i need help banking

Here is a method you can try. You might already know it, but here goes anyway.

I don't bank very good, so take this with a few grains of salt. It may work better for you.

It is basically a mirror system.
aim your shot at an imaginary pocket 4.5 feet directly across from the pocket you want the ball to go in, you will be aiming to a point that far away from the pool table. Hit it with whatever spin you desire, as hard or soft as you like, but make sure to pocket the ball in the imaginary pocket.

If it is a full table length bank, you are now aiming at a point 9 feet away from the pool table. This method works with all bank shots.., but only as good as a person can imagine that imaginary pocket, and hit it with the exact speed and spin, etc.

Best of luck
steven
I used to play in a spot where the tables were 4.5ft apart both side-2-side and end-2-end. I hardly ever missed using the mirror system. Almost like cheating. Its really brutal when you start banking 'em in the side off the end rail.
 
8Ballr-Braggs,

A better use of our time is coming up with your next screen name after your current account gets the boot.

Could be entertaining.

:p


Ok sure...we'll ignore the fact he was robbed by a gc...with a shot that was pocket speed...on old cloth...and the fact that he had a go pro flopping on his head preventing him from getting down on the shot properly...fine.

Let's see one of you guys do it.
 
after all these years I realize i just bank poorly

is there something that could actually help me
i tend to hit my banks short

also i only play one pocket so i need to bank pocket speed

Well...No easy and short answer but since your speed is fixed in this case (pocket speed), the two other variables are spin and aim.

If you are cutting your bank (cueball moving away from the direction of the pocket), try adding 1 tip of outside spin to whatever you are using now. I generally like to use outside on severe cutbanks, unless I can slam them in. IMO, if you have to use a lot of outside, it's easier if you DON'T draw the ball. I feel I get a cleaner hit and less swerve with center, just below or just above center ball hits.

If your cueball is moving in the direction of the pocket after contact (passover bank), try adding 1 tip of inside spin.

If you are dead straight, try adding 1/2 tip of outside.

Banking at pocket speed is the toughest way to make a bank IMO. Not only does the english throw the ball more, but the english on the object ball often wears off some before it hits the cushion, so where the object ball goes is very dependent on how far away the object ball is from the cushion. You have to adjust for this somehow, either with aim or spin. In the Beards book he recommends adjusting spin in 1 tip or aim in quarter ball increments. His book is highly recommended as he goes into great detail and shows reference shots to learn from. He also has multiple rail bank systems.
 
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I'm with "Straightpool_99". His advice is spot on. I have Tor's CDs and Freddy's banking book and appreciate both very much.:)
 
You should be able to just make the shot instead of relying on gimmicks. Relying on the Diamond system is like riding a bike with training wheels on...even professional cushion players don't rely on any diamond system...Chris Melling didn't need the diamond system to make his famous 4 railer. I never use them either. I really think the diamonds should be removed entirely. When my new Diamond Pro am arrives I am going to paint over them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKD7EdzMjAM

You're not a very bright chap, are you?
 
For quick and concise overview of banking issues, I found this old 1988 video with Jimmy Fusco demonstrating the hows of banking:

https://youtu.be/rOHsEuoUFwQ?t=2153

It's only a few minutes but really helped my game back then. I consider myself one of the better bankers around town, but I'm old so maybe that's what it took to get there?

Plus, it's a classic video, if you decide to watch some of the other pros from back then.

Jeff Livingston
 
For quick and concise overview of banking issues, I found this old 1988 video with Jimmy Fusco demonstrating the hows of banking:

https://youtu.be/rOHsEuoUFwQ?t=2153

It's only a few minutes but really helped my game back then. I consider myself one of the better bankers around town, but I'm old so maybe that's what it took to get there?

Plus, it's a classic video, if you decide to watch some of the other pros from back then.

Jeff Livingston

lol I didn't know Dracula played pool. Also, he is using his stick as a measuring tool...foul.
 
lol I didn't know Dracula played pool. Also, he is using his stick as a measuring tool...foul.

Don't you just love his voice, though?

I watched that whole video I don't know how many times, 20 or 30 maybe? Mataya, et al, really put the flavor in it. It's a piece of pool history, for sure.




I'd like to add one more piece of advice for banking or kicking that I use that really lets me "see" the line:

I first look at the shot from the cueball's perspective, then I go to the object ball's perspective, then I go to the pocket's perspective to "see" how the OB will come off the rail and towards the pocket. Looking at such shots backwards is my secret, if you can call it that.

