Here Gareth answers questions sent in from some of our Facebook fans. Gary Smith and Sam Norris both wanted to know how to play shots which are tight up against the cushion.
Video Transcription:
Andy: Okay, so we've been asking our Facebook followers what
questions they'd like to ask you for your coaching tips. And
we've had Gary Smith and Sam Norris both ask, how to play a
shot when the ball is tight to the cushion?
Gareth Potts: This is actually the shot which is the most difficult shot
to play when you're playing on an English 8 ball table. And
the reason why it's more difficult on this table is because the
cue ball is actually smaller than the object balls. So as you
can see, if it's clear to see, it is actually visibly smaller.
So when the cue ball is tight to the cushion, it sort of hides
itself below the cushion. So to actually get your tip onto the
top of the ball isn't easy because it's hard to your tip to
slide off the top of the ball because there's not much of the
cue ball sticking up. In comparison to a snooker table, the
cushions are the same height, but the balls are slightly bigger.
So therefore, more of the cue ball would be sitting up. So it's
actually easier to get a strike onto the cue ball. When you're
cueing off a cushion on a pool table, sometimes you can't see
the top of the cue ball. So you would have to slightly elevate
your hand up in the air. Therefore it allows you to get a better
strike onto the cue ball. So, sometimes if you're frightened of
miscuing, just raise your fingers up slightly, and it allows you
to get firmer and strike down on the cue ball.
