About The Shot

Balls 1 through 4 are on top of bottles to start with. I send the 5 ball three rails and while it's travelling, I shoot the 1, 2, 3, and 4 into the corner pocket and the 5 ball comes in last, completing the rotation.

Discipline: Special Arts

Difficulty: Intermediate

Shot Compilations

Charlie Darling

Bottle Rotation

Make This Shot

Setting up the bottles will take a little bit of experimentation. First of all, there has to be a gap big enough for the 5 ball to get through. I used 2 to 2 1/2 balls width. Just test the 5 ball going 3 rails and find a spot to put the gap. The other part about it is that it can be a reach to get to the 3 and 4 balls, depending on where you put the bottles and how big the gap is.

Obviously, speed is a big factor. Just practicing kicking the 5 ball three rails into the corner pocket. Pick your starting point and adjust your aim, speed, and spin until it goes in consistently. Make sure it will get to the pocket, but not too fast. Shooting the balls off the bottles is fairly simple, but it might feel awkward since you have to air bridge it. Make sure you can reach the 4 ball ok. I guess you could try to make them all on the fly if you wanted, but I prefer to bounce them in. Don't rush it either, it's ok if the 5 ball passes the bottles before you shoot the 4 ball. You can still beat it to the pocket.

Video: Bottle Rotation

Video: Bottle Rotation

Tim's Tidbit

This is a shot Charlie Darling used in ESPN Trick Shot Magic 2003 against Andy Segal.