I want to take a moment to just go over an aspect of pool that many players have difficulty with. I have to admit that I have as much difficulty with this as most any player. The hardest shot in any pool game or tournament is the defense shot.
Now if you only play bar pool you might have heard this shot referred to as a cheap shot, or dirty pool. That is actually a false thought. The defensive shot is both legitimate and fair. Often it is even a bit of a compliment, as the opposing player is deemed either too good or on too much of a run to be allowed to have a clear shot on the pool table.
Here is a small selection of defensive, difficult, and sometimes unintentional defensive shots from a recent American Poolplayers Association 9-ball match that I had. The opponent I faced was a level 5 and I am a 4. That means that he had to clear 38 balls versus 31 for myself.
We start with a shot that was left to me [I'm the handsome Black guy wearing the stylish hooded sweatshirt found at my online store]. (I realize that this is not the best angle to judge the shots from, bear with me) This is early in the match, and my opponent has left me with the cue nearly touching and to the side of the 1-ball. From this angle there is no easy shot. Running the cue up the table and back to the 1 for a kick shot was out as the 8 was in the way. In the reverse the shot would likely not be strong enough to get the 1 in the corner, and/or leave the 1 set for my opponents run.
In trying for the 1-ball in the side I also have the ability to then control the cue and bring it back such that if it drops I will have a shot on the 2-ball to the opposite side pocket. The added bonus of this shot, and the reason I took the shot was the fact that with a miss it also allows for the cue to be completely hidden from the 1-ball.
This effectively is a defensive shot, because of the low percentage chance of executing the shot and the result to the opponent, but it does not need to be claimed as such since there is a clear attempt at making the shot. The result is a ball in hand for me and an early advantage for that rack.
In the next shot we see that I have a bank and hard cut on the 1-ball in a new rack. The ideal shot is to place the 1-ball into the corner pocket. I of course screwed up this shot, which is low percentage to start with. The key here is the english placed on the cue. The expectation is that the shot will not go as expected. Thus the goal is to limit the danger of the opponent from running the table.
Now there is no complete expectation on this shot. The hope is to leave the cue in the upper portion of the table, and have the1-ball end up against a rail as close to perpendicular to the cue as possible. Again the goal is not to make the shot, but to prevent the opponent from doing so, possibly gaining either a ball in hand or superior position.
While there was no way to guarantee the result, the shot was sufficiently difficult enough that while he was able to contact the 1-ball he could not drop it. And due to the angle and force that was used, a beneficial shot was obtained for me.
In the next rack we see that my opponent has forced the cue behind the 6-ball after striking the 2-ball in an attempt to combo and drop the 3-ball. This leaves a very difficult shot at the 2-ball. Again while this was not the expected result it was an outcome that was hoped to occur since the prior shot had low chance of success. The goal was again to leave the cue in a more difficult position than the opponent had and force an opportunity.
The best shot at the 2-ball was a bank shot around the 6-ball, kicking the 2-ball with the hope of either going in clean, or if off to strike and drop the 3-ball in combo. But the english I used was incorrect, as was the angle, and results in the 2-ball going to the near rail and lining up with the 3-ball and corner pocket. The cue followed back and provides a rather easy shot for my opponent to run the 2, 3, 5 and 6-balls for a large advantage on this rack.
My opponent does this and is now shooting on the 7-ball. Because of the position after striking the 6-ball he has gone too far over and cannot strike the 7-ball directly. This position is an excellent time to play a soft bank shot to the 7, forcing it to just touch the rail and rise even or on the far side of the 9-ball. That defense would cause an attempt at a low percentage bank shot, or an extreme cut for me. Instead my opponent is aggressive (which I generally favor) and looks to strike the 7-ball off the bank with force and top spin. The hope is to then strike the 9-ball and spin the 7 into the corner. The cue should end up below the 9-ball, aligned to one of the corners. This does not happen.
The aggressive stance here leads to striking the 9-ball and thus a ball in hand for me. Now my draw on the 7-ball is not as much as I had hoped for. But there is a decent percentage chance of making the cut to the corner. This is also aggressive, but there is no other ball on the table and since any other shot missing leave an easy shot at the 9, I went for it.
Aggressive shots are fun, and look great. But as a far higher ranked teammate often reminds me,
“Making the harder shot may look cool, but most of the time they will cost you the match.”
Aggressive shots on a 9-ball are costly, but far less so than on other balls on the table as they lead to runs by the opponent. Once I dropped this 9, I gained the break for the next rack. That break added another 1 ball to my total besides the 4 I gained for the last rack (1, 7,and 9). That put me at 5 versus my opponents 6 for the entire last rack and I was still shooting. The advantage at this point was decidedly mine.
I ran 3 more balls and screwed up the 4-ball, knowing that this would lead to a run on the rack. Never over think your shots. Never plan to hard on the next shot before you make the shot at hand. And be glad of luck, which is how the 4-ball ended up behind the 9 and opposed to the cue. Ultimately that rack was split, with me still holding a lead from several of the defensive shots, and luck, described above.
I threw in the nice cut of my opponent be cause I liked the shot. He took most of that rack.
But in the rack after I was left with the 1-ball in front of the cue facing the side. The next several shots are an example of taking the shot at hand and understanding but not focusing on the shot to follow.
I’m no pro - obviously, but I believe that the defensive shots, and increasing the difficulty of the opponents shot whenever more effective than taking a very low percentage shot, shows it’s own reward. I won that match 31 to 23. The defensive and opposing difficult shots provided me a 10 to 4 advantage on an opponent that is a good player, higher ranked and expected to win. That advantage plus the fact he had nearly a rack more balls for a win were why I won the match.
Defensive and high difficulty shots are critical to a winning game. Just some thoughts and possible tips.
No comments:
Post a Comment