Natural Angle of the White

[Leapfrog11]

Hi all

I was just wondering is there any particular method in finding out what exact line the cue ball will travel after striking the object ball .
I am a good potter and am pretty decent at stun, screw and topspin but can find it hard at times to find the natural path of the cueball.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[cyberheater]

It's a really good question.

[Belloz22]

Simple answer is experience !!!

Your best bet would be in try a few shots - i.e. half ball blue, 3/4 etc, and play plain ball, and just watch where the white goes after the pot. Only real way you can learn

[JeeSe]

I thought when hit plain ball the cue ball always leaves the object ball at a 90 degree angle to the pot? Unless that is wrong, beyond that guide it is all judgement..
Top obviously straightens the angle out and and bottom will widen the angle, the degree to which that happens only comes with practice and experience.

[throtts]

Weight of the shot plays a part of the angle the white takes too.

Its as usual down to practice and more practice to learn all the paths, there are so many.

[j6uk]

I love this part of the game but others can go a bit cross eyed when you try to explain
You can do this with all the spotted colors but here's two for the black. Find 3/4 ball, high and low. Play the black with top. You should find the natural path with the high black, the white should get very close to the middle pocket and the low black, the white should get close to the blue spot. Glazed eyes

[Belloz22]

I thought when hit plain ball the cue ball always leaves the object ball at a 90 degree angle to the pot? Unless that is wrong, beyond that guide it is all judgement..
Top obviously straightens the angle out and and bottom will widen the angle, the degree to which that happens only comes with practice and experience.

Technically speaking, its hard to be percise, the table, cue action, kicks etc will all play a part in the way the white moves. Put it simply, a plain ball 1/2 ball pot should mean the white will move 90 degrees to the line the object ball will take to the pocket.

And as stated, top normally cuts this angle down etc, and srew opens the angle up.

But like i said, the best way to learn is through trial and error, but most importantly, it will teach you to make sure you know what shot you are playing........ and where you are on the white. Being 1cm either on the white can effect the line of the white massively.

But in all reality, play some basic pots on the blue and play plain ball pots, you will quickly see what line it will take. Then start experimenting, pick a pot, and place a coin in the table on the line you think the white will take plain ball. See if it hits, if not, suss whether you over or under estimated. Then take that into consideration on the next pot etc

[nrage]

A perfect stun shot - where the white is sliding and not rolling or screwing back will leave the OB at 90 degrees exactly.

If it's rolling it will be forward of this, if screwing backward.

If you spread your pointer and index finger apart, this is roughly the "natural" angle a rolling ball will take. Point the pointer, or index along the line of the shot, and the other will show the carom angle. For thin hits relax the fingers to get the angle, for thicker hits stretch them as much as you can.

There is no substitute for learning the angles via experience, but this can get you started.

This tip was brought you via nrage from Dr Dave He has a method for guessing screw angles as well but I can't recall it.

[alabadi]

a stun shot with no side spin will always make the cueball and object ball travel at 90 degrees to each other.

check this link out very intuitive and gives you an insight to many of the angles that can be achieved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0I6IgLlo8

alabbadi

[nrage]

a stun shot with no side spin will always make the cueball and object ball travel at 90 degrees to each other.

check this link out very intuitive and gives you an insight to many of the angles that can be achieved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0I6IgLlo8

One of my favourites

Here's is DrDave's 30 degree rule:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgKD-nqKTlQ

He shows experimental results and gives the "peace sign" V that I mentioned (using pointer and index fingers) earlier.

Here is his "trisect" system for figuring draw (aka screw) shot path:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37OKxcHCEC8

This one is a bit complicated IMO and it only works if you play with a consistent amount of screw .. and if you ask me once you get to that level of skill you implicitly "know" where the white is going without a complicated system like this.

So, I think for a beginner the 30 degree rule / V / peace sign is useful.

[vmax4steve]

Hi all

I was just wondering is there any particular method in finding out what exact line the cue ball will travel after striking the object ball .
I am a good potter and am pretty decent at stun, screw and topspin but can find it hard at times to find the natural path of the cueball.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My advice would be to play some billiards using only plain ball shots to make cannons and in offs.

[Sidd]

What I have noticed after years of playing is this:

I would miss a ball and could miss, on occasions, many times but at all times my positioning is pretty much near perfect (perfect to what i have in mind for a shot). I personally believe this game is played more with the mind than with eyes and hands. You learn from your mistakes and in the process train your brain subconsciously.

As a young player I always wanted to develop breaks. This goes on up to this point of time. So in the process although my potting is not always as good as it needs to be; m positioning is never out. The reason is that though i never got to know the angles by reading a book about them I have learned em through experience and the magnificent brain that we have.

After playing the game for some time you get to know roughly the angle thing so always and always try to visualize the shot in mind before getting down to playing it and you will notice that with a good solid action you will start getting the cue ball to the desired area. My problem sometimes is over-concentrating on position and i guess my passion or obsession (OCD) makes me do that. I always want to have a perfect perfect positioning for the next ball and in the process I make the current pot hard for me and miss... the real objective is potting ... positioning will come to you automatically provided that you use your brain and concentrate on where you want the white to land.

Forget about the lines and exact angles on the white.

If you want ot know that: do some solo for this very purpose. Take a black half ball with follow plain screw and stun and then a quarter ball and three quarter ball etc and notice how and where the white goes... this will not only change with where the tip strikes but also with the amount of power.

So:

Where the tip strikes the white = line of the white after contact with OB
power the shot is played with = length of the desired line

Remember: visualising a shot is key to this all. If I am taking a long pot I imagine stunning the red three quarters moving to the side cushion bouncing off it and landing high on the black... I can do this maybe 5 out of 10 times but that is how challenging this game is.... carry on and happy snookering.

Hope this helps.

[damienlch]

Not trying to be cheeky or sarcastic here but aren't all angles rather natural?

I mean, when the cue ball is hit in a certain manner, you can be sure that it bounces off the object ball in a totally natural path.

What causes it to be "unnatural", i.e. go off the intended angle you wanted the cue ball to take, are the imperfections in cueing, inaccurate striking of the cue ball and incorrect pace put into the shot. A plain ball strike will produce different results, depending on the power that was put into the shot and distance between the object ball and cue ball.

So, for me, all angles are natural... or there are no natural angles, if you get my drift... only desired angles.

And the way to consistently produce that desired angle is to have solid fundamentals and lots of practice.

[Terry Davidson]

damien:

I think the purpose of the question was to find a method where the player can understand how he has to hit the cueball to get his desired position. Practice and experimentation is definitely the way to go.

I've found a good exercise is using the blue to middle on a 3/4-ball angle and see if you can cannon the baulk colours using different amounts of power and experimenting with adjusting the height you hit the cueball at until you get the desired path. This should be done from both sides of the table and you can add the additional target of trying to hit the cushion at the baulkline by both the yellow and green and also from both sides of the table.

Once you are able to plan these shots and get the desired results you are almost there and just need to practice and become familiar with the different cueball escape angles using different heights and different power on the cueball.

Terry

[damienlch]

Thanks Terry... I often hit the baulk colours without meaning to... Curious to see how I'd fare if I really wanted to go into them... probably miss them altogether is my bet...