Easiest way to pocket this ball?

cuetechasaurus said:
This kick shot is actually pretty tough. When a ball is 1/4-1/2 of an inch off the rail, the shot is alot easier. But when it's further from that, it becomes alot more difficult to make.
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The kick shot certainly does take some practice. I suggested the kick shot because it's from relatively close range so it's easier to estimate the contact point on the top rail. Also, the 8 and the CB are about the same distance from the top rail which simplifies the contact point calculation considerably. If the variables were different, I too might suggest the bank shot.

As kick shots go, the particular one may be one of the easier, higher percentage kick shots to attempt.
 
cuetechasaurus said:
If the ball sits too far off the rail, I wouldn't dream about going for the kick. 9 out of 10 times if you don't make it, you sell out an easy shot. On the bank, you have a few chances to leave your opponent touch if you miss.
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Allright, pal, you are getting a bad rep point for that one. No touching your opponent!;)

I am a pretty good kicker, would rate my chances of making the bank 7/10, the kick <5/10 (@best)

Edit: you dodged a bullet there!!
"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to cuetechasaurus again."
 
I don't know why the general rule for pool would be different than 3 Cushion. Barring other circumstances not shown on the diagram, the highest percentage shot is always OB first. No matter how easy a kick
shot is layed out, even perfectly on the numbers, it's a lower percentage than an OB first shot like the one shown.
Even I could make this one most of the time in the bottom right corner. I'd use 1/2 tip high and 1/4 tip right with medium - slow speed.

As was said earlier. If this is a problem shot for you look at it as a positive. You know for sure a family of shots to practice. This is a pretty basic bank and once you master this one thousands of others will fall in place. If you avoid this bank you'll never make it. In other words, your're not making the bank because you're choosing the kick.
 
3kushn said:
I don't know why the general rule for pool would be different than 3 Cushion. Barring other circumstances not shown on the diagram, the highest percentage shot is always OB first. No matter how easy a kick
shot is layed out, even perfectly on the numbers, it's a lower percentage than an OB first shot like the one shown.
Even I could make this one most of the time in the bottom right corner. I'd use 1/2 tip high and 1/4 tip right with medium - slow speed.

As was said earlier. If this is a problem shot for you look at it as a positive. You know for sure a family of shots to practice. This is a pretty basic bank and once you master this one thousands of others will fall in place. If you avoid this bank you'll never make it. In other words, your're not making the bank because you're choosing the kick.
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I think this hits the nail on the head. If you'd choose a 2-rail kick, with spin, over a straight-back bank, then you just need to work on your banking a little. The fact that you are high % on the kick shot tells me that you should be able to become comfortable with the bank shot with relative ease. The more you shoot the bank, the less scared of it you'll be.

Good luck!
 
So almost everyone in this thread is saying the same thing, that the bank should be decidedly higher-percentage, and perhaps it's my fault for careless diagramming; I meant to put the 8 about an inch from the rail, and instead it looks like I put it more like 2 or 3 inches off.

But here's the point I started this thread to make: this kick is easy.

I'm not a betting man at all, but I'd put down a $20 bet that I could make this shot at least 7 times out of 10, at least on the tables at my home room. Admittedly I'm not a strong banker, but I don't know any players at my experience level who can make the bank more often than that, myself definitely included. So my point was not really that I'm afraid of the bank, but that I can shoot this kick shot with a lot of confidence, and it surprises me that I rarely see anyone look at a simple kick like this as a first option, as opposed to a last resort.

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
I'm not a betting man at all, but I'd put down a $20 bet that I could make this shot at least 7 times out of 10
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Yes, but you should find that that's true for you for almost all simple kick shots. Miss it once, make an adjustment, miss it again, make an adjustment, and then don't miss it again for the next half-hour. Once you find your spot on the rail you should be 90%+. The problem is that in a match you have to be 1 for 1, not 7 for 10. Everyone is different, though, and it's your responsibility to know your percentages on each shot, and to shoot accordingly. If the chips are down, and the kick shot is your highest %, then that's the shot you're supposed to shot. That being said, if your % on the straight-back bank is less than 70%, then you should work on that shot because there will be times when that is the only shot available.

Good Luck!
 
For the fun of it, today I tried making the 8 using a bank shot and a kick shot, as shown in the diagram. With the kick shot, I made 3 out of 10 shots. With the bank shot, I also made 3 out of 10 shots. I repeated the bank shot experiment, and again I made 3 out of 10 shots.

The bank shot which most posters in this thread seem to favor, just isn't as easy as it looks. In addition, three times I scratched in the upper left pocket when using draw on the cue ball. :(
 
PoolSharkAllen said:
The bank shot which most posters in this thread seem to favor, just isn't as easy as it looks. In addition, three times I scratched in the upper left pocket when using draw on the cue ball. :(
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Neither of these shots is "easy", but if you're using any spin other than follow, then you are unnecessarily increasing their difficulty. These shots do not require english, and the usage of english, as someone stated earlier, will only make your accuracy more vulnerable to changes in conditions and equipment. It will also make you more vulnerable to scratching, which, on the bank shot, can only be achieved by spinning the cueball into a pocket, as the natural path of the cueball does not go toward a pocket. The only spin I would recommend on these shots is a little bit of follow; this just to start the cueball off rolling instead of it sliding for a bit, and then rolling. You should also be hitting these shots at pocket-speed since you are only shooting at one ball.

Try these shots cueing slightly above center, without side-spin, and at pocket-speed. I think your percentages will improve significantly.

Good luck!
 
Aaron_S said:
Neither of these shots is "easy", but if you're using any spin other than follow, then you are unnecessarily increasing their difficulty. These shots do not require english, and the usage of english, as someone stated earlier, will only make your accuracy more vulnerable to changes in conditions and equipment. It will also make you more vulnerable to scratching, which, on the bank shot, can only be achieved by spinning the cueball into a pocket, as the natural path of the cueball does not go toward a pocket. The only spin I would recommend on these shots is a little bit of follow; this just to start the cueball off rolling instead of it sliding for a bit, and then rolling. You should also be hitting these shots at pocket-speed since you are only shooting at one ball.

Try these shots cueing slightly above center, without side-spin, and at pocket-speed. I think your percentages will improve significantly.

Good luck!
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Hey Aaron: While I'll try in again the next opportunity I get, I would be curious to know specifically what your own results are for this particular shot in the diagram. "X" out of 10? :)
 
Ktown D said:
Bank the ball back into the lower left corner hitting the cueball at the 2:00 position slightly harder than pocket speed.
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Do you mean "Kick the ball in the lower left pocket"? If not, would you use the wei table to describe the bank?
Thanks.
 
PoolSharkAllen said:
Hey Aaron: While I'll try in again the next opportunity I get, I would be curious to know specifically what your own results are for this particular shot in the diagram. "X" out of 10? :)
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Yes, I'm interested to know myself. I'll try it tonight and let you know.

Good luck!
 
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