wincardona
Verified Member
as crazy as it sounds I was talking about the cue ball and how angles and english change the course the cue ball takes. The most crucial and deciding variable in figuring out how to play the cue ball is the angle it 's on going into the first rail.Dr. Bill, in our discussion about Cowboy's shot, I think that the Ghost and I are on the same page. We are discussing the english necessary to take the cb around the table as shown, not running english on the object ball. Of course you are right, it will be holding english on the object ball and will surely hold it up, but I think getting the cb right is much more important than the bank shot in this instance. Making the bank would be lagniappe. Agree?
This is very confusing to most and my description of why things happen are probably more confusing than the problem of figuring out how to execute certain shots. I'll try to explain, bare with me.
Lets take the shot that Dennis chose, the bank with the cue ball swinging three cushions around the table. After the cue ball strikes the 15 ball it will go directly to the side rail on a flat like angle into the rail. Using inside english will shorten the angle because of the angle it is on going into the side rail. But if the angle going into the first rail was a steeper angle inside english would then lengthen the shot, because you would then get a slide with the cue ball after contacting the first rail, as opposed to a shorter action by going directly into the 1 st. rail at a flatter angle. Make sense?
Practice shooting shots by just using the cue ball and no other balls, and experiment how english and angles work with one another. Then you'll develop a better feel for how inside english can change the direction of a shot, depending on the angle it goes into the first rail on. You can do this by shooting the cue ball three in the corner using inside english, then change the angle of the cue ball and use inside english and see the difference. Sometimes using inside english will shorten the shot on three rail shots, and then again on steeper angles it will lengthen the shot for a three rail shot. It's a very interesting part of developing a feel for controlling the cue ball for kicks and playing position.
I hope I didn't confuse you, it's difficult for me to explain but I know that it's happening.
Dr. Bill