Which pool game requires the best cue ball control?

[doublej487]

Stop leaving them short railers or else,just kidding pal,i agree qball control is very important playing banks,if you play posistion and miss your bank ,well u mite not shoot anymore that game!

Yea my draw wasn't easy...1st I had a guy that practices
With brumback
2nd. I had a close friend of mine That is a threat to win the banks at the
Derby every year.... this year he went hill hill last ball with alex
It s on u stream.... Jonathan Jones vs Mark slye... check on the gsbt page

 

[Bob Callahan]

....the diamond system is foolproof....it's geometry personified.....get Willie Hoppe's book "Billiards As It Should Be Played" published in 1941.....you see the complexity, and simpleness as well, of billiards.

In Bob Byrne's book about Danny McGoorty, he says, "Not only did Hoppe not use the diamond system, he had nothing to do with developing it."

It's part of a discussion on Danny watching Willie try out the system in his book for the first time--in 1950. He also says, "Those charts were put in the book by Byron Schoeman, and a lot of them are haywire." And about Willie, "...he was not a system player."

It's a great book, and all pool lovers should have a copy.

As for cue ball control, it's hard for me to call. I love 1P and 14.1...but you seldom have to make a ball, move the cue ball several rails to tear open a cluster, and still get shape like you sometimes do in 9-ball. And sometimes you have to do table-length draws accurately.

 

[Black-Balled]

If you play 3 cushion the way it was meant to be played....contact (hit) then 3 rails contact (hit) instead of the Americanized version of contact then only 2 rails, contact and another rail....you'll universally agree that 3 cushions was the separating point between just a good shotmaker....that's prone to also miss....versus a pool sensei that can do virtually anything....any time with the cue ball....try hooking a great billiards player....you'll become the one that becomes frustrated.....they'll never miss on a kick shot....the diamond system is foolproof....it's geometry personified.....get Willie Hoppe's book "Billiards As It Should Be Played" published in 1941.....you see the complexity, and simpleness as well, of billiards.


Matt

I have never heard of that? And I talk American!

 

[TheNewSharkster]

I know Snooker isn't technically pool but position is super important in that game

 

[Cameron Smith]

Snooker is not a pool game. And I think shot making is the first and foremost required skill for snooker, cue ball control being secondary. Not saying that the game doesn't require a high level of cue ball control, but it pales in comparison to certain pool games.

Not to derail the thread, but snooker requires as much control as one pocket or 14.1. It's the difference between a 20 break player and 50 break player. And it's what keeps the 50-70 break players from running centuries. Even safeties, it looks like they are just trying to get the cue ball to the end rail, but top snooker players have specific spot on the rail they are trying to get to.

As far as pool is concerned, I'm voting for 14.1 due to the need for SUSTAINED control. Running hundreds means keeping the cue ball on a string for 30 min to an hour.

 

[ShootingArts]

snooker safe break

Not to derail the thread, but snooker requires as much control as one pocket or 14.1. It's the difference between a 20 break player and 50 break player. And it's what keeps the 50-70 break players from running centuries. Even safeties, it looks like they are just trying to get the cue ball to the end rail, but top snooker players have specific spot on the rail they are trying to get to.

As far as pool is concerned, I'm voting for 14.1 due to the need for SUSTAINED control. Running hundreds means keeping the cue ball on a string for 30 min to an hour.

Definitely agree about snooker. The common snooker safe break involves traveling the cue ball over twenty-four feet while nudging the rack and then hiding behind a single ball, attempting to freeze against it. Of course high runs are made by working in tight to the red balls and seven in heavy traffic. Two pockets to shoot into but two very unforgiving pockets compared to a pool table plus the distance is usually greater. Several hours a day seven days a week on a snooker table put the final polish on my pool game. I played more hours a day of pool so I kept the feel for both games but if I could only have one table for my own pleasure there is no question it would be a snooker table. I do favor a tough five by ten though, I think five by ten is the right size for a table, pool or snooker. Too much stretching on a six by twelve and I don't stretch like I used to!

Hu

 

[sjm]

Snooker is not a pool game. Still, as a game in which many world class players claim to never use english, it would seem to require less cue ball control than any of the pool games. Snooker is difficult because pocketing is so difficult, not because cue ball control is difficult. Most position shots do not even involve using the rails.

