Imagine you are playing a pool game with your friends and you make a move in which you spin the cue ball. The shocking and amazed look on your friend’s face, and the joyous look on your face can easily speak about the fact that you have control over your cue ball.
In pool table games, this mode is an advanced player thing to spin the cue ball. It depicts a person’s control over the cue, the cue ball, and his overall game.
Spinning the ball means that players deliberately manipulate the ball in such positions that it would become easy for him to pocket the next selected object ball. This can be learned through varieties of techniques and a well grasp over mechanics of basic mathematics that are involved in the game of pool.
When you are shooting the cue ball along the vertical line, aiming at the object ball is fairly straightforward. You can use any of the aiming techniques such as;
But when you are aiming from the left or right side of the vertical line, you have to remember everything about the following;
The is only one way that can guarantee the spin of the ball and speed, and that is the gradual increase of the hitting of the cue ball along the direction as of a clock. Move round and round and keep hitting the cue ball to make with a gradual increase in speed.
With time, the game involving cues have evolved a lot. A lot of techniques and methods have come forward. The spin of the cue ball determines your control over the ball, and well, you always get to pocket (pot) more balls.
Different techniques are involved when it comes to the spinning of the cue ball. They are described namely as under;
It is also referred to as reverse English for left or right depending on the side closest to the cue ball after contacting a rail. It is also regarded as the side spin put on the cue ball, after hitting the left or the right of center.
It is used for the position by changing the angle of the reflection of the cue ball after it contacts a rail. The left or the right English or the sidespin put the object ball in another direction, or it changes the path of the object ball after hitting with the cue ball.
The side spin has some more subdivision regarding hitting of the cue ball. They are as under.
Whenever the cue ball is not hit in the center but top or down, the cue ball differs from the aiming line, and sidespin is imparted either on the left or right on the cue ball.
Spinning is not always initiated by the player. Often it is by mistake, a common source of the missed shot.
Some cue ball spin is caused by its contact with the pool table felt and cushions.
This type of spin is usually known as the topspin or the top.
In this type of spin, the spin occurs in the direction of the ball, so the speed will naturally be more. If the cue ball has topspin on it, it will keep on moving forward after hitting the ball or the rails rather than coming to a stop.
In the topspin, the cue reacts with the felt on the pool table and follows in a more rapid speed.
This spin is played when the player is hitting a straight-on shot. When the cue ball is hit, it will take a split second to start off and then will hit anything that comes in its way.
It doesn’t stop there, but even after hitting the rails or bounce back, the cue ball again will hit the other balls the second time.
When the cue ball is hit in the town- center, the spin which is created is known as a draw or backspin.
In this, the cue ball spins in the backward direction. If the cue ball has down or backspin on it, it will bounce back on its direction, and after hitting the object ball, it will still move in a backward direction more.
It is referred to as the sliding of the cue ball across the surface of the cloth of the pool table. That is when the cue ball is hit with a slide, the top part of the cue ball is not rotate, and in fact, it will simply slide along the felt.
To achieve the slide effect on the cue ball, the cue ball is hit with the down or draw spin with such speed that it will take time for the cue ball to rotate naturally. The more speed with which the cue ball is hit, the more slide the cue ball is going to have.
Now when the cue ball is sliding and hit the object ball dead-on that mean center to center hit, both the balls will have the same and equal mass and the cue ball is the one with the impact then it will transfer all of its momenta to the object ball and cue ball to a complete stop. This is known as the stop shot.
When the cue ball is sliding and has a side spin on it and when it comes in contact with the object ball dead on, it will come to a complete stop, but the cue ball will keep sliding till the sidespin does not wear off.
But if the cue ball and the object ball did not hit each other dead on then, the side spin will cause the object ball to move into the desired direction of the player, and that is known as the stun shot.
It happens when the object ball is moving away from the impact line due to the sliding motion between the cue ball and the object ball caused by the side spin.
It usually occurs when the cue ball is hit with the side spin, and it hits the object ball, with massive fullness in the cue ball direction, the object ball will move in the opposite direction of the cue ball, and the object ball’s reaction is referred as the Throw.
A jump shot is a kind of a shot in which a player intentionally makes the cue ball to jump a little in the air in a legal manner. Jump cue is usually used to play a jump shot.
Although it is allowed in certain games, it is forbidden in many games as an unskilled player can damage the cloth of the pool table. A legal jump shot happens when:
The cue ball struck above the center driving it down in the table so that the ball will rebind. Another way to have a jump is although illegal, but some players use it to display their control over the ball.
That is when the cue is placed underneath the ball and pushed a little in the air by a small jerky action. It makes the ball to bounce off and again bounce on the table, and this is usually referred to as the foul play.
When the cue ball is displaced in the opposite direction with the help of side spin, deflection is achieved. In this, the cue ball moves in the opposite direction than the aimed direction in the opposite.
When the cue ball gets hit by English or sidespin, the ball always begins to travel in the direction in which it was not aimed.
Whenever the pool ball is struck with some degree of sidespin and the cue is not properly placed, a curve will result. Mostly there are intentional curves and un-intentional curves.
When the cue stick is slightly elevated, and then the cue ball is hit with side spin, an unintentional curve will result, and that is called as the swerve or the swerve effect.
It is the curving of the cue-ball that often happens when the cue ball is hit with a much-elevated cue stick.
The force is directly applied to the cue ball and with sidespin on it, the cue ball is bound to have sharp curves, or a high degree of spin along the vertical axis and the horizontal axis as well.
It is always an amazing feeling to have the ability to control your cue ball. When you are able to control the direction of your cue ball, this automatically means that you are in for the win and you have mastered the game as any professional.
With the above explanation of different types of spins and curves, this ability is not far-fetched from any person’s hand. All you needs is the control over your cue, and the cue ball.
