Some Shots To Practice

By Jim Shovak - Four Time USBA Tour "B" Champion

BASIC ENGLISHES CHART:

    4 Tips             3 1/2 Tips          3 Tips                2 Tips                 1 Tip                 0 Tips

When the angle from the cue ball to the hit on the first object ball is going directly into the corner or slightly longer (lower right corner in this case), and the first object ball is near the top cushion (one ball's width or less), then the numbers on the top cushion tell you where your cue ball will go with a thin hit and 4 tips of English. Since the first object ball is on the "5" line, then 4tips of English and a thin hit will bring the cue ball to 5 on the 3rd rail (lower left area). Likewise, if the first object ball was 1/2 diamond to the left, then your cue ball "wants" to go to 10 on the 3rd rail.

In this example, the first object ball is at "0", which means just missing the corner. Very handy if you wish to play this drop-in shot.

Since the cue ball "wants" to go to 17 on the 3rd rail with 4 tips of English, then 3 1/2 tips brings the cueball to 15, 3 tips brings it to 12 and 2 tips brings it to 10 to make this shot.

In this shot, 4 tips of English and a thin hit (soft speed) brings it just short of the corner. If the last object ball is along the first diamond of the left side short rail (-1), then use 3 1/2 tips of English. If it is at (-2), then use 3 tips and if it is at (-3) as shown, use 2 tips. Soft speed, thin hit, follow through on stroke. Thin hit is about 1/8