One thing I’ve discovered in using inside English is that if you use a half stroke and just enough speed to make the ball and still get position, deflection is really minimized because you’re not hitting it with enough force to push the cue ball off its path. I started using that as a weapon. To check the deflection in my shaft, I will sometimes experiment by hitting a shot really hard with inside English and I watch to see how much I missed that ball by. If I can, I’ll have someone put their finger where the object ball hit and I try to duplicate that. First, though, in order to ensure that you know you’re hitting the object ball in the right spot, shoot the shot with no spin until you make it five times in a row. That confirms that your aiming point on the object ball is perfect. Now, when you apply inside spin and you notice that you’re missing the pocket by a half diamond, that’s the amount of deflection your cue has. You need to find ways to learn about your equipment. Different shafts and different cues create different deflection. It’s important that you know what to expect with your cue.
While I prefer to cut back the speed when using inside English, I also practice shots using it with a harder stroke. If you shoot a shot that requires inside spin because you have to go four rails for position on the next ball, you have to be able to compensate for the deflection at a higher speed. More importantly, if you are shooting from a long distance you can’t shoot soft. The cue ball will curve and miss the target completely even if you compensate for deflection. A lot of players get frustrated on the longer shots because they don’t realize they’re actually masseing the ball, and that really shows up at slower speeds. The farther you are from the ball, the harder you have to hit the shot. That’s especially true if your cue is elevated at all, like shooting near a rail. You don’t have to worry about that with a level cue.
Try the shots in the diagram. Start by using a center ball hit and pocket the 3 ball five times in a row from C-1. Now, apply inside (left) spin and adjust your aim to make the shot five more times. Repeat the drill from C-2.
