Website design By BotEap.comI’m about to try to spread the truth about the double whammy foul.

Website design By BotEap.comPool leagues, like so many other social organizations, love their controversy. There was a time, a season, when my players in the league were obsessed with the rules regarding a double hit. For the life of me, I couldn’t shed a bright enough light on the concept for everyone to understand a) the basic physics behind a double whammy and b) why the rules were necessary to begin with. He tried to talk about it with small groups whenever controversy reared its head, but was utterly flabbergasted at the inability of so many players to understand the simple truths of what he was telling them.

Website design By BotEap.comSo I finally decided to hold a league-wide demo, hoping to reset the issue. I also thought I’d share the explanations here in the hope that maybe people in other places could benefit from this.

Website design By BotEap.comA double hit on the cue ball is basically when the shooter has managed to hit their shot in such a way that the tip of their cue hits the cue ball twice. This is a foul because the second hit makes it do things it otherwise couldn’t/wouldn’t. Many players inadvertently double-hit in almost all circumstances and believe the results are natural. Some players double-hit on purpose to get away with something they couldn’t otherwise pull off, and hope their opponents don’t notice.

Website design By BotEap.comNow, there is a risk of a double hit any time the cue is too close to the object ball the shooter wants to hit, especially when the player is trying to shoot usually directly through the cue ball. The first part of what the physics is like: Physics tells us that whenever the cue ball collides head-on with an object ball, it will come to a complete stop. Because both balls weigh about the same, this is always true, even before any top spin or draw has a chance to activate and cause the cue to chase forward or backward. The cue ball’s energy is transferred to the object ball, so the cue MUST stop.

Website design By BotEap.comThe second half what makes a double hit is the movement of the cue. The mass of the pool cue, and the body attached to it, is greater than the cue ball. Hitting the cue ball does not transfer enough energy to stop the club completely. There’s always natural tracking, even if it’s just an inch or two. It is also nearly impossible for a player to intentionally stop the natural follow-through of the stick completely, although many try.

Website design By BotEap.comThis two part combination results in the infamous double whammy. First, the player attempts to shoot directly at the object ball, then the cue ball stops a fraction of a second early and draws or continues to kick, then the momentum of the cue forces him to continue forward where the stopped cue ball hits. a second time. This will happen whenever the cue ball and object ball are close together (within an inch or two). If you do this, and then see the cue ball shoot out, you should realize that you just hit it twice.

Website design By BotEap.comNo, you didn’t just put a crazy tracking twist on it. That is probably the biggest mistake. You could set up a shot with a greater distance between the cue and the object, and you could hit that cue ball with a big follow-up shot that would make your ears ring, but the cue wouldn’t react in any similar way to one that was double-hit. With top-spin, the cue would still stop, probably do a little hop in place, and then move on at a moderate speed. A double hit, on the other hand, reacts as if you hit the cue ball into nothing. Whitey would travel MUCH faster and would shoot up until he hit other item balls on the table.

Website design By BotEap.comTo help avoid this foul, any time you need to shoot at a very close object ball, you should choose not to shoot directly at it. (Some people will try to raise their club, hoping to hit the cue ball and the table to avoid a double hit, but I don’t recommend it because it can damage the cloth, and many amateurs don’t know how to do it correctly to begin with, which which makes it likely that they will foul in some other way, instead) Choose to shoot the object ball at an angle instead. The greater the angle, the more energy the cue ball retains. So you can slow down the carom, but it won’t come to a complete stop. So it will continue to move out of the way of the cue, whose momentum will still carry it forward, but the cue ball will no longer be sitting there in its path.

Website design By BotEap.comHope this helps clear things up a bit regarding the lack of double hit. If you’re still a bit confused, feel free to ask questions.