How To Shoot A Stop Shot In Pool?
A stop shot is essentially the same as a stun shot which I talked about in my last article.
The main difference between a stun shot and a stop shot is the goal of a stop shot is to get the ball to stop in place immediately after impacting a ball. With a stun shot, the goal is to get it to follow the tangent line.
The method for shooting a stop shot is the same as for a stun shot.
When shooting a stop shot, one requirement is that it has to be a straight in shot. If you apply the principals from a stun shot to a straight-in shot, the ball will stop in place immediately after impacting the object ball.
Stop Shot Explained
To perform a stop shot, you use just enough low english to make it to the ball. You want the cue ball to be switching from backspin to forward spin right at the moment of impact.
This creates a neutral spin. Since there’s no spin, when the cue ball impacts the object ball it will stop in place.
Stop shots are just as hard as stun shots because there are three variables that you have to judge and getting any one of them wrong will mess up your stop shot.
The three variables are the speed, distance, and amount of english. If you put too much english on the cue ball it will roll backward after hitting the object ball.
If you don’t put enough english, the cue ball will follow right behind the object ball. This can make you scratch if the object ball is in front of a pocket.
How It Works
You don’t necessarily need to understand the physics in order to do a stop shot, but I personally like understanding why things happen. Also, if you understand why the ball moves how it does, you’ll be able to apply it to situations you’ve never thought of before.
When you hit a ball on a pool table, there’s friction between the ball and the felt on the table.
When you first impact the cue ball, unless you hit it softly, the force on the cue ball is greater than the force of the friction. So, the cue ball slides across the table without rolling.
Once the friction has slowed the ball down enough to where the friction is stronger than the force of the shot, the ball starts rolling forward.
The goal of a stop shot is to impact the object ball right at this point of transition. In this transition point, the cue ball has a neutral spin. So, when it hits the object ball all momentum transfers to the object ball and the cue ball stops immediately.
Conclusion
A stop shot can be very useful if a ball is sitting in a pocket and you want to avoid scratching. Another situation where a stop shot is useful is when the ideal position for your next shot is at the point of contact of the current shot.
Stop shots are only utilized on straight shots. When it is a cut shot, the shot is called a stun shot.
If you have any questions or comments on how to perform a stop shot, please leave a comment below.
