How to Make a Bank Shot in Pool

So those blasted billiard balls didn't break the way you wanted. The ball you want to sink is impossible to hit in with a straight shot. Playing pool is, unfortunately, a game of angles, and to play it well, you need to master the bank shot. Here are some steps to help you get better at it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Visualize where the cue ball will end up after you hit the other ball. You want to have the cue ball contact the other ball, the object ball, only once.

2. Line the shot up by sighting it with your cue stick. Figure your best angle to the cushion you intend to bank from, then lay the cue tip on the rail directly behind the cue ball. Leaving the tip on the rail, rotate the stick to point first to the object ball, then to the pocket you want to sink it into (the target pocket).

3. Identify the pocket opposite the target pocket.

4. Draw a line mentally between the opposing pocket and the center of the object ball. This line should cross the line now formed by your cue stick.

5. Envision a line paralleling your original line running from the point where the other two lines cross to the same banking cushion. Your object ball must hit this point on the banking cushion to rebound at the correct angle to sink in the target pocket.

6. Aim the cue ball to strike the object ball dead center at a point directly opposite the rebound point on the banking cushion, hitting the cue ball smoothly at medium speed.

Tips & Warnings

• Master this technique without trying to impart side spin (English) to the ball.
• Practice your technique as often as you can, until you can visualize the lines and angles automatically.
• Hitting the cue ball with too much force will cause the object ball to come up short, while imparting English to the cue ball will cause the object ball to veer off in the opposite direction from that in which the cue ball was spinning. You can use this fact to your advantage, however, when you have to shoot so that the object ball comes back to where you struck the cue ball.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• Watch a video on making bank shots at Expert Village.
• Get more tips from Easy Pool Tutor.