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 frist from Vol. V of the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots:
The only way to predict and create desired CB trajectories with massé shots for different cue elevations, tip contact points, and cue speeds is to develop a “feel” though lots of practice.
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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