Riding the Rail - Billiards Digest Vault

+ TRICK SHOTS+
BY Willie Jopling
RIDING THE RAIL
Curve the cue ball by hitting it straight into the cushion.
HAVE always admired the all-around
player. Emmett Blankenship, Eddie
Taylor, Jimmy Moore, Sam Crotzer
and Harold Worst are a few who come
to mind. I played both Crotzer and
Moore back in the ’60s; Blankenship
was well before my time; and Taylor
was a friend of mine, so I knew how
he played.
Moore came through Virginia the
night Mosconi ran 150-and-out on him
from the opening break in a straightpool tournament in North Carolina.
Mosconi recalled that night in one of
his books, when he said it was his best
evening at a pool table. The next time I
saw Moore was in Atlantic City, at one
of the Legends Shootouts in the ’80s. It
was there that I got to see him practice
and show off his draw shot that has his
name on it. He also showed me the shot
in Diagram 1.
The cue ball is frozen to the rail and
the 1 and 9 balls are blocking the path
to the 6 ball, which is hanging in the
far corner pocket. The angle of the cue
is important, but for your first try, place
the butt near the center diamond, just
like it is in the diagram. Shoot the cue
ball into the rail with straight draw.
The cue ball should curve toward the 6
ball. If you shoot too hard, the cue ball
will not curve enough to hit your target. Play around with the angle of your
cue and the speed of your stroke to get
a hang of this shot. After a few attempts
you should start to feel how different
speeds and angles change the results.
The shot in Diagram 2 was shown to
me a couple of years ago at the Derby
City Classic by George Middleditch, a
good friend of mine. This is another
pinch-the-rail shot. The cue ball is frozen on the middle diamond of the long
rail, and the 8 ball is frozen to it as indicated in the diagram. Shoot the cue
ball right at the left tip of the diamond
with bottom (or bottom with a little left
English). Sometimes you will make the
9 ball right in the left-end pocket. But
if I am betting, I always ask for 10 at-
I
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BILLIARDS DIGEST
Dec09 Jopling.indd 30
Diagram 1
Diagram 2
tempts. This is a good proposition.
The last shot, shown in Diagram 3,
is one I came up with. The 1 ball is
frozen to the fi rst diamond with the 7
ball frozen to it in line with the third
diamond on the end rail (as you can
see by the red line). This is a great
one-pocket shot. With the cue ball
at about the position show, shoot the
1 ball into the rail really hard with
bottom-left spin.If the 7 ball hits the
side rail, lighten up on your stroke. On
some tables with softer rails, the 1 and
7 ball can be aimed between the center
and third diamond, while still allowing you to make the 7 ball.
Diagram 3
December 2009
11/17/09 2:55:26 PM