Is it me or do the best bankers...

fan-tum

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
..seem to fire the ball in mostly? Are there great bankers who slow roll a lot of the time?
 
fan-tum said:
..seem to fire the ball in mostly? Are there great bankers who slow roll a lot of the time?

i have noticed this as well. Bugs used to hit em warp speed...and center pocket.
 
The best bankers hit most shots very firmly. That is also recommended in the tapes by Bugs, Freddy, etc. In truth, you need to know what speed to choose to make certain banks in addition to the correct spin. Speed generally stiffens (shortens) the angle and rolling or shooting softly widens or increases the angle. Draw or stop generally stiffens as well, and is used a lot.

I highly recommend "Banking With The Beard" especially. Just to be clear, that is the first book Freddy wrote. The sequel, "The Gospool" is good too, and has more entertaining stories, but the first book can't be beat for banking instruction and secrets. The DVDs have many cool shots but the first book is the nuts...Tom
 
My opinion belongs in a thread about bank pool like a toilet belongs in a kitchen, but I have heard Nick Varner say on Accu-Stats tapes that he prefers to hit banks fairly hard.
 
Some very good points above. I also think that speed in general increases accuracy by lowering risk. Slower rolling shots have increased risk because they're more subject to factors such as table speed, table level, foreign objects, etc.
 
It depends on table you are playing on as well .If the table is not level or etc a hard bank proves better then slow curve .
 
i've always thought if you hit the bank by a firm speed, very fast, you will make it easier. but then if you hit the same exact shot, same english, same place, but with a slow speed "roll" the ball will go long, so basicaly if you really know how long the ball would go by the speed you are playing, Go for it. if not, pawn the ball across witha firm speed :P
 
You have to remember to compensate for rail compression. You can measure a bank out perfect and hit the correct spot on the rail. Hitting it too softly will widen the angle and too hard cut the angle down. I like to hit'em firm but alot of the time I'm hitting it firm to compensate for another variable.
 
I started playing pool in the room where Gary Spaeth played. Not too many people that wouldn't rank him up with the best bankers that have ever lived. He used to fire them in too unless the position called for some kind of finesse. Either way he was dead on. I used to watch him play banks on the snooker table they had there. Just incredible to watch someone of his calibre at banking do something like that.

He told me one time that he hits them really firm so they don't roll off.

When I first started going there I heard stories about him being a World Champion bank player. After a few weeks when I finally got to meet him I was a bit disappointed when he came in because I was expecting someone like Mike Sigel in the fancy clothes etc... Gary was a regular Joe like the rest of us and he always looked sleepy. hehe!! I got a little cocky and walked over to where he was playing and said "They told me you're a really good banker, show me something." He proceeded to pull a ball out of the corner pocket, drop it on the table, put his cue behind his back and banked it cross corner the length of the table. He didn't set the balls up either, he just dropped them down and did it.........twice. I never got cocky with him again after that.

I've seen him break and run out a rack of 9-ball banking everything in numerical order. It was just insane watching him play banks or one pocket.
MULLY
 
henrygale39 said:
It depends on table you are playing on as well .If the table is not level or etc a hard bank proves better then slow curve .

I agree. I think bad and dead rails require a more firm hit as well.
 
powerlineman80 said:
I agree. I think bad and dead rails require a more firm hit as well.

Dead and bad rails need a bit of luck too because you can't trust them.
MULLY
how's that cue coming along?
 
mullyman said:
Dead and bad rails need a bit of luck too because you can't trust them.
MULLY
how's that cue coming along?

Unless you figure out which way they roll:D ;)

Its almost done! I think it already has one coat of clear. Not too far away.
 
I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet : You tend to see more of a controled, slower speed, trickling paced banking stroke in 1Pocket

You have several 1pocket masters of the trickle bank, Cliff is the best at this IMO .
 
I suspect the main reason for hard banking is because there is less variation in the bounce angle from table to table.
 
I agree Colin...

Colin Colenso said:
I suspect the main reason for hard banking is because there is less variation in the bounce angle from table to table.

I agree Colin... The thing about banking hard is that it will go deeper into the cushion. As the cushion compresses more the variation of angle becomes less. The softer you hit the ball, the more variation there will be with only slightly varying degrees of firmness. IF you hit it hard it gets to a point that hitting it harder than that won't change the angle that the OB rebounds at, but don't listen to me, cause I know nothing about this game. :wink:
 
i think the biggest reason is that less english is transfered to the object ball from the cueball.

For that reason alone, you will get more consistent results.
 
Colin Colenso said:
I suspect the main reason for hard banking is because there is less variation in the bounce angle from table to table.

And from shot to shot on the same table.

Bank shots are harder to begin with (because you're "shooting with a mirror" and because they're longer), and adding the rail to the equation means each bank shot is affected by many variables, each of which changes the angle of rebound:

stickiness of:
- rail cloth
- surface cloth
- balls
trueness of:
- rails
- surface
spin on OB:
- sidespin
- follow/draw

The holy grail in banks is to eliminate as many variables as possible, and just about every one of these variables "flattens out" at higher speeds. Shooting at one hard speed eliminates the most variables so you don't have to shoot the same bank differently each time.

pj
chgo

P.S. I thought the comment (from asn130) about higher speed minimizing transferred spin was very insightful - you don't hear that mentioned much.
 
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