Bank or Long Straight-In?

Which shot is easier to make?

  • Total voters
    107
Jager85 said:
I have to stick with the minority. Straight in is way easier. I will admit my banks suck and this is why, first of all, I vote for straight in. But also, I do know that there are many more variables in a bank than in a straight in shot. Stick with constants and you will be much more consistent. The straight in shot is in your control 100%, all that matters is your line of sight and your stroke, while the bank is partially dependent upon the table conditions.
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Bob Henning, in The Advanced Pro Book, says that calculating the aim point for cross side banks should be the geometric center plus .4 diamond more.

Well, guess what? That's a fair approximation if you don't know the table, but many, many tables don't bank well with that adjustment. One of the first things I'll do when testing a table that's new to me is first find out where to aim for three rail banks, then one rail banks up and down from the short rail, and then those cross side banks. The difference between .2, and .3 and .4 and .5 is enough to easily miss the bank, and thus the cheese....

Another reason I'll take those straight in shots any day. Also, some/many tables bank differently on the same table, due to old rubber, dead spots on the rail, etc.


Flex
Flex
 
bankity bank bank..............all day

of course it kinda depends on where I need to cue to go afterward...but bank it if feesible
 
jsp said:
Assume you're shooting at the last 9 ball, and position doesn't matter. Would you rather have a straight-in bank or a long straight-in shot, as illustrated in the original post?
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Hey man, you're asking me? I'm a Bank Pool player!

I guess it depends on how long a straight in it is. If it is only three quarter table length, I would probably shoot the straight in anyway. You can always miss a bank.
 
depending on position requirements, I prefer the long straight in shot, but based on the comments mentioned in this thread I am going to practice the bank shot and see how it goes. I love practicing the long straight in shots
 
For me I guess the bank would "feel" more 100%.

But the straight in would be a pretty high percentage as well.

Not that I couldn't miss either as I certainly could,but if I shot each 100 times,I'd make the bank more often.I think so anyway.
 
jsp said:
That's a great point, if I interpret you correctly.

If you have a straight-in bank, and you miss hit the OB such that you cut it slightly one way or the other, any induced side spin to the OB due to the cut hit would compensate somewhat for the miss hit.

For example, if you have a straight-in bank to the right (as in the example in the original post), and you cut the OB slightly to the right such that it would bank a bit long, any induced left spin on the OB would give it reverse english coming off the rail such that it would bank shorter and correct the longer trajectory. This increases your margin of error compared to a straight-in shot of equal length.

But as other posters have said, rail conditions vary from table to table. If I were to shoot only one shot without any practice shots or experience with the table rails, I would definitely shoot the straight-in shot over the bank.

However, if I were to shoot the shot 100 times one after the other, I would bet that I would make the bank at a much greater frequency than the straight-in shot. Once you know exactly where to contact the rail to pot the shot, your margin of error is much bigger for the bank (assuming the table plays consistently).
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Jsp,

I'm having a hard time voting because of just what you said. On a cold shot, the straight-in; with practice, the bank.

Jim
 
Thunderball said:
For me I guess the bank would "feel" more 100%.

But the straight in would be a pretty high percentage as well.

Not that I couldn't miss either as I certainly could,but if I shot each 100 times,I'd make the bank more often.I think so anyway.
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Maybe on the same table. Let's make it a bit more challenging. Go to a poolhall that has 40 or so tables, like Chris's in Chicago. Set up the bank shot on each table, and without any practice on that table, bank it once for each table, move to the next one, bank it, and so on, until you have shot 100 banks. Do the same for the long straight in shot.

Would you still prefer to shoot the bankshots over the long straight in?

Flex
 
Flex said:
Maybe on the same table. Let's make it a bit more challenging. Go to a poolhall that has 40 or so tables, like Chris's in Chicago. Set up the bank shot on each table, and without any practice on that table, bank it once for each table, move to the next one, bank it, and so on, until you have shot 100 banks. Do the same for the long straight in shot.

Would you still prefer to shoot the bankshots over the long straight in?

Flex
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Why would someone do that? It's just not realistic to do that.
 
WesleyW said:
Why would someone do that? It's just not realistic to do that.
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It's a percentage thing. Which is higher percentage is really the question.

Each table will play differently, and actually, the same table will also play differently with humidity changes, AC on, number of people in the room, etc. Essentially, it's a crap shoot...

Long straight in is usually the way to go.

Flex
 
Make the straight in shot. Just do it.

Banks depend on a whole bunch of things: speed, spin, angle.

Just hit the ball...straight... on a straight shot... and it's in.

Some banks are easier than others, but the straight shot should be the more makeable ball.
 
