Wouldn't it be nice in a game of 8-Ball if we got a special exemption for a blown shot and were allowed to do it over to eliminate a mistake that often ended with embarassing results.
I've got ten I'd like to nominate for a billiards version of golf's Mulligan.
Banking the 8-Ball
Dumb idea. I'm really not that good at banking anyway. A safety would have been a better idea.
But I chose the bank shot, it really didn't look that hard, but my attempt led to the object ball crossing the table twice.
The second left it sitting on the rail.
My opponent had a shot on the six, sunk it and his rebound put the cue ball on the rail about 2 feet from the 8-Ball.
I'll learn someday.
Wimpy stop shot
Trying a stop shot on a ball centered inside the horns of the pocket, Not smart.
It was a wimpy attempt and as a result it just followed the ball right into the pocket
Follow shot for Break
Not a good idea. The follow shot, no matter how hard you hit it, just pushes on through the rack. I watched the 6-ball slip into a pocket, but the cue ball ended up behind a three-ball cluster.
Making a Masse Mess
Using a masse to curve the cue ball around a blocker is nothing flashy, but when it gets out of control, it can be kind of embarrassing.
Mine was miss hit and instead of curving, struck the blocker a glancing blow. The cue ball went to the rail, bounced into my target ball sending it to the end rail. Off the end rail at a creep, sliding into a two-ball cluster, making it a grouping of three.
The combo that didn't
I learned not to try a table-length combination shot, and combined with the fact my aim was slightly off.
This compound error yielded no dividend. By the time the cue ball got to the first ball, it just barely peeled the edge, this error was magnified to the point it just barely struck the final ball a grazing blow, ending up with two of my balls blocking the pocket.
The kiss-off
The idea was pretty good. Hit the 1st object ball into the second object ball with the 1st object ball bouncing off and into the pocket. I mean I was only dealing with a few inches.
But my kiss was a little heavy and instead of bouncing off, it drove the 2nd object ball into a three ball with the 8-Ball.
The kill shot that refused to die
Simple. Just hit the cue ball with a little a little inside english to cut the ball into the pocket. The cue ball should simply die. My kill shot after a centerball hit cut the object ball into the pocket, but continued on to the rail and bounced back, and back, and back...
Taking it for a Spin
Back english is a neat way of applying spin to the cue ball with less deflection. Yuh!
My back english was a little off center into the end rail with the idea bringing it back to a target ball on the left rail. Twisted the cue in the wrong direction and came back to the right rail where it tangled with the 8-ball and sunk it one ball too early.
Drawn and quartered
Simple enough, strike the cue ball low center, pocket the target ball and bring the cue ball back for my next shot into the side pocket. Wrong!
The cue ball stopped on its first impact. No position for the second shot.
The failed abort
I coulda, woulda, shoulda. I got down on a shot at the 8-Ball and as I went through my practice strokes, I realized my feet weren't in the right position. I was off balance, but continues anyway.
Bad idea. Not pulling up out of the shot to reset caused me to miss the 8-Ball completely. My opponent didn't.