one rail kick/bank shots---long rail

LONG RAIL BASICS

LEARNING HOW TO KICK ONE RAIL, LONG SIDE

INTRO:

This book is intended for the beginner to intermediate player who wants a foundation for a long rail, one rail kick shot.

First you must understand some terminology. There are three ways to aim at a diamond on a pool table. You can aim “in front of” the diamond; you can aim “at” the diamond or you can aim “behind” the diamond. Your ability to understand and decipher the difference between these points will determine the success you take from this book!

Grab a piece of tape and stretch it all the through the long points of the diamond from the cushion to the outside of the rail. Mark these points. Those are your; “in front of” and “behind” the diamond aiming points.

What we are looking for here when I say to aim “in front of” the diamond, you are aiming for the Cue-Ball to contact the rail in front of the diamond. Coming from the corner pocket like you are, it will look like your not even aiming at the diamond. Just aim at your pencil mark on the rail and see what happens. The same is true for aiming at it and behind the diamond. What ever angle you are coming from, you will be aiming at or behind the diamond.

Go practice those three points of aim from the corner pocket and see where you hit it to. You should’ve hit the pocket, and too short (meaning you hit the short rail), or you hit the long rail to the pocket.

Now, depending on your equipment you need to make reference of where the natural lines come into play to hit the corner pocket. All your reference points from here on out will depend on this. Try to grab the same table every time to cut down on set up time if you don’t have your own table.

Just a couple more notes to help make this smooth learning experience. This is being presented to you assuming you are starting at the “break side” of the table, Cue-Ball at left corner and the Object-ball at the right corner. Remember, this is a “Core” system. Meaning given the playing conditions of the equipment you have to deal with will alter your contact point MINIMALLY! None-the less you need to know how to find the flaws in your equipment. This lesson will teach you how to find it! You can get into stroke before your match, learn the conditions of the table and not even hit a ball! Speed is key.

Let’s get to practicing!

The first shot is from corner pocket to corner pocket. An easy shot for almost anyone, just hit the middle diamond on the opposite short rail? CORRECT! Now can you tell me why? (That is a math question!)

One rail kick shots are a 2-to-1 ratio. Meaning, for every 2 diamond’s of distance between Cue-Ball and Object-ball half that number is your rail contact point. I.E. in this case you are 4 diamonds apart so the 2^nd diamond on the other end is your contact point. To calculate the distance, the Cue-Ball is always zero when starting your count. Pretty simple right?

This first shot you are aiming in front of the Center Diamond. Your target pocket is not just the pocket! You can hit IN FRONT of the closest diamond (long rail) to your target pocket and still make the ball sitting in front of it! (You are practicing to make the ball in the pocket, not the scratch!) Remember, you are shooting this shot because you either hooked yourself, or your opponent got lucky and missed leaving you stuck with the remnants of their questionable shooting ability! (HA-HA-HA!) So place a ball in the pocket, not buried. About half ball to three-quarter ball between the jaws.

Place the Cue Ball in the same position in opposite corner. Now using only center-top hit LAG the Cue-Ball to the point in front of the opposite Center-Diamond.

You will notice that the contact point for the first three shots is within a small area surrounding the center diamond.

The box in the target pocket is the margin of error for this shot and all shots up to and including the side pocket. This is because the angle in and angle out would be to great enough to miss this shot by a half diamond and still hit the ball sitting in the pocket.

I drew the lines all the through to show the true line of aim. The more you practice with this mind set, the easier it will be when it starts to become automatic.

Our first lesson...

We had our first lesson tonight and after an hour of shooting slow
speed stop shots at different lengths he started to feel what i was
trying to drill into him.

much to my benefit he learns by watching how i execute the stroke, so
i get to perform these drills along with him.

he will come along with it great once this sinks in for about a week
of straight practice. then we can elaborate to a more "cue ball on
the a string" type of stroke.

TEACHING THE STROKE

THE STROKE

Recently I have taken on the task of instructing my brother to play better pool. My brother is the type of player that can make shots but lacks the knowledge or the ball control or speed part of a shot. He’s dangerous for his skill level, but he’s also predictable to read his run, which gives him a weakness.

Every book out there will give you the mechanics of the stroke. Hold it like this, not to tight, not to loose. Push straight keep your elbow at a 45 degree angle etc. these are all great tips and for the most part accurate but, the reality of this physical movement goes way beyond this.

As you practice you are focused on three things; ball speed, making the shot and finally, end position or shape. What you do not realize is you are creating muscle memory. Think about that term muscle memory. You are training your mind to remember how much muscle to use on a particular type of shot to create the end result, near perfect shape. This is one reason why I believe in practicing target pool. Where the shot is an entire entity from approach and set up to making the shot and the final end result, a shot made with the pre-determined end or shape as we all call it.

The more we practice one shot on a repetitive basis in practice mode you will not feel this “click” between the body and mind because you are building this relationship between yourself. Once this relationship has its foundation and you are comfortable with seeing it (the shot) in a game situation you feel a sense of relief knowing you can make this shot with a desired result. This is the feeling you are looking for. Complete comfort in your approach, your set up and your execution. It’s almost like you don’t even have to think to make this shot! This is the relationship and feeling that make the great players great! They have worked hard on a variety of shots that they can put together in a game or match situation.

The mechanical part of your stroke needs to be pure and free from the outside influence of negative thought. Once you visualize how the shot should be executed that should be the only thought when you go down on the shot. Complete release of, “don’t put it behind that ball”, or make sure you hit it with bottom left, but not too much” kind of thoughts. You know how to execute this shot point A to b and to point c the shape.

This total release of negativity and the ability to trust that your mind will send the correct signal to your arm to perform the shot as in practice will produce a natural feeling stroke with no extra effort required.

Learn to silence your inner self to achieve a perfect feeling stroke and the results that come with it.

You cannot be “taught” how to stroke the cue ball. This feeling can only be attained by repetition of the body and mind relationship. Practice, practice, practice!