How to successfully make a Bank Shot - Easy Pool Tutor

When shooting bank shots, many factors come into play. English, speed, and angle of the cut (which causes contact throw) will all play a part in the path of the OB.

To see the differences in speed of a shot, (see Diagram 1) if you center hit a left angle bank shot with no english, medium speed, it will come out at (A), then try to do the exact shot again, only with a harder stroke, the angle of rebound on the OB will come up narrow (B), again with slow speed and the OB will go wide (C). Why? The speed of the ball hitting and compressing the cushion causes different secondary effects. Speed of the bank shot is very important and can be used to advantage.

In this discussion, "english" is defined as only side spin on the CB, it does not include draw or top-spin.

To see the differences in english (CB side-spin throw on the OB) on a bank shot; center hit a left angle bank shot with no english (Diagram 1), medium speed, the OB will come out at (A), then try to do the exact shot again, only with a 1 tip of left english on the CB, the angle of rebound on the OB will come up narrow (B) again with 1 tip of right english on the CB and the OB will go wide (C). Why? Because the some of the english on the CB is transferred in reverse (the gear effect) to the OB causing it to hit the bank and come off at more or less of an angle, depending on direction of imparted CB english.

There are also effects of rebound that occur depending on whether the OB is "back-spinning" or "stunned" (not spinning) off the cushion, but those are more advanced topics not covered here. The assumption is that the OB will be hit by the CB and then will begin rolling forward somewhat on all the shots I cover in this exercise.

Diagram 1