The Long Way

Freeze the 1-ball and the 2-ball as shown. Hit the 1-ball from the given cueball position and watch what happens. The 2-ball is thrown into the rail and out again, but sometimes picks up enough sidespin to hit the right end rail and rebound into the upper-left corner pocket. Don’t bet on it.

At the bottom, the percentage is a little higher.  Both balls are one ball width from the cushion; which seems to rule out a bank shot. But the 3-ball can be banked with the help of sidespin transferred from the cueball.

The through-the-hole double-the-rail pattern drawn in the diagram is not normally called a spin shot, but it has two characteristics after the cueball leaves the first rail-slow speed and tremendous spin. It is stroked as a force follow with high right-hand English. The speed on the cueball is killed not by the full hit but by the negative angle of approach into the first rail. The action is beautiful because the cueball speeds up after hitting the fourth rail.

More shots with a Curving Cue ball By Robert Byrnes

Shot 3- demonstrates a common application of follow. Trying to double the rail by going thin off the white is impossible because the angle into the first rail would be too steep. With a full hit, however, the cue ball steps sideways before diving forward, hitting the first rail at such a shallow angle that the shot becomes relatively easy.

The 5-ball bank is set up so that the angles from the first-rail contact point to the side pocket and the corner pocket are the same. Note how the axis of the cue passes over the middle of the corner pocket and how the 5-ball is aimed at the second diamond.

“From Byrne’s Complete Book of Pool Shots, by Robert Byrne.  Used with permission.”

The 9-ball is hanging on the lip. If you decide to try to make if off the 1-ball, the best bet is hit the rail first with left sidespin.

The same is true from the other cue ball if the 2-ball is the lowest ball on the table.

Bar Box 8-Ball By: Marty Kaczmarowski, APA 7

It’s the start of the game and you have solids.  You see that your opponent may have some issues even if you miss.  Go for the bank on your first shot!  Get that trouble ball off that rail and be aggressive here.  Banking balls at the right time in a game can be very strategic.

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Tom Simpson

In a previous column, I talked about the idea of the grip hand feeling soft. I called it “cloud hands”. I suggested that, as you approach the shot, both hands should have this cottony, extremely soft character. The goal is to maintain that softness in the grip hand all the way through to the completion of the shot, preventing micro-movements in the hand that could cause a miss.

Rail-First Stroke Shot

With draw and left sidespin, it is possible to hit the rail first, make the 1-ball, and bring the cueball back to the right end of the table.

The game is nine-ball. It is extremely difficult to make the 6-ball and get shape on the 7-ball at the other end of the table. Something to consider in the given position is a rail-first safety.