Middle pocket blues!

[bluenose1940]

I had a game with a friend last week and we played just the 4 frames. i didn't play that well but nonetheless it was quite enjoyable.

It would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't have had the problem that I encountered when trying to pot the pink and blue into both centre pockets. I still haven't got my head round it some 4 days after the game!

Would you believe that I missed 6 pinks and two blues during those 4 frames and, every time, I was playing the shot from opposite the triangle of reds and, from both sides of the table. In every instance I hit the far knuckle of the centre pocket i.e the green knuckle side or the yellow knuckle side.

Don't ask me what cloth is on the table, I would assume that it would be normal hard wearing club cloth as opposed to anything fancy.

Anyone have any thoughts please?

Many thanks.

[DeanH]

I used to hate playing the Blue to middle, it was my nemesis. A few years ago I went to see Tim Dunkley and he gave me a routine, put a few reds both sides of the Blue, half way across the table from the blue and going up to the baulk, starting nearly straight to a cut. Using the reds as markers, replace with the cue ball and pot the blue to the opposite pocket, and do this on both sides.
And repeat.
And repeat.
And repeat.
ad nauseum

Now I love playing the blue and get them 8-9/10

[Shockerz]

I used to hate playing the Blue to middle, it was my nemesis. A few years ago I went to see Tim Dunkley and he gave me a routine, put a few reds both sides of the Blue, half way across the table from the blue and going up to the baulk, starting nearly straight to a cut. Using the reds as markers, replace with the cue ball and pot the blue to the opposite pocket, and do this on both sides.
And repeat.
And repeat.
And repeat.
ad nauseum

Now I love playing the blue and get them 8-9/10

That's just made me laugh, I had the same lesson with Tim a few years ago.

In the end I would also put the reds in a semi circle around the middle pocket going out to about a 1/3 of the width and then pot reds into the middle from both sides until it went away.

I probably love potting into the middles more than any other pocket but I just went through a poor period. I think it was when I changed my stance a little which I think shifted my dominant eye.

If I play a blue now off the pot I always imaging a line going toward the middle pocket and just try and hit the first 6 inches of it, generally works.

[mikee]

Anything but a straight ish shot in to the middle ,I never aim for the middle ,shots from between the blue and pink spots ,always aim slightly to the far jaw ,it’s amazing how many more pots you will make ,catch the near jaw and they won’t go in or they fly down the cushion and go in the corner ,but they will go most times if you catch the inside of the far jaw ,this is because the ball had already past the slate fall ,so there is always a good chance it will drop .

[Shockerz]

I always aim slightly to the far jaw

Good point and worth mentioning.

i rarely aim for the middle of the middle or end pockets.

If you're putting side on then I always make an allowance; it seems obvious but many don't.

[vmax]

always aim slightly to the far jaw .

There's a difference in the friction on contact between two phenolic resin balls, Aramith TC's, and the old super crystalates, SC's. The TC's are a softer material and therefore have a rougher surface than the harder SC's, this means the contact friction is greater with TC's which will prolong the contact which will then give a thicker natural angle.
Those players who grew up using only TC balls will have this thicker angle engrained into their subconscious as the natural angle, those of us who grew up using SC's will have a thinner contact engrained into our subconscious which will make using TC balls more difficult on cut shots, ie aiming for the middle of the pocket will invariably skirt with the near jaw while aiming for the far jaw should in theory make finding the middle more consistant.

I find using my own set of SC balls far easier than the club's Aramith TC's or premiums, my game went downhill pretty fast when these balls were first introduced to the game, and I was missing to the near jaw more often than not. I wasn't alone in this as the older blokes in the club who learned using the old crystalate ball, pre 1973, and played a run through game suffered even more than I did.

Knowing this I should be able to allow for this discrepancy but this is a subconscious game and consciously seeing angles as different to what they were isn't really on after over forty years so the struggle will continue

[mikee]

I think the older supers were better and sounded better ,I started playing around 1980 when I was a kid .Regarding the playing with side issue ,I currently play an older guy that has only just started playing ,when I play a red with check side to swing the ball back for position ,he always asks me how I make the adjustments to pot the ball ,I can’t explain it to him because I don’t know ,I just do it ,it’s just one of those things over the years you adjust to with out thinking ai reckon .

[Cue crafty]

I think the older supers were better and sounded better ,I started playing around 1980 when I was a kid .Regarding the playing with side issue ,I currently play an older guy that has only just started playing ,when I play a red with check side to swing the ball back for position ,he always asks me how I make the adjustments to pot the ball ,I can’t explain it to him because I don’t know ,I just do it ,it’s just one of those things over the years you adjust to with out thinking ai reckon .

Yep, don't think it's something you can train someone, each individual needs to practice the shot over and over to find the points where it works for them with their cue and tip variations.