How do you kick?

How do you kick? And what are your results?

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Banks

Banks

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I've never really been able to get myself into any system, but I've got a pretty simple method that I try to show to my APA teammates and use for them when I'm asked for a timeout.

What I'd like to know is..

Do you use a system for kicking?

How effective are your kicks?
- Do you make them often?
- Do you hit them often?

Thanks!

(This poll is public.)
 
Last edited:
:thumbup:

The system most use...from memory.

If you play enough it gets to be routine from memory.



Some bad and some good memories. :smile:
 
I think you should clarify how many rails that your talking about. Many players use "feel" for 1 rail kicks, but that tends to go out the door when you consider kicking 2, 3, or even 4 rails.
 
I generally use a system to get a feel, if that makes any sense (usually plus two or corner five).

One rail kicks is pretty much all feel.
 
I use a system based on feel lol.

What that means is that I try to learn and study different systems. Like corner 5, I don't really do any of the math, but just sort of feel it out. The "spot on the wall" system I think is an extension of corner 5, and it is really useful for 3 rail kicks to the corner pocket.
 
I use Grady Mathews kicks only system. Kicking is one of my strengths ! I beleive without a system people really are only guesstamating There are two s's in guess and 2 s's in miss ,if you guess you miss also if you guess and hit the ball you probably can't repeat the shot because you would have to guess the same JMHO
 
I also use the kicking system demonstrated in Grady's video. With some practice, and consistant speed control and tip placement, it really does work consistantly. I'm good at kicking, and will always get a hit and will make the ball pretty often.
 
Part of my reason for this is..

I was thinking about making a basic tutorial for lesser-skilled players to help in kicking. After a few years of taking time-outs in APA and some of my own playing, I've found a fairly simple way of estimating my kicks to at least obtain a good hit(and a possible make). Valley barboxes are the majority of tables that are used in APA around here - Diamonds are starting to pick up in number, though. I don't use a system, but play my kicks more like my banks - by feel of the table.

For Valley tables, I try to find the equal-in/out angle first. Once that's done, I point out a spot about 1/3 the distance from that point to the point on the rail where the ball lays. Using a hard/firm hit and center ball almost always guarantees a hit and sometimes pocketing. For league rule games, this has helped many plays avoid giving up ball-in-hand on basic one-rail kicks. Since speed can play such a big part, the harder hit limits the variance and emphasizing center ball gets the player away from hitting any which way that may cause the angle to get thrown off unexpectedly. It's pretty basic and works very well, imho. Diamond tables tend to kick back sharper so a harder hit isn't really needed, while the 9' tables I play on tend to play much closer to the actual in/out angle.

Here's one of my awesome MS Paint drawings to show a (very) rough example.

View attachment kickexample.bmp

I wanted to know what kind of systems people used and how many beginners could use help in kicking. From the sounds of it, most that replied know kicking pretty well and have some kind of system, but I still wouldn't mind helping out some of the APA players a little bit if I could.
 
I use the diamonds for my 2, 3 and 4 rail kicks. Although I use diamonds for most of my 1 rail kicks, sometimes I use the ghost ball or mirror. I think using the diamonds makes adjusting to different tables easier.
 
I agree same angle in/out woks great but speed is a whole diff thread your 1/3 philosophy is good I play across table 1 inch (if shooting hard) and long 2 inch adjustment Works well for me !
 
Mr Hoppe said:
I think you should clarify how many rails that your talking about. Many players use "feel" for 1 rail kicks, but that tends to go out the door when you consider kicking 2, 3, or even 4 rails.
Click to expand...

In my own experience and game it is the opposite. I line up the angles alot more in 1 rail kicks. With multiple rail kicks I find I use far more feel on the shots.

On multiple rail kicks one thing I tend to do alot is aim for a contact point on the last rail before the object ball is contacted. There is a spot on the last rail that if you can hit it with the proper english (usually running english) it will create not only a legal hit but usually a hit that has a significant potential to pot the ball.

I find 1 rail kicks on balls off the rail 1 or more diamonds to be some of the harder kicks to get a good contact on. Multiple rail kicks are actually easier in alot of ways because I can control the amount of spin and the ultimate direction of the cueball better.
 
I use systems
i use personal system
i use feel
i use reference shots with english (personal)
i use reference shots without english (personal)
 
Diamond method.

I use the diamond system,splitting the width down middle, medium speed when applicable ..
 
I use the diamonds for general reference, but I mostly use feel. Because conditions and equipment vary, whatever system seems to work on one table, may not work on another.
 
my kicking game went up tremdously when i learned several diamond systems and other kicking systems
 
Banks said:
I've never really been able to get myself into any system, but I've got a pretty simple method that I try to show to my APA teammates and use for them when I'm asked for a timeout.

What I'd like to know is..

Do you use a system for kicking?

How effective are your kicks?
- Do you make them often?
- Do you hit them often?

Thanks!

(This poll is public.)
Click to expand...

Hello Banks,
I use feel and I make them most of the time. But, I practice kicks and banks all of the time. Rarely do I practice straight in shots. Good thread Banks. I love kicking balls in the pockets. No matter how many rails.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
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