| Lecture
by Lee
Firstly, have
you achieved a B grade (33 or higher) in the BSc?
If not, then please
leave until you have satisfied my prerequisites. Only the best
get admitted to this degree!
This set of
advanced drills is based on the same scoring format as the BSc,
with each exercise worth 10 points, so 50 points maximum available
in total. The primary objective of the MSc is to master cueball
control - my prediction is after a dozen or so attempts at this
exam, you will be twice the player you currently are. If you can
achieve a Merit (30 or above) you are eligible to apply for the
PhD. A solid Merit grade (35+) in the
Msc is to be achieved if you really want to consider yourself a
good cueist on an American table.
Grades are assigned
for this course as follows (if anybody achieves a Distinction on
this course I will personally buy them a huge trophy):
40-50 - Distinction
30-39 - Merit
20-29 - Pass
0-19 - Fail
To submit a
valid score, your exam must be witnessed and confirmed by a fellow
pool club member.
The 5 drills
are as follows:
1. Straight Cueing - Xtreme Edition!
As with the BSc, the degree begins with a straight cueing exercise
and is the best way to get your cueing in check quickly. Only this
time, you must follow the cueball into the same
pocket as well as potting it - this is much harder than
you think, which is why this time there are only 5 balls. You get
1 point for the pot, and an additional point if the white follows
through to the same pocket, so 10 points in total. You may have
noticed with the BSc straight cueing drill that even when you potted,
the cueball deviated from a straight line when coming back. No such
room for error here, you have to be perfectly precise - it's possible
to pot the ball and the white land a foot away from the pocket!
The key is ensuring that both balls really are directly lined up,
and playing with a reasonably firm pace, and of course topspin -
not so much that it sacrifices the pot, but enough for the cueball
to reach the bottom of the table.
2. Laying
snookers
There are 5
shots in this exercise, and you have 2 attempts at each
shot (1 point for each snooker made). Your goal
is to have the cueball hiding behind the cluster of balls so that
you cannot see the 1 ball. If you pot the 1 ball, even by accident,
you fail, regardless of how awesomely the cueball ends up. You are
allowed to make contact with the cluster (i.e. if you overhit slightly)
as long as the snooker comes out. I know you won't see these kinds
of ball layouts in a match - the point of this exercise is to master
pace and spin. A few sessions
of these and you'll have the cueball on a string in no time :)
These are the
table layouts - you may choose to play the safety any way you wish
- however some ways are far, far easier and more effective than
others. Think topspin, stun, side, side screw, side top and so on
to minimise error. That's all I'm saying for now - once you have
had a go at it I'll let you know what I think the best methods are
for these situations.
2a
- Simple 2 cushion snooker
Arrange 5 balls
in a curve as below so that there's a 1.5x1.5 diamond square available
for the cueball to land. The 1 ball should be placed as below -
1 diamond up and to the side of the corner pocket. The cueball should
be half a diamond from the top cushion, and 1 diamond away from
the side cushion.
2b -
4-rail snooker
Same layout
for the cluster of 5 - however this time the 1 ball is to be placed
in the centre of the table, one diamond away from the bottom rail,
with the cueball on the headstring, one diamond away from the side
rail. Having tried this one now, it's actually really hard. I made
it once in 6 attempts :(
2c -
Tricky 2-cushion snooker
This time you
need to make the 5-ball cluster in the middle of the table - a neat
triangle is ideal here, with the 2 outermost points being half a
diamond away from the centre diamond, and about a diamond away from
the cushion itself. The 1 ball should be placed 1x1 diamond up from
the cushion, with the cueball as indicated, 1x0.5 diamonds from
the corner pocket.
2d -
Thin cut 4-cushion snooker
Not quite as
hard as it looks this one, but you definitely need to be precise.
The way to do this shot is to aim to thin-cut the 1 on the
right with lots of right hand side and a bit of topspin.
Again pace is the key here. Centre cluster is the same as the previous
drill, 1 ball is in the same spot, but the cueball needs to be on
the headstring, one diamond away from the side rail.
2e -
Delicate touch
To finish up
on the snookers, here's a toughie. You only have 3 balls to hide
the cueball behind this time, and they're all right next to each
other (2 inches space between them) and half a diamond off the top
cushion. Both the 1 ball and the cueball are on the headstring,
both 1 diamond away from opposing side rails. This one is very easy
to over or underhit - but there is a way to make the shot a
lot easier. Try to think what this method might be :)
3. Cushion
Bank shots
This banking
drill is a lot tougher than the BSc one (and also more realistic
in terms of the kinds of shots you'll have during a match) as the
object balls are all just slightly off the rail. Here you should
put your knowledge about cushion behaviours with difficult to judge
trajectories - I clearly won't be able to use my trigonometry for
these ones! Ball in hand every time, up to you which pocket you
bank into. The 9 and the 10 ball are to be banked long into corner
pockets - they should both be half a diamond away from the centre
as shown in the diagram, and an extra couple of inches away from
the top rail to avoid the potential for double kissing.
4. Cannons
This is a superb
drill I've done many times on English tables. The goal is to touch
each ball that is on the cushion following the pot on the 1 ball
to the centre (in order, so as in the diagram below, you
try to hit the 2, then the 3 etc.), meaning you have to
adjust pace and top/back/sidespin for different balls - you are
welcome to use cushions if you want. This is hands-down the most
effective drill at getting you to master predicting the path of
the cueball - you'll notice you always put too much top, or not
enough pace, or not enough screw - you'll quickly overcome that
with this drill and be a demon at disturbing clusters :) Now, it's
absolutely crucial that the cueball and 1 ball are in the same spot
every time (1 ball right in the centre, cueball a diamond away,
slightly higher than the 1 ball) - PLACE CHALK MARKS
on the table so you have the exact same shot every time (any shift
in these independent variables will dramatically affect the cueball
direction and you won't be getting correct feedback). You score
1 point for each of the 9 balls you hit - whenever you hit a ball,
put it in a pocket. If you miss, leave the ball where it is - that
way you can remember which ones you got and which you missed. If
you get all 9, you get 1 bonus point for being so goddamned awesome.
5. RUNOUT
"Oi! You
finished with a runout for the BSc, don't
you have any original ideas for this course?", I hear you complain
to the Dean of Postgraduate Studies. Fair enough, but this one's
a lot harder, as it's a 10-ball runout.
You'll be surprised
how much extra work is involved with an additional ball on the table
:) And frankly, running out regularly should be your ultimate aim
in this game so the more practice you have the better. Same rule
as before, you have ball in hand after the break AND you are allowed
to remove one difficult ball. I noticed that the ball removal ruling
had a truly awesome unintended consequence at the first BSc session
- you're all studying the table looking for a problem ball, which
in turn forces you to think about exactly what way to go about the
clearance. Thinking this way already puts you above 75% of 9-ball
players.
Each ball potted
(including the break) is worth 1 point. If you clear all the balls,
you get a bonus point, so 10 points in total (9 balls available
excluding the removed ball).
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