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What Is A Stun Shot In Pool?

In my last article about how the cue ball slides, I explained the basic concept of what it means for the cue ball to be sliding instead of rolling. If you missed that article make sure to check it out before reading this one. I’m going to be expanding on that topic.

A stun shot is when you use low english to make the cue ball stop rolling backward right at the point of impact. This creates the same effect as hitting the ball hard so that it is sliding on impact.

The goal of using a stun shot is to follow the tangent line perfectly while shooting long shots. If you don’t use a stun shot the only other way to follow the tangent line perfectly is by shooting hard.

Shooting hard makes you less accurate and makes it hard to control where the cue ball will stop.

How to Perform A Stun Shot?

A stun shot is performed by putting just enough low english on the cue ball that right as it impacts the the object ball, the cue ball is switching from a backward roll to a forward roll. At this point the cue ball is essentially sliding.

A stun shot is very difficult to do because the point at which the cue ball is switching from backspin to forward spin is about an inch long.

If you put too much english, you’ll draw the ball and if you don’t put enough english you’ll follow the ball.

It takes countless hours of practice to master the stun shot.

Every shot is different. The distance between the cue ball and the object ball, how hard you need to shoot, and how much english you put on the ball are all factors that affect a perfect stun shot.

If you misjudge any one of those factors, you won’t hit a proper stun shot.

The Physics

When you put low english on the cue ball it has backspin on the ball. It is spinning against the friction of the felt. The felt is trying to make the ball roll forward and over time it will slow the backspin enough to make it roll forward.

For a perfect stun shot, you want it to connect the object ball right at this point.

If you put too much english, the cue ball will be spinning backward, so the impact with the other ball will slow it down enough for the backspin to grip the table. This will end up pulling the ball back toward you.

By connecting to the object ball while sliding, the cue ball has no spin, which means it’s in a neutral state. The only thing controlling the ball is momentum. So, when it impacts the ball it will follow the default path of the tangent line.

Stun Shots Explained

Stun shots are a very difficult shot because of the level of accuracy required. Every stun shot is different because of the shot speed, distance, and amount of spin. So, it takes countless hours of practice to be able to consistently perform a stun shot.

If you have any comments or know of any good drills for practicing stun shots, please leave a comment below.

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