So, look at the shot from the pocket's viewpoint and find your spot from that perspective. It's worth a try, anyway.



Jeff Livingston
 
You're not a very bright chap, are you?
No kiddin. If he thinks top 3c players don't use systems then he's living in a dream-world. As far as diamonds/spots on the table are concerned, EVERY maker of 3c table installs them. You think they're there for looks? Don't think so. Kind of like ydg. markers on golf courses. Does everyone use them? No but they're available if you so desire.
 
No kiddin. If he thinks top 3c players don't use systems then he's living in a dream-world. As far as diamonds/spots on the table are concerned, EVERY maker of 3c table installs them. You think they're there for looks? Don't think so. Kind of like ydg. markers on golf courses. Does everyone use them? No but they're available if you so desire.

Anyone who uses the diamonds should not be considered a professional. It's like playing with 5" pockets...once you go pro there should be different standards.
 
lol I didn't know Dracula played pool. Also, he is using his stick as a measuring tool...foul.

Use my cue everyday in that manner, nobody ever called a foul, even in tournaments. Weird huh. So, basically, everyone else on the planet is wrong, and you, a nobody in pool is right. I don't bloody think so. LOL

Dude, do you even shoot pool, seriously?
 
Use my cue everyday in that manner, nobody ever called a foul, even in tournaments. Weird huh. So, basically, everyone else on the planet is wrong, and you, a nobody in pool is right. I don't bloody think so. LOL

Dude, do you even shoot pool, seriously?

Rules change. We have seen the banning the soft break..the pockets have been tightened...Earls finger extensions prohibited...give it time. They may restrict length of cue one day as well.
 
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Anyone who uses the diamonds should not be considered a professional. It's like playing with 5" pockets...once you go pro there should be different standards.

Do you want help with banking or not? Paint over your diamonds and never use your cue for any measurements or to help visualize the angles, then let us know when you finally become even a mediocre banker. That would be like somebody wanting to learn how to play the guitar, but insists on having all fret markers/inlays removed from neck. Lol.
 
Do you want help with banking or not? Paint over your diamonds and never use your cue for any measurements or to help visualize the angles, then let us know when you finally become even a mediocre banker. That would be like somebody wanting to learn how to play the guitar, but insists on having all fret markers/inlays removed from neck. Lol.

The diamonds are about as useful as letters on a keyboard for a touch typist...
 
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I wish bank shots were my problem.

I'm back after a 20 year plus break, and ALL I can do is bank and break. My first night touching a cue since college I banked I believe 11 times and made 10 of them. I don't think I broke dry once.

All I could make was hanging balls other than bank shots. No matter what I did, I missed. Played through high school and college on bar tables, now I'm on these behemoth tables squinting to see down the long rail well enough to see the ball, let alone see the angles.

Younger guy on the table beside us was trying to get me to play for money. He was playing average, would have waxed me, and I'm sure wasn't playing his best game. I told him I'd play for whatever he wanted to play for, but it was gonna be bank shots only. He declined.

I don't know what is going on. I am just able to see the shot going in, and it does.

Now if I can just shoot "easier" shots, I won't feel like such a loser.
 
The diamonds are about as useful as letters on a keyboard for a touch typist...

The position of the letters/keys on a keyboard are standard, stationary, usually querty format. Your fingers have a set pattern, each finger is assigned a specific key/keys. It's the same every time, regardless of the words you are typing. So it would be very simple for any average typist to type just as efficiently with no letters on the keys.

In no way is this comparable to the multitudes of diamond systems available for use on a pool table. Unlike a standard keyboard, there are endless shot angles for kicks and banks, no standard format/placement. If a keyboard could be large enough that every key held a word, not just a single letter, and the entire keyboard held every word in existence, literally thousands of keys, it would then be comparable to the limitless shots that diamonds make possible on a pool table. Imagine such a keyboard.....now imagine removing the words from those thousands of keys. It would take years of trial and error before the average typist could develope any proficiency at constructing a few hundred sentences.

A table with diamonds makes it possible for an average pool player to figure out countless shots. Without the diamonds it would take years of trial and error before even a basic amount of shots could become routine.
 
A table with diamonds makes it possible for an average pool player to figure out countless shots. Without the diamonds it would take years of trial and error before even a basic amount of shots could become routine.

Exactly...that's my point. Take off the training wheels lol.
 
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