Ah, the razor thin cut shot that ranks right up there in difficulty with the long straight in shot. I used to hate those shots as they almost always stopped my run out. It was sort of like the lottery tickets, the kind that you scratch off to win a few bucks. I would make one just often enough to keep my poor brain thinking I could make it the next time. I learned that trick where the object ball is frozen to the rail and you shoot to just miss it with inside english but it didn't help much with the balls that were not on the rail. As it so often happens with inspirations this one just came out of the blue. I was stuck with another run ending razor thin cut shot. I just sort of stood there in a daze looking at the object ball and cursing my inablility to pull the shape I needed. I stared at it long and hard enough for my eyes to go slightly out of focus which caused a halo effect around the outside of the ball. That's when the inspiration hit me. Don't aim at the edge of the ball aim at the halo. Well for me the rest is history. I amaze a lot of people with my ability to cut in balls that look impossible. It's also nice to look on the face of someone who thinks they have played a good safety on me only to learn they made a big mistake at letting me see the ball. To see the halo just look at the edge of the object ball for 5 to 10 seconds with your eyes relaxed and slightly out of focus. You should soon see a transparent glow about 1 to 2 mm thick around the ball. It's not like a light but more like a distortion. Shift your concentration to the glow and keep it there. On very thin cuts just aim at the outside of the glow. You can also aim in the middle of the glow if the cut is not as steep. This is also very helpful when playing safeties because you can thin the object ball leaving it pretty much where it is and sending your cue ball the length of the table by shooting very softly.
