How the HELL did she make that pool shot?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You all know the one I mean. It's in the Budweiser Copper Reserve ad that's been floating around the ether for awhile.

Charlize Theron is in a bar, kicking everybody's ass at darts, arm wrestling, pool, etc.

At one point, while playing pool, she makes a shot towards one of the side pockets, then (apparently acting on its own) the cue ball spontaneously backs up, turns around and starts heading towards one of the corner pockets.

It's at about 0:31 in this clip.

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This has been bugging me for days. Is this a real shot (i.e. one that a pool player can actually make) or is it a special effect? If it's real, how the HELL does that happen?

(I was wondering whether to post this in Sports/Fitness or TV/Media. I decided that more people would read it in this forum.)

 

[feek61]

It's called "English"

When a cue ball is struck on either side of its vertical axis, giving it “sidespin," that's called "English" in billiards. It may also occur when a ball collides with another or with a rail. The term comes from the British players who first became famous with sidespin techniques.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have heard that expression before, but how can it actually produce the shot seen in the ad? That’s what I don’t get.

 

[FPAlpha]

I have heard that expression before, but how can it actually produce the shot seen in the ad? That’s what I don’t get.

2 things are happening simultaneously:

1) White ball hits the other into the side pocked and bounces back

2) The pool player has given the white ball a spin in the correct direction so when enough momentum has been created it changed direction and hit the other.

It's the same principle used by bowlers. Ever seen a bowler let go of the bowling ball and it rolls in a curve towards the pins until it hits them from the side and rolls through?

Or a football players who shoots the ball seemingly straight on but it makes a curve (Beckham was famous for it and the phrase "Bend it like Beckham" was coined after it) - only difference is that the airflow is changed due to the spin pressing the ball in a different direction.

It's basic physics but takes practice to achieve.

 

[Finn]

I've seen shots that look seem more impossible than that one. You can see how the cue ball spinning as it hits the edge and while heading for the corner pocket.

 

[Qonundrum]

The commercial character she portrays is kickin' hind, but given the number of camera angle cuts, unless she's a renowned billiards player between scenes in her acting career (which also takes much time to practice to get that level of deftness, if one has the natural abilities and acuity - most coffee drinkers or those with compromised nervous systems likely can't do so as easily), I suspect they used an actual player for the cutaway shots of the balls being hit and pocketed*.


* or rigged the table, like what they did in 1966:

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The fun begins at 9:07 as Leonard Nimoy's also in the clip (and uniquely wearing sunglasses, for one of two possible reasons given the relative time period in which it was made), or 0:00 if you want to see an amalgamation of clips comprised of jokes removed from their episodic context and thus may or may not be as funny as a result.

 

[John Clark]

I've seen shots that look seem more impossible than that one. You can see how the cue ball spinning as it hits the edge and while heading for the corner pocket.

Indeed. I've done shots like that myself (in snooker though - and in my case, mostly blind luck). My friends tend to insist I do it specifically to wind them up though.

 

[Forbin]

Look to me like the cue ball bounced off the rail after hitting the side-pocket ball, and then the 'english' spun it to the corner.

 

[Relayer1]

It's called "English"

Not heard it called that and I'm, er...English.

Backspin, sidespin...

 

[Spot261]

It's all a question of how the cue hits the ball, both in terms of the various axes and the relative amount of follow through/retraction upon contact. That in turn influences the way the cue ball spins after contact even if it is travelling initially in a straight line. Gradually that spin will create traction on the table top and/or the target ball altering the trajectory it follows and its' behaviour upon impact.

For instance hitting the ball low will tend to cause backspin but doing so with increased retraction will limit the duration of that spin.

I know several payers who could pull that off (although not reliably or with the certainty she shows).

 

[Forbin]

Here's a brief article on english (and IN English!):
https://www.liveabout.com/english-in-billiards-368382

A less brief one:
http://www.word-detective.com/2010/03/english-on-a-ball-etc/

 

[Spot261]

Here's a brief article on english (and IN English!):
https://www.liveabout.com/english-in-billiards-368382

A less brief one:
http://www.word-detective.com/2010/03/english-on-a-ball-etc/

Subtle dig noted

 

[Forbin]

Subtle dig noted

None intended, I assure you.

 

[auntiehill]

Not heard it called that and I'm, er...English.

Backspin, sidespin...

That's funny, because I have certainly heard that term --"give it a little English" or "Put a little English on it"--when one person tells another to give the ball a spin in pool or even in baseball. I think I even heard it at a cricket match--but then, not too many Texans have been to a cricket match.