Rules question - playing from in hand

[Joe99]

Hi there [first post]

Suppose I am playing from "in hand". I place the cue ball in the dee and prepare to take my shot. After adressing the cue ball and going through most of my pre-shot routine, I have second thoughts about the shot I have chosen.

Am I now allowed to pick up the cue ball and move it to a new location for an alternative shot on a different object ball or is it now "in play"?

[austrian_girl]

Yes, you are allowed to move it. As long as you haven't struck the cueball with the tip of your cue, the white ball is still in-hand.

[The Statman]

Yes, you are allowed to move it. As long as you haven't struck the cueball with the tip of your cue, the white ball is still in-hand.

...But, if you foul, say, by your sleeve touching a ball, the NEXT player CANNOT move the cue-ball, even if it was outside the D.

[davis_greatest]

...But, if you foul, say, by your sleeve touching a ball, the NEXT player CANNOT move the cue-ball, even if it was outside the D.

... which can cause the next player considerable problems if the cue ball is still in the pocket

[The Statman]

... which can cause the next player considerable problems if the cue ball is still in the pocket

If it's midway through a game, the chances are if the cue-ball is in a pocket it will be touching a red - in which case all he has to do is play away!

[chasmmi]

so if you are about to break off and you miscue causing only the shaft and not the tp to hit the white. As long as no other balls are struck can this be deemed not a foul as the ball is still in hand and as such can be moved about by the players cue shaft?

[The Statman]

so if you are about to break off and you miscue causing only the shaft and not the tp to hit the white. As long as no other balls are struck can this be deemed not a foul as the ball is still in hand and as such can be moved about by the players cue shaft?

Once the cue-ball has been placed on the table, the next SHOT OR FOUL makes the ball 'live' and no longer in hand. The foul does not have to involve the white.

So, if you've put the white in the D, and then foul - touch a ball with your sleeve, touch the white with the shaft of the cue, or whatever - the ball is then in play.

However, it is commonplace that players use the cue to position the cue-ball, rather than their hands, and that has pecome accepted practice. Therefore, if the referee is satisfied that you were actually in the act of moving the white to the desired position, he will not call foul.