 

[mbvl]

Not to derail the thread, but snooker requires as much control as one pocket or 14.1. It's the difference between a 20 break player and 50 break player. And it's what keeps the 50-70 break players from running centuries. Even safeties, it looks like they are just trying to get the cue ball to the end rail, but top snooker players have specific spot on the rail they are trying to get to.

As far as pool is concerned, I'm voting for 14.1 due to the need for SUSTAINED control. Running hundreds means keeping the cue ball on a string for 30 min to an hour.

Superb observations. And the same distinctions apply to carom games as well. The .5 3C player may not show particularly good speed control on the cue ball, but the 1.8 players could probably tell you in advance where all three balls are going to end up to within less than a ball's width. And the top balk-line players could tell you to within a centimeter.

Mark

 

[Cameron Smith]

Snooker is not a pool game. Still, as a game in which many world class players claim to never use english, it would seem to require less cue ball control than any of the pool games. Snooker is difficult because pocketing is so difficult, not because cue ball control is difficult. Most position shots do not even involve using the rails.

Snooker has changed considerably over the last decade. Where only a few snooker players used english regularly when potting balls, every top player uses it now. It's absolutely neccessary if one wants to knock in 100breaks as regularily as these guys are. Now granted we rarely go as far off the axis as pool players, however it's still necessary especially when working around the black spot. By way of comparison, in the 80's to early 90's most of the players only made 30-50 centuries in their careers. The best of the best may manage to knock 100 centuries and the elite could do far more. These days, it's not IF you get 100 centuries, but how fast they get them (ie. 5 seasons as opposed to 10 seasons).

I used to believe that snooker was a center ball game, but I gradually gave in to the advice of many excellent players and found my average breaks increasing significantly as I began using the rails (and side) to my advantage.

I understand that we are talking about pool games, I just felt the need to defend one of my favorite games, lol.

 

[sjm]

Snooker has changed considerably over the last decade. Where only a few snooker players used english regularly when potting balls, every top player uses it now. It's absolutely neccessary if one wants to knock in 100breaks as regularily as these guys are. Now granted we rarely go as far off the axis as pool players, however it's still necessary especially when working around the black spot. By way of comparison, in the 80's to early 90's most of the players only made 30-50 centuries in their careers. The best of the best may manage to knock 100 centuries and the elite could do far more. These days, it's not IF you get 100 centuries, but how fast they get them (ie. 5 seasons as opposed to 10 seasons).

I used to believe that snooker was a center ball game, but I gradually gave in to the advice of many excellent players and found my average breaks increasing significantly as I began using the rails (and side) to my advantage.

I understand that we are talking about pool games, I just felt the need to defend one of my favorite games, lol.

Your insights are appreciated. Thanks for the education.

 

[Big Arm]

Well, I am terrible at both snooker and pool and I think both are great games, I find snooker very difficult and I play on a 5x10 table!

 

[cigardave]

Wow! I cannot believe that statement! A perfect game is 15 reds and 15 blacks and then 2 -7 and you say cue ball control is secondary??

I hate to nitpick but there's *only* 15 red balls.

Never heard of *15 blacks* in snooker... unless they're part of the birds. :groucho:

 

[vincentwu817]

Hmm from having watched a lot of snooker, I concluded that cue ball control is VERY important as well as potting abilities. Although there are no advanced routes or strokes involved, cue ball precision is actually very important. It is somewhat like 14.1 where the cue ball doesn't do much travelling, but you have to get the right angle on a lot of shots in order to complete a run. So no, it doesn't involve fancy strokes or weird routes, but you do have to be pretty precise with the cue ball.

 

[Nick B]

I hate to nitpick but there's *only* 15 red balls.

Never heard of *15 blacks* in snooker... unless they're part of the birds. :groucho:

He meant 15 reds potted with 15 blacks (black ball gets respotted) and the the colors for a perfect game.

Nick

 

[duckie]

The game doesn't matter. Why?

Because if you can not put the cue ball where you want it consistently, you will only so far,never reaching the highest skill level of any game.

Most peoples problems are right between their ears.