First, back to
http://www.easypooltutor.com/article239.html (2 pages, mentioned in my first blog). I suspect the author of that article (Joe D'Aguanno) may have drawn a wrong analysis. Perhaps Joe was so accustomed to
contact throw that Joe forgot contact throw is reduced as you hit harder. A fuller hit would be required for that reason, not due to "object ball deflection". In any case, whether his analysis is right or wrong, his instructions are truthful. Hit slightly fuller when hitting harder on cut shots, against your habit of relying on contact throw.
New topic. You are shooting the 8 ball to the corner pocket on a large table. It is located 6 diamonds down the long rail, maybe 3 inches off the rail. The cueball is somewhat close to the 8 ball, separated by maybe 3 inches, and it looks like you need about a 30 to 45 degree cut to make the 8 ball go in. (Let's imagine you are looking down the length of the table toward the top left corner pocket. The 8 is sort of near the left rail, and the cueball is a bit further out from the rail, so the object ball would need to be cut to the right.)
Should you hit the cueball with top or bottom spin? Left or right spin? Center? Hard or Medium speed? I am not sure of the best answer, but I have my ideas.
One mysterious thing I
think I
perceived long ago is that if I hit with draw, I
think I need to cut more. I now know I have an aiming and stroke flaw (I am working on it using Joe Tucker's 3rd Eye Trainer). When I intend to do straight draw (at 6pm on the cueball), I accidently hit at 6:30 or even 7. When I intend to hit at 12 o'clock, I believe I hit a bit toward 1 o'clock. I am left eye dominant, shooting right handed, so maybe that is messing with my perceptions a bit. Anyway, due to my stoke flaw, hitting at 6:30 will cause a little cueball deflection, so I would need to cut more. Furthermore, I would hit that shot with a bit less force because I know the object ball would get topspin from my draw. Less force would mean more contact throw. Again, cut a bit more.
My experience tells me that the best odds of making the 8 ball is to hit mostly with center cueball, but with only slight outside english (to cancel throw in a natural way), at a medium speed. The stroke needs to be smooth and accurate, without much cueball deflection, so don't hit too hard.
