Banks, kicks and the diamond systems.

The mirror system

Imagine the rail is a mirror. Picture where your target would appear reflected on the other side of the rail, and aim straight at that reflection. The ball comes off the cushion at the same angle it went in. It is the visual version of the 2-to-1 principle below.

Dr. Dave Alciatore stresses that every basic system only gives you a reference point. You still adjust for speed and for how far the target is from the rail.

The 2-to-1 kick system

The 2-to-1 system is a one-rail system for a rolling cue ball, aimed through the diamonds. As Patrick Johnson describes it on Dr. Dave's site, its reference lines connect each half-diamond on the far rail with the whole diamond twice as far along on the near rail.

Multi-rail kick systems

The Corner-5 system handles multi-rail kicks off a long rail. Each diamond has a number; the formula is: cue ball origin number minus first-rail number equals third-rail number. It assumes a rolling cue ball with running english. The corner-pocket diamond is origin 5, and the 5-3-2 track is the benchmark. On pool tables that track lands accurately at third-rail diamond 2 but comes up about one diamond short of the corner.

Mikey Verkruyse teaches a three-rail kick system: subtract the number of your third-rail target from the cue ball's origin number to find where to aim on the first rail. He uses about one tip of top and one tip of running english at medium speed, aiming through the diamonds on the wood.

Adjusting the systems to the table

• Scott Rohleder, quoted on Dr. Dave's site, finds diamond-system aim usually needs about a 10 percent adjustment, such as aiming at 0.9 instead of 1.
• Diamond brand tables, especially 9-foot Red Label and 7-foot models, tend to bank and kick shorter, so aim slightly farther down the rail.
• Bouncier cushions generally shorten kicks and banks.

What speed and spin do to a rebound

• Speed. Faster generally shortens the rebound angle and slower lengthens it, with exceptions.
• Top and bottom. Topspin, including natural roll, curves the rebound longer than the mirror angle; backspin curves it shorter. A sliding ball comes off close to the mirror angle.
• Side spin. Running english lengthens the rebound and reverse english shortens it. In typical conditions, a third, two-thirds and full side spin move a straight-in kick about one, two and three diamonds.
• Cut direction on banks. An outside cut shortens the bank and an inside cut lengthens it, unless you use gearing spin.

The case for hitting banks firmly

A fast bank is less affected by variations in cloth, cushion friction and roll-off, carries less forward roll into the rail, and is less sensitive to small speed errors. The trade-off is that a fast ball needs a more accurate hit, because the pocket plays smaller at speed.

To specialize in banking, see the bank pool rules.