How to Make a Bank Shot in Pool

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Michael Lamendola with expertvillage.com, and today we're going to shoot some pool. Next up we've got bank shots. Now, bank shots happen when you've got a ball that you really can't get into a pocket directly. I'd have to be a surgeon to cut this 3 ball into that side pocket. I really don't want to try. The option I have is to bank it back into this side pocket. If you don't see an edit, that means I got it on the first try. If it cuts, that means I did miss and we had to do it again. Perfect. Now, what you have to think of when you bank the ball is where the cue ball is going to be after it hits your ball in question. In this case, when I hit the 3 ball I've got to make sure that the cue ball doesn't get in the way after I've hit it. Otherwise, you're going to get this. That doesn't do a lick of good. Keep that in mind when you're banking. Make sure the cue ball is out of the way. Now, the second half to banking is when you've got a reverse bank. That's when you're ball is on the opposite side and your ball in question is going to come back to where you just struck the cue ball. This one requires a little more finesse. When I strike the 3 ball, it's actually going to have English spun on it because I'm going to hit it right here, which is going to make it spin this way. I have to picture actually biting the rail and coming back at a sharper angle than when I struck it. So keep that in mind when you're trying a reverse bank. That was close."