3.1 Banks — the mirror system

When direct pots aren't available

Real games constantly produce: the ball you want is blocked from every pocket directly.

Solution: a bank shot — drive the OB into a cushion and let it rebound into a pocket.

First a vocabulary fix many beginners get wrong:

• Bank shot = the object ball hits a cushion and bounces into a pocket.
• Kick shot = the cue ball hits a cushion first, then contacts the OB. Used in safeties and to escape snookers.

This lesson covers banks. Kicks come up in Chapter 5 (9-ball safeties).

⏱ ~14 min · 4 drills · core skill: "fold" the table mentally

Foundation · Incident = rebound (with caveats)

With no sidespin and moderate speed, a ball hitting a cushion follows the same law as light hitting a mirror:

Angle of incidence = angle of rebound (relative to the cushion's normal)

Caveats (all of which deviate this rule):

• Sidespin — running English widens the rebound; check English narrows it
• Forward roll on the cue ball — rebound steeper than incident
• High speed — cushion compression effects, behavior depends on spin state

For learners: stick to moderate speed + no sidespin + center hit. The clean geometry holds.

• Cushion bounce: incident = rebound (idealization)
• Conditions: no sidespin + moderate speed
• All bank-aiming systems start from this assumption

The mirror system

Treat the cushion as a mirror. Mirror the pocket through the cushion — the resulting "virtual pocket" lives outside the table.

Then: aim as if you were potting into the virtual pocket using normal aiming methods (Ghost Ball, Contact Point). The ball banks off the cushion and naturally arrives at the real pocket.

This isn't a trick — it's a geometric consequence of the equal-angle law.

How to apply:

1. Pick the cushion to bank off (usually the one closest to the OB)
2. Mentally fold the pocket through that cushion to its mirror position
3. Aim the OB at the mirror pocket using your normal aim method

• Mirror = fold the pocket through the cushion
• Aim at the mirror pocket = real ball banks into the real pocket
• Banks become "regular" pots once the geometry is internalized

Common bank-shot mistakes

• ❌ Hitting too hard: high-speed rebound deviates from incident=rebound (direction depends on spin state). Banks live at moderate speed.
• ❌ Adding sidespin: running/check English warps the rebound. Center hit only for beginner banks.
• ❌ OB too close to the cushion: not enough space for clean reflection geometry.
• ❌ Aiming at the real pocket: misses badly. Always aim at the mirror.
• On snooker tables: banks are rarely practical because the pockets are too tight. Banking is mostly a pool skill.

Four drills, progressively harder: short bank, cross-table, long bank, freestyle.