When in league play. vnea 8 ball. how is the proper way to shoot a safety?

Question

Is it that one of your balls have to hit a rail, or does the cue have to touch the rail?

Answer 1

A properly performed safty is acomplishied in the following manor.You must strike your object ball first with the cue ball and then 1. Have your ball or any ball including the cue strike a cushion.2. (Frozen ball) Correct execution of the shot requiers you to strike your bject ball to another cushion or strike your ball and then have the cue strike a cushion.Your object ball cannot strike the same cushion twice without the cue also striking a cushion. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

So far everyone is right.....but there maybe a time when you want to pocket the ball you are shooting at because too hard a position play to the next ball or maybe your balls are locked up and no way to make that ball and break up the locked balls......you would call "safety" and make your ball ....better example:  you are down to your last ball with no pocket available for the eight (tied up with his last ball) and you can't figure out how to make yours and break out the eight.....call safety and make him shoot at his ball (try to get behind the 8) first having to separate the balls.....confused?...I think I am!!!.....if house rules don't permit such a safety.....call the ball you are shooting at the opposite pocket....since it went in the wrong pocket it is your opponents shot from where you leave the cue ball!!

Answer 3

Under VNEA rules, a safety is allowed under the definition of a legal shot.  Just as in BCA rules, the cue ball must contact a legal object ball and then either pocket a ball, or have either the cue ball or an object ball contact a cushion.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.

Answer 4

Eight ball is a billiards game played with a cue ball and 15 billiard balls on a pool table with 6 pockets.

Contents

Equipment

There are eight solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 8, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, and a solid white cue ball.

The rack.

The balls are usually colored as follows:

    * 1 and 9 - yellow

    * 2 and 10 - blue

    * 3 and 11 - red

    * 4 and 12 - purple

    * 5 and 13 - orange

    * 6 and 14 - green

    * 7 and 15 - pink

    * 8 - black

    * cue - white.

The 7 and 15 balls may instead be colored tan, brown, or magenta.

There are four phases to the game: setup, breaking, taking turns, and pocketing the 8 ball.

Setup

To start the game, the colored balls are placed in a triangular rack. The base of the rack is parallel to the end rail (the short end of the pool table) and positioned so the apex ball of the rack is located on the foot spot. The balls in the rack are ideally placed so that they are all in contact with one another. This is accomplished by pressing the balls together from the back of the rack toward the apex ball. The placement of the balls, for a legal rack according to world standardized rules is that the 8-ball is placed in the center, while the two corners must be a stripe and a solid (see image). The cue ball is placed anywhere the breaker desires between the head string and its nearest short side (that is, the quarter of the table farthest from the rack), an area known as the "kitchen."

The pool table is divided into two equal halves lengthwise by an imaginary line called the "long string". Two lines, the "head string" and "foot string" are perpendicular to the long string and are placed ¼ length away from each end of the table. The intersection of the long and head strings is called the "head spot", and the intersection of the long and foot strings is called the "foot spot".

Break

One person is chosen to shoot first ("break" the balls apart; note that this is a different definition of the word "break" than in other billiards games, notably snooker) by any number of methods: flip of a coin, loser of last game breaks, winner of last game breaks, "lag", etc. If the shooter who breaks fails to make a legal break (usually defined as at least four balls hitting cushions) then the opponent can either re-rack and break, or play from the current position.

If the breaker pockets a ball, it is still the same player's turn. This area of the game has two possible variations.

    * The breaker is deemed to have legally pocketed the ball, and continues to shoot for balls in the same group. In this interpretation, if balls in both groups are pocketed, a common rule is for the player to nominate which group they will shoot for, but for their turn to end.

    * The table is still "open" until someone legally pockets a ball (accepted by BCA)

A common "house rule" is that if the 8 ball is potted on the break, either the breaking player or the opposing player wins immediately

Taking Turns

A player will continue to shoot until he/she makes a fault or fails to pocket one of the object balls. Then, the other player takes his/her turn. Play alternates like this for the remainder of the game.

Pocketing the 8 ball

Once all the player's object balls are pocketed, he/she may attempt to sink the 8 ball. To win, the player must specify the pocket that the 8 will land in, and make it in that pocket. The player must again specify the pocket it will land in on each successive turn attempting to pocket the 8 ball, as the pocket chosen may differ from the one nominated on the last shot. No target pocket must be specified if the player is not actually attempting to pocket the 8. If the 8 is shot into the wrong pocket or a foul occurs, the player loses. Otherwise, the player's turn is over.

Faults/fouls

    Further information: Foul

When one player commits a fault (UK terminology) or foul or scratch (US and AU terminology), the other player gets "ball in hand" in most circumstances; that is, may place the cue ball anywhere on the table before playing their next shot. This is an area of substantial disagreement in rules: some (including the BCA) play that (after the break) the cueball may be placed anywhere, and shoot at anything. Others play that the person with ball in hand may only place the cue ball in the "kitchen", and must shoot out of the "kitchen" before hitting any ball (that is, they may not shoot at a ball inside the "kitchen" directly). However, if all their balls are inside the "kitchen", they can request that the one closest to the head string be placed on the head spot. Under BCA rules, if the cue ball is pocketed on the break, the cue ball must be placed in the "kitchen" and shot out. If he/she pots the cue ball while playing on the black, it will be an immediate foul and the opposite player will receive two shots whether or not he/she is on the black. If he/she pots the black and the cue ball he/she will automatically lose the game.

APA rules:

    * Whether (and how) jumping the cue ball is a fault

    * Whether you lose if you:

          o Shoot at the eight ball and miss

          o Shoot at the eight ball, pocket the cue ball, but don't pocket the eight ball

    * Whether the players have to announce ball and pocket

    * Whether pocketing the eight ball on the break is a win or a loss, or you can get a pint!

Possible set of rules

The rules for eight ball may be the most contested of any billiard game. Many people in the USA use the International Pool Tour (IPT) rules as their standard, though others may use their own house rules.

One possible set of rules follows, which does not exactly match the IPT rules:

Winning situation:

    * the player has legally pocketed the eight ball

Losing situations:

    * the player plays the eight ball in a fault situation.

    * the player pockets the eight ball while he still has object balls in his group on the table

    * the player pockets the eight ball in the same shot as the last object ball in his group

    * the player has jumped the eight ball off the table

Possible fault situations:

    * the player does not execute a legal stroke

    * the player pockets the cue ball

    * the player does not have at least one foot on the floor

    * the player shoots the cue ball before all other balls have come to a complete stop

    * the player hits the cue ball more than once during a shot

    * the player touches the cue ball with something other than the tip of his cue

    * the player touches any other ball

    * the player causes a ball to leave the table

If Mark has colours on the table and Danielle is on the black, she will immediathy receive two shots. if they were both on the black she would only receive one shot.

A legal stroke is defined as:

    * the player hits the cue ball, then the cue ball hits one of the balls of that player's group of balls, then either the player pockets one of the player's own balls (not necessarily the one hit) or any ball hits a cushion.