Adjustments
Hopefully you've already read the throw and spin tutorials. While I didn't come right out and tell you everything, I feel it's important for you to try out various exercises and see what happens exactly for yourself. I think most people tend to learn better this way. As a quick recap, you should know what throw is, how it changes with speed, and how it changes with angle. Similarly, you should know about how spin affects throw and also how spin and speed affect the trajectory of the cue ball on multi-rail kick shots. What you'll notice is that there are various ways to compensate for these effects. For example, if you need to throw a ball more, you can adjust the angle of the cue ball, speed, or spin. In competition, making adjustments to shots on the fly is critical. You're playing on an unfamiliar table, usually with brand new cloth, and brand new balls. You only get three attempts to make the shot, so you have to find the correct adjustments real quick.
One of the most important parts is knowing what to watch when you shoot. It's pretty easy to figure out that you missed a shot, like when a ball doesn't fall in to the pocket, but it's even more important to know how it missed. That is, did it go long or did it go short (see figure). Once you know this, then you know the general adjustment you have to make for the shot - you have to make the ball go shorter or longer. How you make this adjustment, as I alluded to earlier, is the tricky part. For setup shots, it's usually pretty easy, you just have to align the balls a little differently. This can, in certain shots, change the paths of other balls though causing other balls to miss, so you have to be careful. In other shots, adjusting your spin or speed can also cause other unforeseen difficulties. For example, if the cue ball starts out frozen to the rail, you don't really have a lot of room for adjustments. You also have to know what works better for you. Is it easier for you to adjust your aim point or to add a little more spin? What about your speed control? The more precise you can be in all of these things, the more success you will have at not only shooting trick shots, but regular pool as well. It is also important to take in to account how far off you missed by. Did it hit the point of the pocket? Or was it off by a diamond or more? Is it easier for you to make a small or large adjustment by changing the spin? It is extremely beneficial to know how much you can change the trajectories of a shot using a different aim point, spin, or speed.
For some shots, though, it becomes difficult to figure out how a ball missed. This is especially true of setup shots where you have three or more balls getting pocketed. If you're not looking at the right one at the right time, you'll only see it sitting on the table after all the other balls have gone and you'll have no idea why or how it's still there. This is where it's helpful to have a video camera, so you can replay the shot. It will also capture the moment of glory when all the balls actually go in. If there's one particular problem, you have to make sure you focus on it immediately after you shoot, even if your instincts want you to look at something else, like the beautiful girl on the next table. You can also have a friend look out for you, if you trust them. On Stroke Around the Rack, it's usually natural to want to look at the cue ball go around the rack. Also, the first object ball ends up getting hit so fast, sometimes it's difficult to catch a glimpse of it as it's going down toward the pocket. But if you can get yourself to look at the corner pocket, it's still easy to figure out what happened with the cue ball. If it hits the rack, you will hear it. Otherwise it will get to the side rail and you can tell by the direction it came off the rail how much speed and spin it had and if you need to change your stroke up. What I'm getting at here is that sometimes you have to use other clues to tell you what went wrong. You don't always have to look at the ball directly and this can free up your attention to check out other aspects of the shot.
During the 2007 US Open, I watched a spectator on another table try a simple three ball shot with a cluster by the side pocket (see figure). He set it up very precisely, but kept missing the ball in the far corner pocket. I should have asked to help him with the shot, but never did. He wasn't adjusting for the throw on the ball. What I don't know is if he knew that every single time he shot it, he missed it the same exact way. Nor do I know if he was making an adjustment for it, but I don't think he was. Hopefully, with the help of these articles, you won't get as frustrated while practicing because you'll know what to do if you keep missing.
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