Help!! Blind Pocket / Cut Blue Potting Angles

[damienlch]

hi peeps... i have difficulty visualising the potting angle into a blind pocket, for e.g. low on black or a cut blue... my tendency is to overcut them... and then i over correct... sigh

i've practised with both the ghost ball and aiming at the contact point techniques but couldn't achieve much consistency in the potting... i'm doing ok with the other pots though and seem to be cueing ok as i'm potting the longish straight ones...

i would greatly appreciate if you can share your approach or technique in sighting such angles correctly...

[gtjohnnymac1965]

Best and most proven method over the years is the quarter, half, and three quarter ball sighting method. The easiest of the three is half ball. All you do is aim your tip at the very outside edge of the object ball (assuming you are cueing the white centrally) and hey presto as if by magic the object ball will disappear into the pocket!!
No substitute for practice tho' my friend. Keep at it and it will get easier.
Good luck.

[Quackers]

For me these are the toughest shots. All I can say is that I look at the shot from the object ball to the pocket and try to estimate the cut (eg quarter ball/ finer etc). All you can do is practise and practise.

[poolqjunkie]

Blind pocket or not it is the same angle.
i.e. a 1/2 pot is a 1/2 pot no matter what.
The problem is you may see an illusion and the shot might look thinner/thicker than what it actually is, especially when a cushion is there.
You need to practice these angles, until you can judge the angles without getting distracted and "tricked" by where the pocket/cushion may be.
I would suggest you set up these shots you have problem with and just try to make them until you can consistently.
If you keep having problem, you may want to find a better way to aim these shots. I remember I used to aim by means of ghost ball(i.e. finding the center of a "ghost" cue ball) and I was having a lot of problem with potting into blind pockets. Now I use 1/4,1/2...ball and I just look at the angle and then aim accordingly.
The thing is in my opinion if you can pot the same shot when it is not a blind pocket shot, then you should be able to pot it when it is "blind" because the blind shot is just a mirror image of the non-blind shot.

[damienlch]

thanks mates!! you have been most helpful... i appreciate the advice you gave and thanks for taking time to give them... i hope that other players with similar difficulties will find them useful too...

admittedly, these are not the easiest shots and practising them with the correct practice makes perfect... i tend to fail at them during breakbuilding... if i can only get consistent at them, it would hopefully bring my breakbuilding up a notch... i'm now making the odd 20s during game time and my current goal is to hit consistent 30s...

anyone else would like to share your technique... for e.g. your addressment, visualisation, mental preparation etc etc when playing blind pocket / cut shots?

much appreciated!!

[poolqjunkie]

I would suggest you put the black on the spot and practice potting it with the cue ball below the black, may be 5-10 shots for each angle..until you can pot them consistently.
Start with more or less a half ball angle, with the cue ball more or less level with the black, and then move the cue ball gradually toward the corner pocket so the angle would look thinner than thinner...

[FOXMULDER]

In terms of visualisation, try this:

- follow the line of the object ball to the pocket.
- now visualise moving the pocket along that line towards the object ball until it is, say, only a few inches from the ball.
- keep that spot on the baize in your mind as you play the shot.
- play the shot as if the pocket is only a few inches away - the pot becomes unmissable!

[damienlch]

In terms of visualisation, try this:

- follow the line of the object ball to the pocket.
- now visualise moving the pocket along that line towards the object ball until it is, say, only a few inches from the ball.
- keep that spot on the baize in your mind as you play the shot.
- play the shot as if the pocket is only a few inches away - the pot becomes unmissable!

goodness, i thought i was the only one visualising the pot like that!! albeit i only do it when the cue ball and object ball are closer together as i feel this technique loses its efficacy when the distances between balls are stretched.

but thx for the input mate!! much appreciated...