Greetings pool fanatics the world over! It's been quite a while since I got the chance to share a new lesson with you. My thanks to admin for being so lenient with me during my extended absence. Let's start off this lesson with an overview of what I discussed last article. I mentioned the existence of an "exit", a "rebound" and an "entry angle".
It is a known law of physics that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, which we all know too well in pool. So, with this in mind I present you with a training drill that wil test the limits of your patience and determination to master the three lines I mentioned earlier. Let's take a look at the position of the one ball and the cue ball, it's a fairly easy shot into the side pocket. Anyone can make this shot but what happens next is an all new perspective. That cue ball is going to exit to the right of that one ball to points unknown if you don't know any basic navigation skills.
Fortunately, we do have a system by which to help us visualize the path that cue ball takes after collision. Do this.... Pocket the one ball in the side with top spin, applying a moderately fast stroke. You know it's going to contact that side rail right? Good, now imagine, yes, imagine that cue ball rolling towards that same side rail with the activated top spin. It's gathering momentum as it hits and now try to viualize that hit that it makes into the rail.... If you see the path it takes on it's exit from the collision with the one then you know that it'll still be gathering momentum even after contact with the side rail. It will be at this point that you wil experience being "ahead" of that cue ball's path. "Ahead" meaning you're now starting to see things a split second before they happen.
Professional players spend a lifetime trying to extend that split second into a full second, a couple of seconds and then more. Enough to allow them to play in a fixed pattern al the time. That's why it looks like clockwork when they're running a rack. The thinking pattern is advanced based on what they CAN do. What you can do now is to practice getting that split second thinking faster than that cue ball can drift into position so that you can safely brag to yourself, and to your buddies that you knew it was going there all the time because you saw the path beforehand. They don't believe you? try predicting the outcome of their shots when you become familiar with identifying the exit, rebound and entry angles.... That'll stamp your point across the room.
Ok now it's back to this drill, your goal is to try and take the one in the side and come off three rails into position "A". This is the optimum position for you to take the two ball into the opposite side, go three rails and then try to get back into the initial position of the cue ball as you shot the one in the side. Re-spot the one ball just before you try to take it again and repeat the process if you can. The goal is to try and see how good you are in judging the optimum pace required when playing a delicate shot, kind of like this one. I do not kid you people, this is a very hard drill. It takes a tremendous amount of patience and practice to master this one. The payback is of course worthwhile. We don't want to overrun position into say, position "B". It'll be almost impossible for you to go three rails from this position. Position "C" is also a bad place to be in when you want to play a three rail shot for the second ball. I've marked a positoin "D" on the table, I want you to take notice of the spot the cue ball contacts on it's second rail. Try to notice the size of the angle and the line it produces for the approach into position"A". Hit the shot too hard and the entire path changes, too soft and it loses steam. Remember to grip that cue ever so lightly and to keep your head above the cue when shooting.
Concentrate on relating the way you shot and the outcome it produces so you won't be so dumbfounded when trying to predict and select the most appropriate path for the cue ball.... Till next time folks. Keep on shooting! Keep on winning!