How do you aim swerve and massé shots?
The massé shot handout, “VEPS GEMS – Part XVI: The Massé Shot” (BD, April, 2011), and “Coriolis was brilliant … but he didn’t have a high-speed camera – Part V: massé shot aiming” (BD, November, 2005) explain and illustrate a method that can be used to help aim massé shots. It was discovered in the early 1800s by a famous mathematician and physicist named Gustave Coriolis. It is referred to as the Coriolis aiming system or the “BAR” method (“B” for ball contact point, “A” for cloth aim point, and “R” for CB resting point). For explanations and demonstrations, see the videos below. The second video is from Vol. V of the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots:
The aim point on the cloth depends on the cue elevation and tip position on the CB. Any aim point on the RA line will result in the same final CB angle (theoretically, anyway). You can also use different cue elevations and tip positions to target the exact same point on the line. Play around with it some and you will see. Developing a feel for the effects of elevation, amount of backspin (with the sidespin), and shot speed is very important to get the CB to swing out to the desired curve point before it heads in the predicted angle direction. This is the sort of thing that is best to discover and develop a feel for during practice. Practicing the shot sequences in the “Effects” section of the first video above would help a lot in this regard.
More information and examples can be found here:
- NV B.41 – Coriolis massé shot aiming method with a large-curve example
- NV B.42 – Coriolis massé shot aiming method small-curve example
For more help, see the massé shot technique page.
from Patrick Johnson (in AZB post):
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