Chris Melling's 4 rail bank shot

easy-e

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
What kind of timeout? He doesn't show as banned, posted 2 days ago.

Dale

Banned. Check the chit chat thread maybe two pages back. He's been going a little overboard and Wilson hit him with a temporary ban.
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Ok Ladies. If you watch closely you will observe he hits the ball "full in the face",
straight in to the rail, with no english. That is the DEFINITION of a DEAD BANK.

Tho there are balls on the table, it is also obvious to anyone that has played much
Bank Pool and/or 3 Cushion, none are in the path of the bank.

Before those who are doomed to misunderstand due to assuming,
the term 'dead bank' is NOT equivalent to 'dead combination'.

Dale
See this table [pointing to a coffee table], there is hardly a man that can’t stand up on this table and walk from one end to the other. But put that table 500 feet in the air and you couldn’t get him to stand on the table. It’s the same table, it’s just his imagination that has control over him at that particular time and he doesn’t want to get on the table. -Jaffar 'Patch Eye' Basheer(onepocket.org interview)

The man did it in a match, under heat....if you miss, you lose.
 

BFrench501

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I agree with Dale to a point here. The 4 rail bank is a shot that if you know the path of the balls and know the table well enough, it is easy enough for a pro to make it happen.

It is not a hanger by any stretch of the imagination but it is not the greatest shot ever played either. He saw.the line on the 7 ball and had to be committal.

It is not, to my mind as great as the zigzag shot Efren played against Earl Strickland in 1995. Why? Because players of now have the benefit of previous experience and people who pioneered banking and kicking to art forms. Chris didn't look in trouble whereas Efren when he played his shot, you know he had to think about what he was doing and you knew also that he was in trouble. All the polish players who execute the zigzag kicks to perfection owe a lot to Efren

Chris made a great shot and it deserves to be called a great shot. But the hyperbole has come from the fact he played 2 other great (but admittedly low percentage) shots. It certainly is the sickest clearance I've seen and chances are if you gave Chris 100 goes he couldn't do it again BUT he did it when it counted and that's all that matters.

To make the masse shot on such slick cloth was phenomenal. To have a hang of the match table after 2 racks was impressive. To do the time shot was amazing. If anything I'd say the time shot was better than the 4 railer as a lot more could go wrong.
 

smashmouth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
for those unimpressed ask yourself this, how often do you see a called 4 rail bank in a non bank event at the pro level?



also, for all the banking experts, honest question, yes we get it, dead bank, the shot goes, but on a practice table with newer equipment on 4 inch pockets how many times can you make that shot on 10 attempts?

I'd be shocked if even the banking experts suggest more than 7/10, while Melling steped up and nailed it in a pro level tourney like it was a hanger
 

actionplayer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great imagination from Chris especially on the first shot of the run out.
He does possess extreme ability with a cue stick. Wish he would stick to one discipline and be more of a consistent dominant force.
 

jsp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok Ladies. If you watch closely you will observe he hits the ball "full in the face",
straight in to the rail, with no english. That is the DEFINITION of a DEAD BANK.
Sure. If your definition of a "dead bank" has already been set up for you, then even I can hit 3-railers, 4-railers, and maybe even 5-railers with relative ease. After all, even C players can execute a decent stop shot more times than not.

Now instead, what if you had to set up the 4-rail "dead" bank on your own, even with both CB and OB in hand. Then execute the 4-rail bank. All on the very first try. Much tougher, right?

Now instead, what if the OB is already in place and you had to play precise CB position off another OB such that the CB falls exactly on the point where the 4-railer becomes "dead". Then execute the 4-rail bank. All on the very first try. Even tougher, right?

Now instead, even before knowing that you'd have to hit a 4-railer, you had to come up with the very idea of playing a 4-rail bank on your own given the table layout. Then play precise CB position off another OB such that the CB falls exactly on the point where the 4-railer becomes "dead". Then execute the 4-rail bank. All on the very first try. Even tougher yet, right?

Now instead, do all of the above in an international tournament setting with Mika Immonen as your opponent?

Yup, still a hanger.
 

PoppaSaun

Banned
It is not, to my mind as great as the zigzag shot Efren played against Earl Strickland in 1995. Why? Because players of now have the benefit of previous experience and people who pioneered banking and kicking to art forms.

By that logic, the best shot ever made in the game of billiards (pocket or otherwise) was the very first shot ever made in the game of billiards. Everything derived from that.
 

skip100

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's amazing that some people refuse to give Melling credit for hitting one awesome shot after another, just to make themselves look like tough guys on the internet.
 

TSW

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That was the best runout I've ever seen. Three highlight-reel shots in the same rack.

Melling had to have the imagination to see the shots, and the wisdom to determine that they were the best option, for him, at the time. Then he had to execute them.

All this in a pro tournament, with a shot clock, and with a player of Mika's stature in the chair.

Absolutely fantastic.
 

Shorty Bankz

Master Banker
NON bankers

Anyone who thinks a 4 rail bank shot on any table is a given doesn't know anything about banking & 90% of them have never attempted a 4 railer bank shot ... And if they think it is a given try to make 2 in a row & see how much table time you'll pay ... You have pros that miss straight in shots ... Learn things b4 you speak unknowledgeable from your mouth ... It will help you in the future ... Do your research ... Nuff Said ...
 

M.G.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't know if this has been posted before, but it's definitely one of the best shots I have ever seen.

https://youtu.be/oWLJuAgrcGo

Anyone who thinks a 4 rail bank shot on any table is a given doesn't know anything about banking & 90% of them have never attempted a 4 railer bank shot .


As far as angles go, this is a pretty standard Carom shot and quite predictable.
Probably in the curriculum in the first 2 months for a beginner Carom player :p

The masse is also not too difficult either and the distance does NOT make it harder. With a little exercise just about any decent player can do that.
It's just that you are not exercising these types of shots.

But yes, pretty unseen in dumb pool.

Is that Michaela Tabb as referee?

Cheers,
M
 
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mista335

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Is there a video of anyone in an 8,9 or 10 ball tournament pocketing a ball using a 4 rail bank?
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
Meh, pretty basic shot. Not overly impressed.











This is what we're doing right? Being super cool guy who's unimpressed?


But it kinda wasn't,
Neat shot no doubt but I was expecting something more dramatic with 6 pages now
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Is there a video of anyone in an 8,9 or 10 ball tournament pocketing a ball using a 4 rail bank?

Yes. For sure.

Pretty sure I saw one on the first page of this thread.

I'm not so sure I've ever seen a video of this phenomena ...a four railer?
....other than a bank game.

The video that B-B and E-E are snidely referring to is NOT a 4 rail bank....
Chris Melling is British....the British don't do banks...they do "DOUBLES"....
...and they don't do 'rails'.....they do "CUSHIONS"

A 3 in the side is called a "COCKED HAT DOUBLE".....
...never got a satisfactory answer for a 2, 4, or 5 railer....
...hell, they don't even have pockets...they call them 'bags'...

Further research is required...perhaps a UK member can elaborate.
 
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