Ultimate Banking Angel Drill
By Jackie Karol
Knowing the 4 main variables that affect bank shots such as contact point, force, English, & collision induced throw are one thing, but training your muscle memory is another.
This drill provides my excellent practice routine covering virtually every type of common bank shot on the table. There are 135 total reference shots here. Not only do you train your muscle memory for pocketing different bank shots, but you also must get shape on the next ball.
Diagram 1 shows each position of the object ball (1-9), cue ball positions (I-V) and the 8-ball positions (No. 1-No. 3).
Diagram 2 is an example of one of the shots. The most ideal way to bank this ball and get shape on the 8-ball is to use low right. Because the 8-ball is nearby, we must hit the cue ball at a fairly soft speed. We need some backspin on the cue ball when it arrives at the object ball. Since we are hitting it soft, the low will wear off faster, so we need to hit extra low for the spin to stay on the ball.
The right English helps reduce collision induced throw and also transfers spin to the object ball through the “gear affect”; the right English on the cue ball will transfer to the object ball as left English. Remember to aim slightly fuller on the ball to compensate.
Banking is fairly complicated and, therefore, typically a low percentage shot. Therefore, many times it will make more sense to play safe instead. However, there are definitely times to go for it, and we need to shoot these as best as we can.
Improve your game, Live Online Video lessons. One on One Skype and tune in for Weekly Web Broadcast. Go to www.AngelOfBilliards.com to schedule your lesson. The first 5 people who schedule a lesson by entering the promo code “PQB”, get the first hour lesson for $30.
