Ride the Bridge

Here's where I usually start the bridge. The 5 ball is on the first diamond line and the bridge head is about two balls width from the long rail. This gives you enough room to squeeze the corner pocket ball by. The 5 ball is frozen to the bridge head and the bridge points towards the opposite corner pocket. (Figure 1)

The rest of the setup is shown here. The two object balls are aligned straight out from the first diamond. The tip of the rack is about a 1/2 diamond farther from the balls in both directions. The edge of the rack is pointed to the center of the opposite corner pocket to accommodate for a little bit of sliding when the 3 ball hits it. The cue ball is one ball width off the short rail on the long centerline of the table. (Figure 2)

I aim for about a half ball hit on the 1 ball with a 1/2 tip of draw and a 1/2 tip of left. More draw will help you come shorter while more left will take you a little longer. You can also play around with the angle of the bridge to see what works best on your table.

Video: Ride the Bridge

Figure 1

Figure 2