Pool Bank and Kick Shots - 8 in the Side

Andy Segal: Hi, I am Andy Segal, and now we are going to perform the first of our four bank and kick shots. Now bank shot is when a ball bounces off the rail and goes into a pocket and a kick shot is when the cue ball bounces off a rail and goes into a pocket. This first shot is a great shot for 8-ball or for 9-ball. You set up the shot by putting the cue ball right on the second diamond with the 9-ball touching and straight across the table. Then you take two other balls and you put them against the cue ball and the 9-ball to form a square and then you get rid of the two. Now you notice that the cue ball will not hit either the 8 or the 9 as it passes through underneath. We are going to use something that we used in one of the previous shots called the compression. I am going to shoot the cue ball into the rail, compressing the rail so the cue ball has enough room to now escape out and then it will bank and cut the 8-ball straight into the side pocket. Now, I said this is a good shot for 8-ball and 9-ball because if you are playing 8-ball you have to make the 8 and hit it without hitting the 9-ball, so it s a great shot for 8-ball. It s also a great shot for 9-ball because you have to hit the 8-ball before hitting the 9-ball, make the 8 and then shoot the 9. So, if you are not sure which game you are playing this is the perfect shot for you. What am I going to do, is I am going to shoot straight to the rail with center ball, no English, I am aiming right at the middle point between these 2 diamonds and I am forgetting about the rail, just shooting straight into the cue ball. It goes straight into the pocket.

Now, let me talk about adjusting. What happens if you miss. Well, there is two ways to miss. The first way is to miss the 8-ball over here like this, okay and what happens there is I shot the cue ball with too much angle. If I shoot the cue ball with too much angle then it s going to come out too far to the left and it s going to be cutting the 8-ball over here. The second way to miss it is to shoot it this way and hit into this rail. Now when I do that I am aiming too far to the left. You have the cue ball here and instead of aiming here, I am aiming too far to the left so what s happening is the cue ball is not getting out past the 9 as quick enough, so its hitting the 8-ball too full cutting it here and also probably hitting the 9. You want to make sure you aim straight between these two diamonds. Now, again on different tables, you may need to adjust where you aim, so if you aim right in the middle and you notice that the 8-ball misses the pocket on other side, now you know how to adjust. The other important thing on this shot is to follow through. You want to forget about the rail, don t jerk your cue stick back and be afraid to hit the rail, if you do that you won t make the shot. You shoot your cue stick straight through, straight into the rail, like this. See my cue stick I am pushed right up against the cushion, you forget about the cushion and follow straight through and you will make the ball. If you just try and jab it you will probably won t make it. Anyway, that s the first of our four bank shots and kick shots. Stay tuned, we have another one coming up called the chain reaction shot.