it all as I don't nearly but I do know this. It's real and it works.

JC
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I don't understand what you mean by shooting it like a free throw. Some shots you shoot like a free throw and some you don't?
 
FranCrimi said:
I don't understand what you mean by shooting it like a free throw. Some shots you shoot like a free throw and some you don't?
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If you can't see the pocket but you can see the aiming point on the object ball and you're confident of it, yes.

JC
 
FranCrimi said:
Sorry, but I still don't understand what a free throw in pool is.
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I would consider any shot that I can make consistently left-handed would be like a free throw if I were shooting it right handed. In other words, a shot that is moderately close to the pocket with no concern about playing any particular tricky position with the cue ball.
 
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