Reverse Plant

[dazjwil7]

I recently stumbled across this little gem of a shot unintentionally one night when watching some old BBC tutorial snippets on the net.

I was amazed that I have followed and played the game for many years only to learn about this shot recently.

Having now practised this shot many times since, I cant wait to reap the rewards from this in the future!

I would like to start this thread to spread the word, and to see how many people are yet to discover the Reverse Plant

[stegorjus]

There's a good demo of this here.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-A1npuOY5...876937&index=7
and Jack Karnehm played lots at the end of his video.

I just can't get my head round the physics of this. It seems to defy all logic. It must be responsible for messing up some straight plants too.

[The Statman]

.... It must be responsible for messing up some straight plants too.

Yes I'm sure it must.

I quite often see youngsters at the club spot a dead straight plant through the pack; they can only hit the first red thinly on one side. They bash the first red confident that the second one will go straight in the back of the pocket with a satisfying clunk – and instead it travels quite slowly, and doesn't even meet the jaws!

[davis_greatest]

I just can't get my head round the physics of this. It seems to defy all logic.

I believe that the physics, in simple terms, can be described as follows:

In a "normal" plant, if the white and 2 reds are in a straight line, with some distance between the reds, then striking the first red on the left will cause it to veer to the right, thus striking the second red on the right, which will then travel to the left. At the time the first red strikes the second, no impulse is being imparted on either red by the cue ball.

In the "reverse plant", on the other hand, the two reds are touching (or nearly so). If the cue ball strikes the first red on the left, then as the first red imparts an impulse on the second red, the cue ball is continuing to impart an impulse from the left onto the first red - this impulse is transmitted from the left from the first red to the second red. The second red therefore travels to the right.

The difference between the normal plant and reverse plant, therefore, is that, in the case of the latter alone, an impulse is still being transmitted from the cue ball as the second red begins its motion.

[hegeland]

Indeed, good description.

[The Statman]

Yes, of course, the bit that is difficult to grasp is not that the second red goes in the 'wrong' direction, but that it goes in any direction!

[thelongbomber]

The way I was explained reverse plants was from a local veteran. It has to do with physics, momentum and total weight imparted. For the purposes of this explanation, its assumed the balls are touching or very close (enough for only a few sheets of paper).

If you look at your classic pendulum of 3+ balls, if you swing one ball at one end, one ball will come out the other side. If you swing 2 balls, 2 balls come out the other side.

In a reverse plant, the theory can be similarly applied. When the cue ball strikes the first red, the total weight of these two balls at point of impact (the cue ball and the first red), cause the 2nd red to slide or veer away from the natural line of the plant in line with direction the cue ball came from. Thus you can actually force or "push" or "squirt" the 2nd red towards the pocket. The harder you strike, the more push or squirt the 2nd red will receive. Because the total weight and momentum of the first 2 balls (which are in essence acting as one large mass during impact) exceeds the weight of the 3rd ball, the 3rd ball has no choice but to be pushed away from the off set plant.

Its also important to understand that all balls on a table (and especially so with fast, thin, shiny, or new cloth) actually slide a bit immediately after a ball reaction and before they spin. Its an infinitesimal amount and you won't see it on the slow motion videos, but the physics are there. You can actually aim your cue ball towards a cut red, play the angle thinner then required but use so much pace you actually push or squeeze or squirt the red into the pocket. Its a method I used for a while to pot balls in my early days (and thus the longbomber nickname). The above partly explains why during those long "shots to nothing" you see on TV, a "stunning" effect is applied to the cue ball as if draw was applied, when in reality, the player strikes with center ball.

Perhaps that give you some insight?