Flex said:
It's a percentage thing. Which is higher percentage is really the question.

Each table will play differently, and actually, the same table will also play differently with humidity changes, AC on, number of people in the room, etc. Essentially, it's a crap shoot...

Long straight in is usually the way to go.

Flex
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When you are playing on a table, like 9-ball or 8-ball, you always need to hit the rail. By doing that, you will notice how the table banks. So when you are playing, the different effect with banking, will not really effect your playing, because you will notice how to compensate it.
 
WesleyW said:
When you are playing on a table, like 9-ball or 8-ball, you always need to hit the rail. By doing that, you will notice how the table banks. So when you are playing, the different effect with banking, will not really effect your playing, because you will notice how to compensate it.
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I'm glad you're so consistent and are able to judge the rails that accurately. I bank whenever I have to, but will practically never play position for a bank. I've simply missed too many "dead on" banks to like my chances, especially in pressure situations.

I much prefer to practice shooting long straight in shots as pound shots, where I'm basically pounding the cue ball into the object ball. That way, no matter how strong the pressure, I'll know how my stroke will work when I've lost feel for a shot and slam the cue ball.

Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that idea... :D

Bank shots in particular are susceptible to variations in speed, and spin, and whether you shoot the shot with draw or follow. Lots of stuff to mess with the results. And if the ball is just slightly off line, the effects of contact induced throw are not negligible.

Once again, I'm glad you love those banks, and hope you don't catch a dime sized dead spot on the rail of one when it really matters, unless you are playing me, of course!

Flex
 
I would rather take the strait in shot, at least when I miss I will only have myself to blame. On paper that side pocket sure looks big though...
 
Flex said:
I'm glad you're so consistent and are able to judge the rails that accurately. I bank whenever I have to, but will practically never play position for a bank. I've simply missed too many "dead on" banks to like my chances, especially in pressure situations.

I much prefer to practice shooting long straight in shots as pound shots, where I'm basically pounding the cue ball into the object ball. That way, no matter how strong the pressure, I'll know how my stroke will work when I've lost feel for a shot and slam the cue ball.

Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that idea... :D

Bank shots in particular are susceptible to variations in speed, and spin, and whether you shoot the shot with draw or follow. Lots of stuff to mess with the results. And if the ball is just slightly off line, the effects of contact induced throw are not negligible.

Once again, I'm glad you love those banks, and hope you don't catch a dime sized dead spot on the rail of one when it really matters, unless you are playing me, of course!

Flex
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I just changed my mind :D . Today I've been playing on a different table. Usely my bankshots will do at least 80%, no matter what kind of table. Today I've notice my bankshots don't work on THAT table. Don't ask my why, because I don't know. I was almost 100% sure it would pot the ball, but it still didn't go like it should be. Perhaps, different table can make hugh differences. I just didn't notice it can make THAT hugh of differences. To the original question, I think the straight-in would be easier.
 
That long straight shot is well known as one of the hardest shots in pool and I'm surprised so many people are going with it. I think Bob J. had a scientific explanation as to why but I don't remember what it is. But you have little margin for error, and the awkward bridging definitely hurts this shot more than it hurts the bank attempt.

If you voted the straight shot, set it up as diagrammed and set up the bank and you'll probably be surprised.

Banks have more variables and are to be avoided as a rule, but this is one of the exceptions to the rule.
 
im not seeing how the long straight in can be one of the hardest shots in pool, i can think of tons that are much more difficult. when in stroke i could pot 8 or more of those straight-ins consecutively given a reasonable amount of tries, cant say the same for the bank.
 
The straight-in shot should be easier because it doesn't have the variables associated with hitting a rail (as others have said). It's supposed to be the hardest *straight-in* shot (not the hardest of any shot) because the margin for error is computed as (1 minus) CB-to-OB distance times OB-to-pocket distance, so having those distances equal and each as long as possible gives the least margin for error.

I'm assuming that you can shoot either shot with top english. If you have to hit centerball or with draw they both become troublesome because you have to jack up, which makes it harder to aim and harder to avoid masse.

pj
chgo
 
the long straight shot is one of the most difficult shots, not just the hardest straight shot. I see a few people claiming they rifle it in with regularity but I'll need video before I buy that. The difficulty of the shot using Bob Jewett's system is almost a 20. I dunno how to calculate the bank, but it's true that it's a bigger pocket opening (which is not shown on the diagram... the diagram should have the side pockets at least another half ball wider, or the corners smaller).

I wish I could remember and find what Bob Jewett said about difficult angles, if I remember it correctly he said two particular angles give the least margin for error, and straight-in was one of them. Maybe I'm wrong but I did try these long straight shots several times and it's really missable.
 
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