Struggling with 1 Rail Kicks

StraightPoolIU

StraightPoolIU

Brent
Silver Member
As I've been practicing and playing lately I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in my game. When I have a kick shot to get out of a safe if I have a 2 rail option the lines are very easy for me to visualize and picking out where I want to hit on the first rail seems very easy. Accordingly I'm making good hits on a very high percentage of my 2 rail kick attempts. However, when I'm confronted with a simple 1 rail kick off the side rail I'm having a very hard time visualizing my lines and don't have near the success in hitting the object ball. Does anyone know why this might be, or a good way to practice/improve my 1 rail kicks? Thank you.
 
Start out by getting a different perspective.

StraightPoolIU said:
As I've been practicing and playing lately I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in my game. When I have a kick shot to get out of a safe if I have a 2 rail option the lines are very easy for me to visualize and picking out where I want to hit on the first rail seems very easy. Accordingly I'm making good hits on a very high percentage of my 2 rail kick attempts. However, when I'm confronted with a simple 1 rail kick off the side rail I'm having a very hard time visualizing my lines and don't have near the success in hitting the object ball. Does anyone know why this might be, or a good way to practice/improve my 1 rail kicks? Thank you.
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Start out by getting a different perspective. Walk in between the balls and look at the point on the rail in the middle of the two balls. This will give you a better vantage point, there's some systems for kicking but they are too difficult to properly explain in writing.

I have one drill on kicking in my Banking Secrets video that helps with feel/touch, as with anything you must practice to improve. 'The Game is the Teacher'
 
Double the distance works very well for one rail kicks.

There is another one that I use too but the name escapes me. I have a download of 1, 2, and 3 rail systems that were a long thread some years ago I think the thread was called kicking acadamy. It is either a PDF or word file. I need to find it and I will pm it to you or you can do an advanced search for it here on the forums.

Remember knowing the setup of a system is one thing, but making adjustments for speed, English and how the table is playing is something that requires practice.
 
ENGLISH! said:
Do you use english when you kick?

Regards,
Rick
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No not always. I guess it depends on the shot. On my two and three railers I usually use just a touch of high running english. On my 1 railers not so much unless I know I need to alter the angle off the rail to make a hit.
 
StraightPoolIU said:
No not always. I guess it depends on the shot. On my two and three railers I usually use just a touch of high running english. On my 1 railers not so much unless I know I need to alter the angle off the rail to make a hit.
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That's sort of what I was thinking.

Keep in mind that if the cue ball is sliding or spinning backwards & not rolling or even if rolling fast there is a tendency for the ball to bank short. I always hit the kicks like you are referring to with just a bit of high running english. Just a bit off to the side of 12:00 & never as much as 11:00 or 1:00.

My intent is not to really change the angle but to just make sure that I get a non held angle.

Give it a try, especially if you are missing short.

I hope it helps.

Regards & Best Wishes,
Rick
 
StraightPoolIU,

PM me your email address and will email you the Kicking Academy file. I could not attach it to a PM.


Edit: Emails with attachment in doc format sent
 
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StraightPoolIU said:
As I've been practicing and playing lately I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in my game. When I have a kick shot to get out of a safe if I have a 2 rail option the lines are very easy for me to visualize and picking out where I want to hit on the first rail seems very easy. Accordingly I'm making good hits on a very high percentage of my 2 rail kick attempts. However, when I'm confronted with a simple 1 rail kick off the side rail I'm having a very hard time visualizing my lines and don't have near the success in hitting the object ball. Does anyone know why this might be, or a good way to practice/improve my 1 rail kicks? Thank you.
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The best $9 you will ever spend.

Learn kicking and banking easily.

http://www.zerox-billiards.com/pool-lessons-kicking-tips-secrets-of-pool.html

http://www.zerox-billiards.com/pool-banking-systems.html

Takes practice. :wink:

Have fun

John :)
 
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I guess the number of tips of side spin is relative to the player's definition of a tip and the diameter of the tip. The late, great, Johnny Ervolino taught me to use tips of side spin to create a gauge for one-rail kicking. Johnny told me 3 tips is bordering on a miscue and I tend to agree. I could only feel comfortable with 2 1/2 max, but that's by my gauge and I guess, Johnny's as well.

Once you develop your own gauge using a combination of spin and speed, with practice you should be able to draw on the memory fairly easily for one rail kicks. Obviously, playing conditions always affect the shot, such as cloth, rails, even balls, but with enough practice, adjustments can be made fairly easily.

You can get really good at calculating it and hit a particular side of the object ball. That's when you know you're a good kicker.

The key is to know yourself at the table. No one else can shoot for you.
 
