Jeff is the only player so far in this thread that actually gets it, yes he's the guy who woke me up to the shot, and clearly the right shot.
This debate actually started with three options, 12ball to the 8ball..12ball two cushions to the 10 and 15ball......and either of the two combinations, that's what was being discussed. I still stand by by comments and opinion on the shots that I like and why I like them, which I feel have sound reasoning. I agreed that playing the 12ball to the 8ball was a good option, only if you were to draw the ball. I also suggested that shooting the combo's under certain conditions would be also a viable option and explained why. I didn't like shooting the spot shot because it was a type of a shot that had too much defense attached to it, I didn't like that option for this situation. So, I actually liked the 12ball to the 8ball and the combination shots the best. Until I understood how Jeff was playing the 12ball to the 10 or 15ball, I actually dismissed that option because I never realized that the angle for the shot was there until I set it up and shot it.
Here's the skinny
Playing one pocket we are confronted with many many decisions, the most important decision to make is..when to shoot at your pocket. It's not a black and white sort of thing, it's a core feeling that we all have based off of trial and error process. That's actually what this debate is all about, and here's why I believe that Jeff has clearly the right shot.
The 12ball is the shot that is the easiest shot to pocket, so we would like to use it for our opening shot or we are compromising the situation, trailing by four balls. How do we shoot the 12ball is the question, my opinion is you shoot it the way you will pocket it with a higher percentage, that would be to hit it with a high ball and no english and allow the shot to play naturally. By hitting the shot with no english and concentrating soley on the hit an accurate hit will result in a better feel with the cue ball and a higher pocketing percentage. The 12ball to the 8ball is also a good option but a more difficult option with controlling the cue ball, plus you're playing for only one ball, the 8ball. The stroke needed for the shot has a demand for much more feel in the speed and degree of cue tip contact, these thing will diminish the accuracy of the shot some what, probably not enough to miss the ball but often enough to lose your cue ball some. Is that a big deal?? That's up to you, I think so especially when you have a shot that will offer more consistency with pocketing the ball. I would guess that for a player like myself pocketing the 12ball with a high ball no english will be around 80 plus percent, for a good player over 90%. Like I mentioned there comes a time when we must commit to a shot and play the shot that best fits the situation. For those who are using the reason that if you miss you don't have to give any thing up are confused. That's the reason for shooting a safer shot, but imo there are more and better reasons to shoot the 12ball to the 10ball and forget about missing.
Dr. Bill
