knocking a break in with an i phone one yer head and a lump o wood worth 20 quid?

[Terry Davidson]

I have to say I disagree with this and believe me myself and Nic Barrow have experimented with using side without a cushion in play. It's very hard to judge whether it is the side that is effecting the cueball or just you haven't potted the ball dead-centre in the pocket.

Using a 3/4 blue ball and trying to confirm we potted the blue in the exact centre of the pocket we found with the cueball running on about 3.5ft we got a variance of less than an inch at the end result. From this we gathered there was a very minute bit of side transferred and probably more if the balls were dirty.

The main reason coaches recommend not using side a lot is because it makes the pot more difficult as you have to compensate for that cueball throw. I know there are players who play consistently with what they sometimes call 'helping side' which would be on a cut to the right they would use some left hand side. Willie Thorne swears by it however note please that Willie only ever won one ranking tournament whereas those pros who prefer not to use side like Davis or Hendry for instance have proven to be much more consistent. If a player feels he plays better using side on the cueball all the time then he probably will as it will give him more confidence. Horses for courses in this case.

Also, on anything else but a straight-in shot you can get more throw on the cueball by using centre-ball but a bit more power.

Terry

[j6uk]

helping side is a bad habit from constantly playing on club tables in a lot of cases and controlling the white is the biggest shock to players when they hit the pro conditions

[Terry Davidson]

helping side is a bad habit from constantly playing on club tables in a lot of cases and controlling the white is the biggest shock to players when they hit the pro conditions

I agree

Terry

[tedisbill]

helping side is a bad habit from constantly playing on club tables in a lot of cases and controlling the white is the biggest shock to players when they hit the pro conditions

I'm never turning pro.

[vmax4steve]

I have to say I disagree with this and believe me myself and Nic Barrow have experimented with using side without a cushion in play. It's very hard to judge whether it is the side that is effecting the cueball or just you haven't potted the ball dead-centre in the pocket.

Using a 3/4 blue ball and trying to confirm we potted the blue in the exact centre of the pocket we found with the cueball running on about 3.5ft we got a variance of less than an inch at the end result. From this we gathered there was a very minute bit of side transferred and probably more if the balls were dirty.

That is not the reason why helping side works. Side is not transfered to the object ball so that it spins off the cue ball at a different angle. Helping side works because the cue ball is thrown off the line of aim and comes back onto the line of aim at the point of contact with the object ball from a different angle as in tedisbill's diagram.
Also helping side works very well on cuts when the contact point on the object ball is hard to find and focus on. You can focus on a thicker contact point, ie. for the object ball to hit the near jaw, play the shot with side and the cue ball will throw off the line of aim to contact the object ball in the correct place to pot it.
Did it myself several times today, especially useful on the cut back black.

The main reason coaches recommend not using side a lot is because it makes the pot more difficult as you have to compensate for that cueball throw.

Every time side comes up on the coaching threads you sidestep the issue by saying don't use side. I have taught people to use side, how come you don't ?

I know there are players who play consistently with what they sometimes call 'helping side' which would be on a cut to the right they would use some left hand side. Willie Thorne swears by it however note please that Willie only ever won one ranking tournament

Thorne just simply didn't have a good match temperament, nothing to do with his use of side as his many maximums prove.

whereas those pros who prefer not to use side like Davis or Hendry for instance have proven to be much more consistent.

Both Davis and Hendry used side when break building. You only have to listen to them commentate to know that. There is no way on this earth that Hendry could have compiled over 700 career centuries without knowing about and using side.

Also, on anything else but a straight-in shot you can get more throw on the cueball by using centre-ball but a bit more power.

Yeah, but that would mean hitting the ball too hard in the instances when helping side is useful

Terry

..........

[ADR147]

this guy plays almost every shot with a trace of right hand side...... might do a bit of that myself!

[itsnoteasy]

It may look like right hand side but it's centre ball striking
image.jpgimage.jpg
image.jpgimage.jpg

[Removal man stevie]

Yes a love this video a did notice you play most shots with side and also thought side only worked when cue ball hits of the cushion well dun Byron. A would like to see one of Terry doing a similar video

[jrc750]

This wasn't you Byrom was it ?? i thought you just found it somewhere, some people seem to think it's actually you ??? please clarify mate

[jrc750]

It may look like right hand side but it's centre ball striking

Ahh i see now i think, are you saying he cues up with right hand side but actually strikes the white in the centre ?? if so, bad cueing lol

[itsnoteasy]

The first pic is of him sighting the second pic is at the point of contact on the same shot, so he may line up with what looks like right hand side but he's striking centre ball(there are only two shots there)

[Removal man stevie]

This wasn't you Byrom was it ?? i thought you just found it somewhere, some people seem to think it's actually you ??? please clarify mate

A thought it was Byron ?

[itsnoteasy]

Ahh i see now i think, are you saying he cues up with right hand side but actually strikes the white in the centre ?? if so, bad cueing lol

Yep that's it JRC , You can tell he must be hitting centre because the cue ball doesn't react off the cushions, there is one he pots the black comes off the bottom Cush with what looks like right hand side but it runs through to the other side of the black without checking off the Cush.

[jrc750]

Yep that's it JRC , You can tell he must be hitting centre because the cue ball doesn't react off the cushions, there is one he pots the black comes off the bottom Cush with what looks like right hand side but it runs through to the other side of the black without checking off the Cush.

This leads to another question tho lol, ie does the player think he is playing with right hand side when in fact he clearly isn't ??

[itsnoteasy]

image.jpgimage.jpg
This is the black shot this should check off the Cush but it bounced and ran through as a centre ball slight top shot.