22d (edited) • General discussion
Throw
Whenever you cut the ball there is ideal cue ball path to the center of the pocket. However, something called throw literally throws this off and causes you to miss! It feels like you hit the ball thick and didn't cut it enough even though you aimed perfectly and hit the ball well.
Throw is how far of the ideal object ball path the ball actually travels. Think of it like this. If you hit a ball with 0 degree cut, 100%, straight on. The cue ball path line is the same as the object ball path after impact. In physics you might call the cb path line a force vector or the direction of the force.
More accurately, the angle of throw = tan-1(Jt/Jn). Jt is the is the tangential impulse and is mostly governed by cue ball direction and cb spin. So the more spin it cut the bigger Jt is and the angle increases.
Jn is the normal impulse and has more to do with friction and ideal line of centers. For the most part this remains constant for a given speed. As speed increases this factor increases and the overall throw decreases. In simpler terms, if you hit the ball hard there's less contact time between balls and the ball to felt. So friction can't pull the ball off course at impact as easily.
Now, when you cut the ball, there are three factors to consider here; cut angle, speed, and cue ball spin (as always).
- Cut angle is the first thing to consider. Throw angle increases with cut angle and maxes out at 45 degrees then starts to decrease again. Knowing this is powerful. Check out the graph.
- As speed increases throw angle decreases.
- Spin has a huge effect on throw. See second figure showing which spins are the worst and the best.
I think it's important to understand these factors and apply them to your aiming system. While very complex, the Pool Zen method aims to bring these principles to your attention and train them into your feel so in clutch situations you know what to do.
Cheers!
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Throw
