Viewers Baffled By Winning Pool Shot That 'Doesn't Make Sense'
Published
| Last updated
If you're into playing pool and know what it's like to lose on the black, the video below will show you a technique to get the ball in from the most acute of angles, provided you can work out how in the hell this person does it.
Loading…
Honestly, you might have to watch it a few times to develop a theory.
As you can see, the game - taking place in a pub, it doesn't really matter where - has gone to the very final ball, and one of the players has tried to be smart and played a safety shot.
Without getting too far into the etiquette of playing safety shots in a pool game, it seems as if the first player has managed to subdue his opponent for one more shot at least.
Well, that's where he's wrong.
The second player comes up and takes aim from an angle across the ball, then - seemingly adding screw to the ball by hitting down on it - manages to send the cue ball skittering across the table, whilst the black ball travels backwards into the pocket.
It doesn't look like it should be possible, but the video doesn't lie.
The vid was initially shared a few weeks ago by TikTok user @luke23collins. As he correctly points out in his narration of the short clip, 'this doesn't make sense'.
He continues: "How does the guy get the f***ing black ball in from here?"
If you can work that out, you've either got an overly inquisitive mind, or a physics degree.
Naturally, people have been weighing in.
Many believe that the end of the cue follows through and catches the black ball, essentially dragging it in.
If that were the case, it would be a foul and a forfeit of the frame.
However, there are others that believe that there's some serious skill and knowhow on show here.
One said: "He puts spin on the right side of the black anti-clockwise which causes the Magnus effect to carry it into the pocket.
"Very hard shot, fair play."
The Magnus effect, without getting too far into it, is a phenomenon that occurs when objects are spinning, and can be commonly observed when footballers manage to curl a free-kick, or baseball pitchers throw a curveball.
In this case, the commenter reckons it sends the black careering towards the pocket.
Another said: "He creates back spin with the white and it's [the black] against the side so it creates more backspin."
As a third added: "Not impossible, just very difficult."
However it happens, it's absolutely freakish.
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@luke23collins
Topics: Science, SPORT, Interesting, Weird, Pub, TikTok
