In one of our previous articles we looked at getting on the right side of an object ball so we have an easy path to our next shot. In this article let's look at some ideas about keeping angles. Here is a lay out I see misplayed a lot. You have 3 balls left and you figure getting out is easy.
All you have to do is roll down a bit from the 7 to get good on the 8, and then go to the nine. And that is a mistake! Let's see why. The dotted cue ball that is almost straight in is this first position. From here to get to the 9 we need to hit the cue ball hard, maybe use some spin and/or draw and turn our cue ball loose. Now we can get away with this most of the time, but not all the time.
The second dotted cue ball between the cue ball in the 7 was drawn back slightly when pocketing the 7. At first blush this looks like we left ourselves a harder shot, and we did. However, from this position all we need to pocket the 8 and get on the 9 is a simple vertical axis rolling ball! It doesn't get much easier than that!
The lesson here is learning what good position is. The answer to that revolves around what do you want to do with the cue ball next. If you want to keep the cue ball in the same area, getting straight is best. However, if you need to move the cue ball, having an angle on the correct side of the shot is a better place.
Planning your cue ball routes before you get down to shoot keeps you out of trouble. One thing to keep in mind is that the best shot isn't necessarily a straight in one.
Here is one more example of this idea.
Now on the surface this looks easy. Just roll up a little, get straight on the 8 and a stop shot on the 9. Let's look a little closer. If we roll up not quite far enough, we are almost straight going away from the 9 and having to hit the ball hard to move the cue ball up and down the table! Bad things can happen. Now if we roll too far, our cue ball is heading toward the 9 where we could bump it, or worse scratch.
Finally if we get straight on the 8 and carelessly just shoot a stop shot, we might not be able to reach the shot on the 9 comfortably.
I like shooting a stop shot on the 7, then swinging the cue ball down the two rail path. I'm coming at the 9 on an angle I can reach, I don't need to hit the cue ball hard, nor do I need spin.
The deciding line here of whether you try and get straight or swing two rails on the 8 depends on how far the 8 is from the pocket. If close enough to cheat the pocket, getting straight might not be so risky. A little further and I like the two rail route a whole lot more.
Experiment and find out what works for you.