Combination Shot - Part 2 - Easy Pool Tutor

Frozen Object Balls Combination Shot

When two or more object balls are touching each other and you shoot the cue ball at the first object ball to pocket the last object ball, this is called a frozen combination shot. See the example illustration below.

A very simple frozen ball combination shown above is virtually impossible to miss. When the two frozen balls line up straight towards the middle of the pocket like the 3-ball and the 9-ball above, you can practically hit the 3-ball on either side and still make the 9-ball into the corner.

Frozen Ball Combination and Throw

When the object balls DO NOT line up to the pocket, you can use what is known as contact induced throw to "throw" the object ball into the pocket. Observe the illustration below.

Notice that the 3-ball and 9-ball are frozen and lined up towards the outer right side of the pocket as illustrated by the red line. If you shoot the cue ball towards the 3-ball hard or a the left side of the 3-ball, you will not pocket the 9 ball. The secret is to "throw" the 9 ball into the pocket. To do this, hit the right side of the 3-ball thinly using soft to medium speed and the path of the 9-ball will be altered (blue line) and it will be "thrown" into the pocket. What basically happens is this: shooting the 3 ball on the right side spins it to the left (left english), which in turn "throws" the the 9 ball to the left.

Below is another example, this time we are "throwing" the 9-ball to the right.

The example above shows the 3-ball and the 9-ball are frozen and lined up to the outside and to the left of the corner pocket illustrated by the red line. Again, shooting the 3-ball hard and/or shooting it on the right side will not pocket the 9-ball. To "throw" the 9-ball into the corner pocket, you must shoot softly to the left of the 3-ball thinly. This will generate right english on the 3-ball and "throw" the 9-ball and alter its path to the pocket (blue line).