Pocket Billiards and the D Plane

[tallathlete]

Several years ago I took lessons from a friend of mine in 9 ball pool. He was a professional...not world class....but could beat anyone around without question. He would be considered a Nationwide Tour caliber pool player. He always told me to keep the butt of the cue as level as possible when striking a shot. He said when the butt of the cue rises...or the more you strike down on the cue ball...the less accurate the shot becomes. He termed this phenomena "deflection". Basically the more the cue strikes down on the cue ball as opposed to striking it level, the more the cue ball is "thrown" off a straight linear path....thus missed pool shots. The bottom line is this reminds me of the D Plane; the more "down" we strike on the golf ball...the more the bottom vector of the D Plane gets skewed...the more curvature we can expect in our shots. I know they are not the same thing...but they remind me of one another nevertheless.

 

[leon]

So you are saying that whenever anyone mentions the D plane you get the urge to play pocket billiards?!

 

[tallathlete]

No.....whenever I play 9 ball I get the urge to talk about D plane...lol.

 

[Phil Rosenbaum]

I like the way pool relates to putting as well. Feel and direction are a wonderful to be able to control.

 

[pokerlife]

What's your friends name ?
I played pool for a living for 14 years and took a lot of road trips gambling .
Picked up a club 8 months ago and haven't played pool since lol

 

[softconsult]

I have never thought about it, but yes I can see how playing pool relates to putting.

I was a teenager in the early sixties in Seattle. At that time Bowling was a big deal and the alleys typically had a few pool tables. My buddies and I spent hours hanging out, playing the pinball machines, bowling, and shooting pool.

Hold still, and make a smooth stoke along a precise line. Pool also teaches you about spin, also known as English.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

no offense but i dont see how any of this relates to pocket billiards. i am not pokerlife but i played in plenty of tournaments and made a decent amount of money in my early 20s playing cash games at various halls around chicago.

there are SO MANY options on how and where and what angle to hit the cue ball i dont see it relating to d plane or putting.

 

[mgranato]

What's your friends name ?
I played pool for a living for 14 years and took a lot of road trips gambling .
Picked up a club 8 months ago and haven't played pool since lol

Were you usually solids or stripes?

 

[alocirga]

I can see some relation to putting. "Throw" is, I think, more the reaction of the object ball instead of the cue ball. In other words, hitting the cue ball to the right of center will "throw" the object ball to the left. If you hit down on the cue ball while hitting it dead center, there shouldn't be any right or left throw - only more topspin on the object ball. You are probably correct technically in that hitting down and offcenter will cause the cue ball to skid offline and then curve back to the side on which it was struck.
All of this being said, there is an art to allowing for these non-center hits. Players do not like to be left a dead straight shot when trying to play "shapes" for the next shot.

 

[pokerlife]

Were you usually solids or stripes?

I played mostly 9 ball and 1 pocket

 

[pokerlife]

All of this being said, there is an art to allowing for these non-center hits. Players do not like to be left a dead straight shot when trying to play "shapes" for the next shot.[/QUOTE]




Exactly right sir! Always leave yourself an angle and plan a shot ahead. Has helped a lot with my course management skills

 

[pokerlife]

no offense but i dont see how any of this relates to pocket billiards. i am not pokerlife but i played in plenty of tournaments and made a decent amount of money in my early 20s playing cash games at various halls around chicago.

there are SO MANY options on how and where and what angle to hit the cue ball i dont see it relating to d plane or putting.

You must have a pretty good stick! Lota tough action in Chicago. There used to be a 24 pool hall there that had more gambling and action than any place in the world. Its closed down now though

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I can hold my own but when i tried to qualify for my first "official" sanctioned 9 ball tournament i was embarrassed and never tried again. However i think i was nervous and just didn't play well.

 

[tallathlete]

I saw Johnny Archer a couple years ago here in Vegas. When he broke the balls it sounded like a .22 cal rifle being shot. Incredible....