Push Shot

[rajiv]

I can't figure out while playing what exactly is a push shot foul. I just avoid playing OB when its very close to the CB.

[Kyra]

I can't figure out while playing what exactly is a push shot foul. I just avoid playing OB when its very close to the CB.

A push shot will occur if CB and OB are nearly touching. If the distance between the balls is say about 1 inch and you play for a full face hit, it may be considered a push shot. The rule book says that you have to hit the OB as thin as possible to avoid a push shot and the foul. If the referee thinks that you didn't try to do so he may call a foul. It depends on the situation. Sometimes a push shot can easyly be recognised by how the balls react after the impact. If you play a screw shot, the CB will not go back as far as it normally would. The sound of the impact will be different as well. Perhaps you should try to play shots like that at the table and see if you can recognise the difference.

[The Statman]

A push shot will occur if CB and OB are nearly touching. If the distance between the balls is say about 1 inch and you play for a full face hit, it may be considered a push shot. The rule book says that you have to hit the OB as thin as possible to avoid a push shot and the foul. If the referee thinks that you didn't try to do so he may call a foul. It depends on the situation. Sometimes a push shot can easyly be recognised by how the balls react after the impact. If you play a screw shot, the CB will not go back as far as it normally would. The sound of the impact will be different as well. Perhaps you should try to play shots like that at the table and see if you can recognise the difference.

In fact it is possible to play full-ball without committing a push shot, but it is difficult.

One of the things you can do is imagine playing the shot in the same direction from several inches away – you will have a good idea of the expected path of the cue-ball after it has hit the red.

When playing from very close, a push shot is likely (when the cue strike the ball for the second time) to push the cue-ball in a more straight-on direction that is natural. If this is the case, then a push shot has almost definitely occurred.

When I am refereeing, I ALWAYS consider the path I would expect the cue-ball to take, when it leaves the object ball. Anything considerably straighter than that I would call foul.

As with all Rules when refereeing, if there is doubt, the striker gets the benefit of the doubt.

Anything closer than about ¼ inch (6mm) and I would expect a very fine edge to be aimed for, and even then for the cue-ball to move away from the object ball in a different direction from the way the cue is pointing.

[DawRef]

In Riso Levi's book, Strokes of the Game (on billiards), he says it is possible to play a deep screw fairly from only a sixteenth of an inch away from the object ball!! In the achievement of this, the cue-ball is made to initially depart at a tangent to the point of contact before the screw takes effect.

[APK]

Not so long ago there was a spate of players playing a deliberate miscue. This involved playing at right angles to the intended direction for the cue ball and playing the shot so thin that they miscued. This allowed the cue to follow through and therefore have a fairly normal feel about the shot but the contact with the cue ball was so thin that it only moved a few millimeters.
Don't see this shot any more. Maybe it was too risky for no real benefit.

A push shot is when the tip of the cue, the cue ball and the object ball are all in contact at the same time. As Statman says, the cue ball will travel much straighter than expected.

[The Statman]

Not so long ago there was a spate of players playing a deliberate miscue. This involved playing at right angles to the intended direction for the cue ball and playing the shot so thin that they miscued. This allowed the cue to follow through and therefore have a fairly normal feel about the shot but the contact with the cue ball was so thin that it only moved a few millimeters.
Don't see this shot any more. Maybe it was too risky for no real benefit.

A push shot is when the tip of the cue, the cue ball and the object ball are all in contact at the same time. As Statman says, the cue ball will travel much straighter than expected.

Yes I remember those shots; Peter Ebdon was one of its most frequent exponents.

I think the benefit is that you will almost certainly avoid the push shot, but the downside is that it is so difficult to control that you may end up missing the object ball entirely.

I remember one player being called for two Misses in that situation, the ball being 'replaced' each time (though in reality it may have landed where it started) and being warned that another miss would mean loss of frame. That would not happen with the push shot, of course, because you can't call a Miss unless you miss!

[poolqjunkie]

In pool, I have seen guys draw the ball straight back, with them being only may be 2 to 3 mm apart. The way the cue ball was striked was that the cue tip hits the cue ball at an angle either to the left or the right, addressing the cue ball either at low right or left, so the tip gets out of the way of the cue ball when it spins back. There is a name in French for it, which sounds something like "forte."
I saw Mike Massey, a trick shot artist, do a legal push follow shot with lots of power to the cue ball, when he first measured where his grip will hit the cushion at the end of his follow through, which is where the object ball sits. He then adjusted his grip so his follow through will be stopped by the edge of the table. This way, he can hit the ball as hard as he can, without hitting the cue ball twice.

[cocked hat]

push shot avoidal

I've often played these shots with my cue vertical to the bed.When the balls are very close you can avoid the push by coming down on the edge of the cue ball around most of the balls diameter,it's similar to the deliberate miscue already mentioned,but,in my opinion,much more controllable,and,in the right circumstances allow you to generate a lot of back-spin.

I'm not quite following you Poolq,are you saying this guy slams his hand into the cushion rail to stop it short?

[ADR147]

it is a push if the tip the cue ball and the object ball are in contact at the same time. tricky call sometimes but a good player always knows if he has fouled.............

[poolqjunkie]

I've often played these shots with my cue vertical to the bed.When the balls are very close you can avoid the push by coming down on the edge of the cue ball around most of the balls diameter,it's similar to the deliberate miscue already mentioned,but,in my opinion,much more controllable,and,in the right circumstances allow you to generate a lot of back-spin.

I'm not quite following you Poolq,are you saying this guy slams his hand into the cushion rail to stop it short?

Well, what Miek Massey did, was that he would hold the cue at the point where the tip of his cue would stop just short of the object ball and his grip hand would be stopped by the rail so it cannot go any further. That way, he can hit the ball as hard as he wants without worrying the tip hitting the cue ball as the cue ball makes contact with the object ball.