Possibily a stupid question about draw shot

[Krypton]

you call that cue ball 'very slow'?
indeed it wasn't soft screw, but a very good follow trough is needed with this shot too...

[bkpaul]

That was a power shot , I bet the green still had a headache and the centre pocket with still be wobbling ...

I would call it an awesome shot but I get tired of using that word when I see Ronnie play.... just so damn natural its infuriating!..

The cue ball was only travelling slowly compared to the red!

I must be 20 years out of date as the commentator refers to, as I would have played the snooker behind the green.

Maybe that's why I'm not world champion... ok so there are a few other reasons as well!

[Marlboro]

When I look at this clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tcKx...eature=related , it seems that he was neither using a soft screw nor a Masse shot to hit the cue ball. The outcome, in my opinion, is that the cue ball was with massive spin but ran very slowly. I understand that a good follow-through would produce tons of spin but at the same time also increase the ball speed. How can he do it? Is he a magician?

wtf that was a deep-screw-power-shot not a soft screw. Did you post the wrong link??
BTW that shot is easy to do, just lots of bottom and plenty of cue power.

[bkpaul]

That was not an easy shot!... even Ronnie didn't get ideal position...

btw if you just play that shot with screw as you suggest you will end up on the right hand side of the table not the left where Ronnie finished.

[Terry Davidson]

Sorry, but I have to agree with Marlboro. On cloths as fast as the #10 and with Ronnie's cue power that was an easy shot. I tried it on my table, which wouldn't be near as fast as the table in the clip and managed to come up about 2ft shorter than Ronnie did AND I potted the green in the middle too. I ended up with pretty decent position on the loose red on the other side of the pack, which I think may have been Ronnie's intention too and he OVERHIT the green.

For GeorgeNg:

That shot was nothing more than a deep screw shot with power, Which Neil Foulds even comments on after the shot, referring to it as a 'power shot'. He might have also had some right-hand siding on the cueball too as it took off at a sharper angle when it hit the bottom cushion

Terry

[bkpaul]

Well the proof is in the viewing, he didn't get ideal position therfore its not an "easy shot", I didn't say most reaonable amateurs wouldn't get a shot something like but its certainly not easy!.

I would expect to get similar results 7-8/10 but I know many club players that wouldn't get close even on a fast cloth.

I would go so far to say as any shot played at that sort of pace alone isn't "easy" as the more power you put into a shot the harder you make it.

I think we will have to agree to disagee on that one Terry

[Terry Davidson]

bkpaul:

Well, remember Ronnie gets more action on the cueball than anyone else and I believe he hit that as hard as he dared and in fact went about 1ft too far on his intended position. Also remember the middle bags are very generous on the professional tables, with the drop of the slate out 1/4" or so to make them even easier. You can see a lot of opposite middle pocket from the green or yellow spots and I note they also even hit the brown quite hard sometimes.

When I tried the same thing here on my table, it took me a few attempts to slam the green in that hard and on most of the attempts I did get the cueball past the blue and would have had a shot at Ronnie's intended red.

However, in a match it would have been a roll-up-behind-the-green for me, even if I was up 4-0 in a best-of-9 and even if I thought there was a chance for a century.

Terry

[Marlboro]

Terry,
You being a century breaker, thats very conservative play. Me max break 70s break, I would follow through with the white, maybe a touch of left, to pot the green and gain position on the next red.

[ace man]

The most impressive thing about this Ronnie shot is that he wasn't even in the lead and was also confronted against another world class player. Im sure all the pros could pull this off no problem, but actually going for it in an important match against a very tough opponent is another matter. It's one of those shots that sends "I'm better than you" message.

[Forman]

The most impressive thing about this Ronnie shot is that he wasn't even in the lead and was also confronted against another world class player. Im sure all the pros could pull this off no problem, but actually going for it in an important match against a very tough opponent is another matter. It's one of those shots that sends "I'm better than you" message.

was definitely a great shot, although i think i like robbo's one at 0:29 better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_0pJXfxthE

[Krypton]

As Terry already mentioned: both Ronnie's and Robbo's shots are not that powerful as they may look to us, used to the slower cloths.

you have seen both players play real power shots in other videos to compare: smooth cue action here, nice follow, and the white is screwed our via the baulk cushion almost too easily

[bkpaul]

I'm with you on the roll up behind the green, as it's a no brainer with open reds and would be difficult to for your opponent get out of the snooker and leave it safe, in match play I don't take balls less than 80% and that one is probably 75%.

@Marlboro, the green doesn't look straight enough for your shot, look at the angle the white leaves the green, he is high on the green so unless you are looking at coming off both side cushions and risking the in off then the only potting and position option is what Ronnie took.

[bkpaul]

As Terry already mentioned: both Ronnie's and Robbo's shots are not that powerful as they may look to us, used to the slower cloths.

you have seen both players play real power shots in other videos to compare: smooth cue action here, nice follow, and the white is screwed our via the baulk cushion almost too easily

I'm not disputing that the shot is easier for the pro's as they are used to playing that type of shot and have the ability to do so far more consistantly than mere mortals, what I was disputing is the shot being described as "easy" as that gives the wrong impression to the players that read this forum.

I would bet any none pro wouldn't get that shot 9/10 or 10/10 (getting onto either red)

What we should do is define shots as

easy 90-99/100
average 60-89/100
hard 30-59 /100
very hard <29 /100

the figures are of course subjective but I think it gives you an idea of what I mean the figues given are for a good club player who I expect will make up 80% of the forum readers.

[Terry Davidson]

The only other positional play I can see off Ronnie's shot whould be a top stun shot with extreme left hand siding and a lot of power to come around the baulk colours. However, the extreme left side plus amount of power required would make the shot a lot more difficult than the one he played.

Molboro...as bkpaul said...the angle wasn't there for your shot as he was high of the green (more towards the baulk line off the straight-in line) and the cueball would have either hit the brown or else stayed in baulk, depending on the power used. Just rolling the green in slowly was also not a positional option.

Terry

[bkpaul]

If I had to play that positional shot I would have used top right and come off yellow side, baulk and green side cusions as the power required would be less and I prefer to stroke the ball as opposed to deep screw (each to their own here!). Knowing a bit about Billiards helps, hence me harping on about Billiards elsewhere on the forum!.

The reason for playing it that way is you are taking green so that gives you a lot more margin of error (you won't hit the green during the positional element as its not there), the only question I would have is how close the white would get to the yellow pocket, there looks to be enough room but without seeing the angle properly I can't say for sure.