Shot choice

[jonny66]

General thread for discussing shot choice.

Say you are up near the side cushion, blue is too thin and you'd need to dig in to the cue ball to get near the reds from a baulk colour. Do you play safe, leave a long red, or try the stupid dig in shot?

[Csmith]

General thread for discussing shot choice.

Say you are up near the side cushion, blue is too thin and you'd need to dig in to the cue ball to get near the reds from a baulk colour. Do you play safe, leave a long red, or try the stupid dig in shot?

I think the correct answer is safe. But I would probably dig in, miss and leave a frame winning opportunity.

The answer however is likely dependent on the position of the balls, how well you are playing and your overall skillset.

[MrRottweiler]

How well your opponent is playing is a factor because I would consider leaving a long red tempter if they are missing the long shots. I used to play a guy who was a very good long potter and if I left anything he would find a pot when he was on form but he also had off days and instead of tightening up he would still go for the pots and miss them so it made sense to leave them on. The usual outcome was a rattled red left over the jaws for me.

[JimMalone]

As Csmith says this obviously depends on the exact picture on the table and also on the standings in the frame as well as who your opponent is.

[tony9ball68]

Safety = boring, go for the fun shot, snooker is supposed to be fun, so get rid of silly fears and go for everything!

[dan_ormerod]

As it is a general thread for discussing shot choice, a shot I always struggle with... It's a black ball game and the black is tight to the black cushion and the white is at least behind the baulk line and they are in line with each other or as good as.

Being undecided has caused me to lose 2 black ball games recently in the league I play in.

How do you lot play this shot?

Next time I am going to just go for the double because I am never able to get this safe.


As for the original post, in a match or against someone who is better than me I would play safe but otherwise I would take it on.

[markz]

As it is a general thread for discussing shot choice, a shot I always struggle with... It's a black ball game and the black is tight to the black cushion and the white is at least behind the baulk line and they are in line with each other or as good as.

Being undecided has caused me to lose 2 black ball games recently in the league I play in.

How do you lot play this shot?

Next time I am going to just go for the double because I am never able to get this safe.


As for the original post, in a match or against someone who is better than me I would play safe but otherwise I would take it on.

Try the Alan McManus shot, hit black full ball for deliberate double kiss, should leave black on cushion and white back to the baulk end.

[tomwalker147]

General thread for discussing shot choice.

Say you are up near the side cushion, blue is too thin and you'd need to dig in to the cue ball to get near the reds from a baulk colour. Do you play safe, leave a long red, or try the stupid dig in shot?

I'd dig in but i'm not missing much at the moment. Depends on your confidence and ability I guess.

[tomwalker147]

As it is a general thread for discussing shot choice, a shot I always struggle with... It's a black ball game and the black is tight to the black cushion and the white is at least behind the baulk line and they are in line with each other or as good as.

Being undecided has caused me to lose 2 black ball games recently in the league I play in.

How do you lot play this shot?

Next time I am going to just go for the double because I am never able to get this safe.


As for the original post, in a match or against someone who is better than me I would play safe but otherwise I would take it on.

I quite like playing the object ball past the middle pocket on this sort of shot.

[Cue crafty]

As it is a general thread for discussing shot choice, a shot I always struggle with... It's a black ball game and the black is tight to the black cushion and the white is at least behind the baulk line and they are in line with each other or as good as.

Being undecided has caused me to lose 2 black ball games recently in the league I play in.

How do you lot play this shot?

Next time I am going to just go for the double because I am never able to get this safe.


As for the original post, in a match or against someone who is better than me I would play safe but otherwise I would take it on.

Well worth practising dropping both balls on to either side cushions below the middle pockets. Once practised it's a lower level of nerves shot to play in that situation. You might leave the double but that's missed more often than got and in turn should leave you a pot.

[jonny66]

Safety = boring, go for the fun shot, snooker is supposed to be fun, so get rid of silly fears and go for everything!

I get more satisfaction from a well hit safety than a fluffed pot.

That double kiss black is easy to mess up and leave a sitter though, I don't think there is an easy shot in that situation.

[Cue crafty]

Safety = boring, go for the fun shot, snooker is supposed to be fun, so get rid of silly fears and go for everything!

I get more satisfaction from a well hit safety than a fluffed pot.

That double kiss black is easy to mess up and leave a sitter though, I don't think there is an easy shot in that situation.

Situation makes a difference here. 2 frame league match I'm not gonna be happy if I dig in first frame and bang the balls all over the shop = confidence death. Safety in that case if I don't really fancy it.

Playing a partner in practice? Dig in every time!

[vmax]

General thread for discussing shot choice.

Say you are up near the side cushion, blue is too thin and you'd need to dig in to the cue ball to get near the reds from a baulk colour. Do you play safe, leave a long red, or try the stupid dig in shot?

Leave a long red, raising the butt of the cue is a no no for me, miss 50% of the time when doing this.

As it is a general thread for discussing shot choice, a shot I always struggle with... It's a black ball game and the black is tight to the black cushion and the white is at least behind the baulk line and they are in line with each other or as good as.

Being undecided has caused me to lose 2 black ball games recently in the league I play in.

How do you lot play this shot?

Play the black to middle of the baulk cushion via the side cushion with a ton of check side on the cue ball to keep it middle/ish of the top cushion.
It's a difficult shot but has a wide margin for error regarding cue ball position, as long as you get the pace right, because the check side stops it following the black into baulk.

[dan_ormerod]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will give them all a try.

I tried clipping it really thin and messed it up completely!