Can Be Done!

Wanna hear a good one? I got a Credit from 3rd gear today.

Imagine hitting a ball thin that's sitting in front of a side pocket. The cue ball sends the object ball to one side of the pocket and follows off towards the other side. Had 4 Credits today, not saying how many misses I had!   Lester

3rd Gear Changes Number

Because you have to hit 3rd Gear so slow with alot of English, it not realistic to scratch for a credit.
the new number is: 16

Rating today wasn't that good. Bright spot is I ran the table with 1st gear and got 3 credits.  Lester

A Score of 12?

I had a pretty good day with 24. I missed 1 3rd Gear, 2 2nd Gears, and 2 1st gears. So I had a score of 29--5 misses.
Missing the ones I did made me a little dissappointed. Did any of you see "A Fish Called Wanda"? That kind of dissappointed!
I came up with a way to get some points back. If you scratch (Dead ON), you get a 1/2 point back.

Do you think anyone will ever score a 12?   Lester

Adjusting Away

From practicing your 24 the next step is "Adjusting Away" When the cue ball is away from the Standard Shot Line the distance is cut in half. Example being the cue ball is at your spot to make a 3rd gear shot in the corner. So that puts the cue ball 2 dots way from the 1st gear SSL.The adjustment would be 1/2 so you are aiming at 1 dot away from the SSL with 1st gear.

3rd gear is limited going away from it's SSL. But 1st and 2nd gears you can go away a lot.

So far all the shots from 24 have been what I call Hurry-Up. Put the cue ball as if you were shooting a 3rd gear shot and the object ball is to your right in the corner. That puts the cue ball 2 dots away from it's SSL. Cutting that distance in 1/2 puts you 1 dot away and that is your aim point with 1st gear using right-hand English (Hurry-Up)

When using 1st gear left-hand English (Bring-Back), you can bring it BACK 1 dot. From the same position, you are 3 dots away but now your adjustment is to go back 2 dots. Works for 2nd gear also. Here the cue ball is line with side pockets. but remember you are bringing back 2 dots, so you have to go back 3 dots with 2nd gear. Lester

18's Now 24

Just a little bit extra practice!

The extra 6 shots ( 2, 1st gears, 2, 2nd gears, and 2, 3rd gears) are used at the side pockets. 3rd gear is the toughest one for me, especially in the side, because you don't have the rails like you do at the end pockets to help out.  So just make sure you use both left and right English for each side.  Lester

Bright Spot in 18

I didn't do so well in 18 today. The bright spot was that I scratched a lot. You know what that means--DEAD ON!

I found a 2nd Gear automatic. The object ball is in front of a side pocket. The Cueball is on the head spot. Your aim point is the middle dot on the opposite short rail. 2nd gear nails it. If hit correctly, you could come back for a 2 in 1 shot in the end on the same side. Or in a game of 8 ball if you've got the 8 -- you lose!   Lester

18

This morning I almost walked away from 18 because I couldn't make a shot. I was on 3rd Gear. Then I said to myself "gotta do this everyday"

From now on though, I'll be using my Joss Cue with the 11.25mm shaft. I always practice otherwise, with my Predator, with the bigger shaft. I always leave the house with my Joss when I shoot league.

Went back and made my last 3, 3rd gear shots in a row. Just gotta search for that sound. When you hear it, you know it's going!   Lester