Regarding throw?

Question

This is in part a question and a statement. Have you ever noticed that when most people refer to "throw" or use examples of "throw" they are almost always referring to balls that are frozen (touching)? Either the cue ball is frozen to one or more object balls or two or more object balls are frozen to each other. This is the gear principle and it definitely works. This is because frozen balls are treated as a single unit as in the example that you can't commit a double-hit foul when the cue ball is frozen to an object ball unless other factors come into play. I see plenty of cases where people try to claim that spin transfers from cue ball to object ball or that if you hit the cue ball on the right you will throw the object ball to the left and every time without fail, they've improperly compensated for cue ball deflection and thereby changed the contact point. It's possible for the cue ball to have extreme sidespin and still stop on a dime if it hits the object ball full on.

Answer 1

i've read articles on this in Pool and Billiards Mag. From my experience i completely side with you. Of course spin can be transferred to an object ball but it is usually during a cut shot not the spin applied to the cue ball.

Answer 2

Hey Straight, is something wrong with your e-mail or did you just not check it yesterday? I'm thinking that when people go to your profile and click to e-mail you, you don't receive it for some reason...Mine works (e-mail me and let me know).

Answer 3

Practice it with a striped practice ball and watch what it does

Answer 4

true

Answer 5

What a great pool topic!  You have great points, but I have to correct you just a bit

Most people think "throw" has to do with spin. and transfering spin from the cueball to the object ball when actually "Throw" itself has nothing to do with spin.

Throw refers to the friction between the cueball and object ball upon contact (caused by dust, chalk, etc..) which causes the actual path of the object ball to be slightly more shallow than the cut would indicate on paper.  In other words, geometrically lining up a cut shot of any angle will not exactly work when you go to shoot it.  In reality, you will need to cut the ball slightly MORE than what the geometry indicates to compensate for this friction;  that is, to compensate for the phenomon of "throw."

You'll notice that throw is a much more of a factor on bar tables than in your average pool hall.  This is because the dirty bar tables causes much more friction between the balls than on cleaner tables.    

One way to minimize the effect of "Throw" is by putting opposite spin on a cut shot.  i.e. if you are cutting a ball to a pocket to your right, putting using left english would allow you to hit more of the object ball.  

Casual pool players/teachers think using side english is using "throw" to cut a ball in.  In reality, english is used to minimize throw, not create it.  

Transferring spin from the cueball to the object ball is another subject all together...

Answer 6

You are right they make it look good on paper .To bad we dont play on paper

We called them a slide shot a few years back .They ride the tangent for awhile then go their own way you dont have control over them not a good shot to stake a match on

Thanks Bobby