I’ve discovered a severe weakness in my game. Thin cuts. I’m pretty sure the issue comes down to throw. Allow me to show you with the new fancy tool:
There are three pages to this. The first is how I would normally look at this shot. The second page is the result of shooting that shot. The third is how I should shoot that shot.
The reason is because at that angle, just when the cue ball (CB) strikes the object ball (OB), it actually pushes the OB a little bit before deflecting off in the direction of the pocket. So, you have to account for this by cutting the shot a little bit thinner than you think you have to.
All of this is without using any side-english. When you had side-spin into the mix you now have to compensate for both deflection AND throw. It’s possible to undo the throw effect by using opposite english, but that’s not always an option if you have to play for position on the next ball.
This is what I worked on and think I have a better understanding of now. Tomorrow will let me know for sure – but after I worked on that for a while, my last two games of 9-ball were much more productive.