Free ball nomination

[guernseygooner]

In a foul and free ball scenario do you have to nominate the ball you are going for even if obvious?

Had a quick look at the rules but can't see anything obvious about it

[DeanH]

Sec 2.12 Nominated Ball
(a) A nominated ball is the object ball which the striker declares, or indicates to the satisfaction of the referee, he undertakes to hit with the first impact of the cue-ball.
(b) If requested by the referee, the striker must declare which ball he is on.

The important word here is "indicates", that indication can be verbal, pointing at, of just purely the alignment of the cue itself when the player is at address.
So when it "is obvious" usually the alignment of cue at address is the indication.
If the referee is unsure, (b) comes in to play, Declare means to verbally say which ball.
In a Free Ball, everyone thinks you have to Declare (verbal) but as above this is not true. It is very common that people think that verbal nomination is always required. I say "if in doubt, just say"; will stop the opponent going "off on one" when the arguments starts

Nominating a ball is not just when a Free Ball has been called it is at EVERY time the ball on is a colour
Do we say Black for every Black we do? No, as above, the nomination is indicated by the alignment of the cue and the clear intention of the player. "it is obvious"
also for example, when you are playing to the baulk colours and say the Green and Brown are close together, we will verbally declare which ball your are nominating.
Not just in free ball scenario

[guernseygooner]

Thanks Dean. The reason I asked was there have been incidents in local stuff recently where in a no ref situation, the opponent has called a foul after the shot was played due to the striker not nominating the free ball.

Should this not be the case then as the ref/opponent should've asked before the strike what ball was being taken?

[DeanH]

This is the scenario mentioned earlier
How many times all of us have had this - "it was obvious" "not to me it wasn't".... fight fight fight!
The opponent could have asked "Declare"- but many people don't like it as "it puts the player off when down on the shot" - it is tricky.
As I say, if in doubt, just say so no one is in doubt what is the nominated ball, hence referees clear repeat to ensure they heard right and to tell any one else around.
A friend of mine is always declaring his nomination, I repeat it so he knows I heard him correctly
Even though he did not need to as I knew what he was going to do
[and I mean both - which ball and that he was going to declare ]

[Nifty50]

Mate of mine has a habit of saying "what ball are you going for" when I'm on my back swing. Really annoying.

[Londonlad147]

At present the rules only require the striker to verbally declare what ball he is on (a) if asked to do so by the referee and (b) if snookered. In all other situations nomination by indication is enough. However, if the referee isn't sure what ball the striker is on then he should ask for a declaration: the referee cannot call a foul if he goes for a different ball to what he expected, because if there was any ambiguity the onus was on the ref to have asked.

[guernseygooner]

Thanks all, that clears it up

[Martin56]

On a related issue. If I am snookered on the last red and a free ball has been awarded can I nominate the colour that is obstructing the red and play it as a plant to pot the red? This came up in a game and neither of us were happy doing this although a fellow snooker player was saying it is fine. I've never seen this on TV either. So thought I would ask.

[Londonlad147]

On a related issue. If I am snookered on the last red and a free ball has been awarded can I nominate the colour that is obstructing the red and play it as a plant to pot the red? This came up in a game and neither of us were happy doing this although a fellow snooker player was saying it is fine. I've never seen this on TV either. So thought I would ask.

Yes, you can always pot the actual ball on *provided* you hit the nominated free ball first.

What you can't do is nominate a free ball and then play the ball on to plant onto the nominated ball.

[Martin56]

So it would be a foul only if I nominated the brown as a plant shot onto the red but, accidentally, miscued and then missed the brown and came off the cushion to hit the red that was previously snookered.

[DeanH]

yes, it is a foul if the nominated ball is not hit by the cue ball first.

in your text delete the "only"

[Londonlad147]

So it would be a foul only if I nominated the brown as a plant shot onto the red but, accidentally, miscued and then missed the brown and came off the cushion to hit the red that was previously snookered.

Yes, that would be a foul.