Bank and kick shots are neat because the balls hit the cushions and traverse the table before going in the pocket. By their nature, though, the shots will be dependent on the table you are playing on and could require some adjustments. Here are video tutorials for seven easy bank and kick trick shots.
The first shot in this discipline is a kick shot. Here, the cue ball is sandwiched between a blocking ball and the rail while the target ball is also frozen to the blocker. While it doesn’t look like you can shoot straight at the target ball, you can shoot into the rail and squeeze the cue ball past the blocking ball to contact the target ball and kick it into the side pocket. Use a center ball hit and a soft stroke and adjust your aim to make the ball. Small adjustments will affect the trajectory quite a bit. WATCH COZY KICK SHOT INSTRUCTIONS
Here’s another shot where the cue ball is frozen between the rail and an object ball. This time, the objective is to kick the object ball all the way down the table and into the corner pocket. It’s easiest if you align the balls straight in and hit the cue ball directly into the rail. You don’t need to hit this too hard, so there should be plenty of time to get your bridge hand out of the way, or else you can air bridge it like I like to do. If you’re good, the cue ball will sit up and you can pocket the red ball on your next shot. WATCH FROZEN KICK BACK TUTORIAL
This is yet another shot where the cue ball starts between the cushion and an object ball. This time, you want to hit the cue ball into the rail, letting it escape from the blocker ball, travel three rails and kick the hanging red ball into the corner pocket. If you’re used to using a long follow through, this shot can get tricky since your cue tip will hit the rail and your cue could knock the blocking ball. You’ll need right hand english, but you can use follow or draw to adjust the trajectory as well as adjusting your aim point. ESCAPE KICK STEP BY STEP WALK THROUGH
Here’s a five rail kick shot where the cue ball travels all around the table and makes the combination in the corner pocket. If you’re super unlucky, you’ll hit the object balls but the red ball won’t make it all the way to the corner, so it’s important to come up on the back side of the yellow ball. This shot will be very table dependent. On some tables, the cue ball will come close to the bottom side pocket. I actually like to hit this shot with just a center ball hit and lots of speed. The cue ball will pick up a little bit of english on its own. WATCH FIVE RAIL KICK SHOT INSTRUCTIONS
This timing kick shot was featured in the movie Poolhall Junkies and was made by both Christopher Walken and Mars Callahan. By shooting the cue ball at an angle across the table, the yellow ball will roll up the rail and in front of the side pocket. The cue ball will kick off the far rail and come back to make the yellow ball. If you’re good, you can get the yellow ball to stop completely in front of the side to give yourself a good chance, but you can do it at speed too while it’s still rolling and it looks pretty impressive. TIMING KICK SHOT VIDEO TUTORIAL
Here’s a series of bank shots going around the table where you get cue ball in hand for each one. Two are cross corner banks while two are straight backs. For the cross corner banks, I like to put the cue ball directly in line with the aim point on the opposite rail which will usually be ~1-1/3 diamonds from the corner pocket. For the straight backs, I like to cut the cue ball a little bit towards the corner pocket and use induced spin to straighten out the path. I have no idea why this works better for me, but give it a shot! BANKS AROUND THE TABLE STEP BY STEP
Here’s another series of bank shots, this time all going cross corner or cross side. For most players, this is the easier shot between 5a and 5b. I like to place the cue ball directly in line with the aim point and fire away. In tournaments, the cue ball needs to end up on the other half of the table, so use a little bit of follow. The aim point will usually be around 3/4 diamond. CROSS BANKS VIDEO INSTRUCTION
More video tutorials
1. Trick / Fancy
2. Special Arts
3. Draw
4. Follow
5. Bank / Kick
6. Stroke
7. Jump
8. Masse