Pieces Of Eight - Tip Of The Week

 

Tip Of The Week

Number: 70 Jim Tellier December 2012

 

TOPIC: Kick It!

 

CATEGORY: Intermediate to Advanced

 

INTRODUCTION:

A lot of times, youre faced with having to kick at a ball, using 2 rails. (Ill ignore the relatively simple 1-rail kick, because they are (more or less) obvious, in terms of how to execute them.

The 2 rail kick often confuses people, so Im going to spend some time showing simple approaches to getting it done.

 

TECHNIQUE:

Lets say, for arguments sake, that theres a ball in between the cue ball and the 8-ball as shown in this diagram. You MUST at least hit the 8-ball to avoid giving ball-in-hand.

Notice that, in the diagram, the path from the cue ball to the rail is parallel to the path from the 2^nd rail to the 8-ball. This is Very Useful information! So, how do you FIND that parallel path?

In this case, draw a line between the cue ball and the 8-ball, then find the CENTER of that line (little white dot in the picture). From there, visualize a line to the center of the pocket.

Shoot the cue ball on the path that is parallel to this line.

This works best for short shots. With longer shots, other factors come into play. Note that the angle between cue ball and first rail is about 45 degrees. If the angle is

WIDER (i.e. shallow), more English will be induced onto the cue ball as it contacts the rail, and that must be taken into account.

This tip clearly doesnt give you a magic key to the kingdom, for sure. But if you pay some attention to how these shots work out in practice, youll get a feel for them.

Ill do some more discussion about 2-rail kicks in another tip, and show how to address both short-rail-first, AND long-rail-first 2-rail kicks.

 

Shoot well, and keep your opponent in his chair!

Capn Carom

ARRRR!!!! J

Parallel: With two rail banks or kicks, a parallel method (related to method #3 in Kicks and Banks) is particularly useful. In the diagram, the cue ball's path into the first rail, and out of the second rail are parallel (ignoring the many complications, such as spin and ball speed). These paths can be estimated just by imagining parallel paths. But a more reliable way is to find the point midway between the two balls, and imagine a line from that point to the pocket toward which you are shooting (actually to the point where the two rails intersect. This line is also parallel to the two cue ball paths that I mentioned. So just aim parallel to this line. This is especially accurate for short shots. For longer shots, the various complications become increasingly important. In the basic diamond system above, this parallel method is a whole diamond off.