In
many places this web site has talked about methods of achieving
consistency and also the many things which can contribute
to a lack of consistency.
This section deals with a problem related to consistency
and a subject which has even led
to some players giving 
up
the game altogether…Side-Spin.
There are two aspects to utilising side-spin. One is intentional
side-spin (when the player chooses to use side as part of
the shot) and the other is side spin which is unintentional
(when a player inadvertently applies side-spin to the ball).
Intentional
side-spin is used by almost every player in the game even
though very few understand the various implications which
are involved through its use. After
all, how many players, having seen the top stars on television
using side to play certain shots, can't wait to try out
those shots themselves?
In
most cases this only halts their progress because even those
players who can devote a lot of time at the practice table
find it very hard to understand SIDE and its implications.
So what price the ordinary club player who might only play
two or three times a week?
As
a starting point, I believe that the term 'side spin' should
be used more often, rather than just 'side'. Players would
then begin to realise that there is so much difference between
the white ball rolling forward with momentum only, compared
to a white ball which is spinning sideways on its way to
the object ball.
In the first instance, the white ball, having been struck
in the centre, will move in a straight line to the point
of aim on the object ball. In the 
second
instance there is no way that this can happen.
A ball struck to the right of centre will immediately move
to the left of that straight line. Once this is understood,
it should now make sense that the harder the ball is struck,
the more it will be forced offline. This however, is only
the start of the learning process.
Further
things to take into consideration are;
-
How much side spin is being applied as you strike the
white just left (or right) of centre, or alternatively
on the extreme edge of the white ball?
-
What is the distance between the white and the object
ball? ·
-
How hard has the shot been played? ·
-
What kind of cloth is on the snooker table? Different
cloths mean the white will act with a different reaction
or throw off.
Having accepted that the cue ball (white) will move offline
when it is first struck, it has to be recognised that the
white will start to come back on line at some point and
then, if there is enough distance between the white and
the object ball, it will start to veer off the line in the
opposite direction.
Clearly you will now be starting to recognise how complicated
the whole business of applying side-spin can be. It is a
very difficult subject to try and explain thoroughly and
even more difficult to put into practice on the table.
(For more detailed information on playing with spin visit
: Screw
: Stun
: Side
and Top)
