The laws of Physics can make a pool ball bounce in ways that Geometry cannot explain! AIM WITH SPEED attempts to mesh the geometric aiming points with the physics of colliding objects. It's time we talk about how the speed of a bank shot changes the trajectory of aim and learn to use this reality to our advantage.
While the terms "cross side" and "cross corner" are universal references for one rail bank shots, anything thing beyond them is usually a hodgepodge of names.
Follow along as I walk you through the formula I created to classify various bank shots. If you can identify the orientation, pattern, and pocket, you can give any bank shot a unique and logical name.
The diamond system is far from perfect, but we can make it work. In this video I review:
5 Reasons the diamond system is a bad design
5 Conditions for numbering the rails in the Aim With Speed system
4 Examples of using the Aim With Speed rail numbers
In this video, I provide a method for how to calibrate your speed by banking an object ball 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 opposite rails, along with sample cross corner aiming points to test your skill.
I also review how the 3 speeds are actually producing three different rail actions, as well as how the location of the object ball within the 4 zones of rail distance will affect the desired rail action.
My bank shot map is essentially a set of cheat codes that identify every possible bank shot from any starting location on the table!
For example, I demonstrate the numbers from the map for every possible bank shot from the 3rd / 5th diamond on the side rail. Then, I simulate applying the map in live play by assessing 10 randomly positioned balls for the best full-hit bank shot available.
Just me using the Aim With Speed system to hit consecutive shots for various shot patterns. Someday I'll find time to produce a how to aim each of these patterns: Double Cross Corner, Long Cross Corner, Cross Corner, Long 2 in the Side, and Banking a Moving Object Ball.
The Cross Corner bank shot is critical to any pool player’s game! I break down this shot with the long overdue detailed mathematical analysis that it truly deserves.
In this video, I show how you can memorize the medium speed points of aim all over the table and adjust your aim within a predictable speed window using fast and slow speeds.
In this follow up video to my Cross Corner speed tracks, I review how to calibrate adjustments for English, cutting the object ball, rail distance, and kick shots.
Shooting cross side is NOT the same as shooting cross corner!
Between the different shape of the pocket and the shorter location of the end rail, cross side needs its own numbers.
In this video I demonstrate the easy to memorize +4 incremental pattern for medium speed aiming numbers and the +/- 2 fast and slow speed window. I also demonstrate how to make adjustments for English and kicking based on a half-diamond benchmark.
Shooting cross corner the length of the table comes up regularly in game play, or as I call it, Long Cross Corner.
In this video I demonstrate the easy to memorize +2 incremental pattern for Medium speed aiming numbers along the side rail and the +/- 2 Fast and Slow speed window. I also demonstrate how to make a ball from a common safety position and how you can use English as the primary adjustment when the object ball is far from the rail.
Shooting a ball Cross Side the Long way is no gimmie! Here I review the bank shot track lines to pocket a ball as a bank shot as well as how to kick a duck hanging in the jaws.
I also demonstrate how to adjust the numbers proportionally to estimate how to kick a ball anywhere along the side rail. While this level of calculation is admittedly a big ask, if you are ingesting the entire Aim With Speed system it is a valuable way to observe how you can synthesize track lines from multiple bank shot patterns.
Banking 2 rails in the corner is a fairly common pattern, but it is harder than it looks!
I review how to diagnose your table to find the medium speed aiming points using the +5 +4 +3 pattern, as well as how to assess your table for necessary speed adjustments. I also review some pointers for how to use this as a kicking system, as well as how slow speed and fast speed make a U and V pattern.
Banking 2 rails in the Side is a common pattern with tremendous similarities to its big brother shot, 2 rails in the Corner.
I review the medium speed aiming points using the +5 +4 +3 pattern, as well as the slow and fast speed adjustments. I also review how, as a bank shot, cutting the ball is much more effective than using English to adjust the line of aim when a shot is aligned beyond the speed window tracks.
Shooting Long 2 in the Corner is one of the most underutilized bank shots in all of billiards!
Instead of just taking your best guess, up your chances of making the shot considerably by using my memorable incremental number pattern to align your aim with the nearest medium speed track line.
Banking long 2 rails into the side is a fun two-way bank shot and an invaluable kick shot! In this video I demonstrate how to memorize the medium speed number pattern as well as the fast and slow speed adjustment numbers.
Since this pattern is most useful as a kick shot, I also show how to get out of a few safety scenarios as well as a fun kicking drill you can use to practice and memorize the aiming numbers.
Learn how to shoot the most important multi-rail bank shot in pool and billiards! If you take the time to study the numbers, you’ll see there is an incremental progression between them that can help you recreate the shot map in live play. I also demonstrate how you can use the track lines to aim balls that are randomly placed on the table, how to adjust for a fast speed stroke, and the 2:1 rule for kicking a ball that is not in the jaws of the pocket.
Popular advice is that this 3 rails in the side bank shot is a 3:1 ratio, but I think the vanishing point is further out from the table than that location. Follow along as I teach the AIM WITH SPEED incremental adjustments for how to shoot this pattern.
This spectacular bank shot, famously made in a match by Chris Melling, is actually not that difficult to make. In this video, I demonstrate how I use my AIM WITH SPEED incremental counting system to make 5 of these shots in rapid succession.