What was the Jacksonville Project?
This was a high-speed video study of pool physics stuff carried out by Bob Jewett, Mike Shamos, and others in Jacksonville, Florida in 1998. Here’s a list of the original questions they hoped to answer with the study:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.billiard/msg/5ae578d8941f2c63?dmode=source
These articles describe the study and the results:
- “Uncovering the Cue Mysteries” by Mike Shamos (Billiards Digest, April, 1999)
- “Freeze Frame” by Bob Jewett (Billiards Digest, April, 1999)
- “Don’t Grip It and Rip It” by Bob Jewett (Billiards Digest, June, 1999)
All three of these articles are available here: Jacksonville Project BD articles.
Here’s a summary of some of the main results:
- During impact, the cue tip is in contact with the cue ball only for about 0.001 second (a thousandth of a second).
- Contact time is greater with larger tip offsets from center (since the cue tip rotates with the CB during contact, and the cue slows less during contact).
- With an off-center hit, the cue stick deflects away from the cue ball substantially.
- During miscues, the cue stick often hits the cue ball multiple times.
- With a typical stroke, the tip reaches maximum speed (i.e., it is no longer accelerating) just before contact with the ball.
Videos and results from many other high-speed-video studies can be found here:
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