Let's talk cue-ball physics. This episode: Center ball striking.

Let's talk cue-ball physics. This episode: Center ball striking. 

Striking the center of the cue-ball has a lot of benefits to improve your game. It means striking along the vertical and horizontal middle of the cue-ball. When the cue ball is struck here it will have only a little of cloth friction resulting in a sliding motion for the first path it travels. The further it travels it will transfer in a rolling motion depending the speed it has been hit. When it hits a cushion it will come of a natural angle and when it hits an objectball full in the face it will travel straight on depending the speed of the strike. When rolling full and softly into an objectball it will hardly back arc but have a more sliding trough motion. With center ball striking a lot of shots can be played depending on the distance to the objectball and depending the acceleration of the strike. With the cue and objectball close to each other and fast cue acceleration the cue-ball can be stopped on the objectball spot. With the balls further apart the cue-ball with same acceleration will roll on after making contact. The most important in hitting center ball is if you apply a trace of unwanted side it will not affect the trajectory of the cue-ball. Because of the sliding motion there is no stress applied on the cue-ball wich results in less cloth friction, cue-ball deviation, ball bounce and more. So when trying to pot balls across the nap better strike center ball to have more chances of potting them.

Center ball with right-hand side.

As said above a little side will still keep the cue-ball travel fairly straight. The use of more right-hand side hitting the horizontal ax will result in cue-ball deflection. This meaning the cue-ball will go to the left directly on impact with the cue tip. This depending on tipsize, cue stiffness, tip hardness, tip quality, ball cleanliness, cloth friction, cloth thickness, humidity, cue acceleration,  speed and more. The cue-ball will hit the left of the objectball if aimed as a shot without side resulting I a missed pot. When a cushion is hit first the cue-ball will go to the right because of te side. There also will be a slight nudge to the right between both the balls. So playing center ball along the horizontal ax with a lot of side is very difficult because of the cue-ball deflection and the judging of compensation on the objectball you want to pot. If you want to use right-hand side just use a little and the adjustment of the potting angle will be a lot less. A low deflection cue can significantly enhance your chances of potting balls with side, but this will be in another episode. We can say that center ball striking is a very important part to master in playing snooker.

Center ball left hand side.

Opposite of above.

Next episode: Stun and screw 

Let's strike the correct spot.