Tony_in_MD said:
Double the distance works very well for one rail kicks.

There is another one that I use too but the name escapes me. I have a download of 1, 2, and 3 rail systems that were a long thread some years ago I think the thread was called kicking acadamy. It is either a PDF or word file. I need to find it and I will pm it to you or you can do an advanced search for it here on the forums.

Remember knowing the setup of a system is one thing, but making adjustments for speed, English and how the table is playing is something that requires practice.
Click to expand...

here is the link to most of what you need to know about kicking systems

http://www.deadstrokeuniversity.com/Kicking_Academy.pdf

p.s tony i always thank you for helping me with mygame
 
I consider myself to be really good at kicking, and I kick entirely by feel/experience. Most of (if not all) of my kicking skills are owed to the time spent playing handicapped 9ball tournaments when I was getting started. Almost half the fields were much better plays giving me a lot of weight, and they would always try to 3 foul me. When you're constantly spending money each week to go 2 and out by getting 3 fouled, you learn how to kick pretty well.

I'm still all for systems though, and as good as I think I am at kicking, I might actually check out that video OPJ referenced. I've heard nothing but good things about it.
 
It is a good skill to have, and as you noted you can get really good at it by feel and experience.

The end result for players I work with is to get them to internalize the system, so that they see the kick by experience and feel.

There are times when even the best players in the world will measure out a kick with a system. Saw a match where SVB measured out a double distance kick on a ball. He used the system, and a fairly close OB and Rail, but he measured it to be sure there was a certion side of the ball he needed to hit for his safety plan.

Hitting a full ball width is one thing, having the ability to hit a particular half or quarter of the OB ball is another, and Fran said it better.

BeiberLvr said:
I consider myself to be really good at kicking, and I kick entirely by feel/experience. Most of (if not all) of my kicking skills are owed to the time spent playing handicapped 9ball tournaments when I was getting started. Almost half the fields were much better plays giving me a lot of weight, and they would always try to 3 foul me. When you're constantly spending money each week to go 2 and out by getting 3 fouled, you learn how to kick pretty well.

I'm still all for systems though, and as good as I think I am at kicking, I might actually check out that video OPJ referenced. I've heard nothing but good things about it.
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Tony_in_MD said:
StraightPool IU

The other one rail system I use is in Matt's post the first one Squaring off One rail Kicks

When I need to I use the double distance and the squaring off system against each other as a check.

Thanks Matt, I could not remember the name of it.
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Thanks everyone for the information in this thread. The double the distance one is actually one I use periodically when needing to make a rail first hit. The Squaring Off system is something that I had been trying to work out in my brain, but it never really made sense until I saw it on paper. Pretty simple. I'm going to give them a go in practice today.
 
StraightPoolIU said:
Thanks everyone for the information in this thread. The double the distance one is actually one I use periodically when needing to make a rail first hit. The Squaring Off system is something that I had been trying to work out in my brain, but it never really made sense until I saw it on paper. Pretty simple. I'm going to give them a go in practice today.
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You may want to try the system I've seen several pro players use recently. It is a very old system. Construct the mirror image ball by measuring the distance of the object ball from the cushion with your cue stick and then measure an equal distance to the other side of the cushion. This system is exact and does not require counting diamonds. The only inaccuracies are in the fact that a cushion is not a mirror and some players get the reflection point wrong.

Here is an article about how to practice this: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/1996-10.pdf
 
Sorry, little late to the party, was in Vegas for APA masters and didn't get on the computer...

I have quite a few of these systems, as well as some others, consolidated on my website with several examples and diagrams at http://mypoolblog.com. Just go to the Lessons tab and search for instructional or kicking articles.

For 1 rail kicks, I mostly use the double distance concept when the ball is near a rail (visually or using my stick to measure) or the "1-2-3 Squared Off" method which geometrically is accurate at least. I also show an easier way to find the midpoint with just one line instead of two. There are some other methods there that might interest you, and once you work with the systems then you can hone your feel and start seeing the lines better naturally as well.
Scott
 
Thanks everyone for all the information in this thread. I've been using the 1-2-3 squared off method a lot and it was tricky at first, but as I've practiced with it it's pretty darn accurate. I've tried to incorporate at least 15-20 minutes of kicking practice into my routine and it's definitely been paying off.
 
StraightPoolIU said:
Thanks everyone for all the information in this thread. I've been using the 1-2-3 squared off method a lot and it was tricky at first, but as I've practiced with it it's pretty darn accurate. I've tried to incorporate at least 15-20 minutes of kicking practice into my routine and it's definitely been paying off.
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Do you see the situations where that method does not work well? Do you have an alternative method for those situations?
 
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