Pool Lesson: 1 Rail Banks & Kicks 

AS A 71 YR OLD GRANDMOTHER TRYING TO LEARN NEW TRICKS TO BEAT HER 13 YR OLD GRANDSON I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT ALL KICK SHOT VIDEOS FOR WEEKS. i FOUND LIL CHRIS AND WAS SO ABLE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION AND i AM NOW A FORCE TO RECKON WITH! THANK YOU LIL CHRIS "OLD DOGS CAN LEARN NEW TRICKS

Finally, a human who clearly explains and speaks proper English... And no music.

After watching about five of your videos I can say without a doubt that you have at least one awesome gift. That gift is the ability to teach. There are very few in this world that have this teaching gift, at least not on your level.

Ive been playing pool for 50 years and nobody had ever explained this to me correctly. Thank you so much and watch out league players this year.

I have been playing pool since I was 8 years old. I'm 48 now, and hold my own with the local big dawgs. However I have never used the diamonds on the rails. This may just take my game to the next level. Thank you very much!

I've just learned that half of two is one. Joking, great explanation!

Finally, I understand counting diamonds to make a bank shot! Thank you!!

I kept reading over and over about numbering the diamonds, and couldn't make any sense of it. You're explanation was amazing. I'm digging all of your pool instructional videos. Glad I found this channel, and I'll be sharing with my APA teammates.

man this person is soo under rated he deserves more recomentations and subs

Lil' Chris I learned how to play by lots of Practice, and the fact I was a Surveyor I learned by Dissecting the angles not spots, Spots makes it easy for a beginner to understand. You explained the Angles by using the spots. Very easy for a beginner to understand. My Compliments !! !

Hi, I am a beginner pool player. I am starting to learn how to bank balls, as it is a situation that can dramatically improve your odds of winning. I have listened to various pros teach this technique on RU-vid; however, you are the best teacher, for me, by far. Thank you for your time and dedication to education.

THANK YOU for explaining this so skillfully. I’m a teacher and can say without any hesitation that is one of you gifts. Please continue to share your knowledge. I’m a novice and am so delighted to have found your work !

"With enough practice, sometimes a guess is not a guess." .. True dat.

Best explanation of parallel shift method I've ever found.

The Good LORD has blessed you with Great talent and teaching skills !

What bro robo said. Clearly explained. Well spoken you almost brought me to tears bro. I like the fact he did not over explain. Simple and to the point

I've just jumped back into the 9 ball world. I went from a 3 to a 5 in 2 weeks. Pretty stoked that it's all coming together. Dr Dave and yourself have been an integral contributor to my studies. Thanks, man. Keep up the great work.

YES!!!!! Finally, a pool shot instructor that a novice player can truly learn and improve from. Ty Lil' Chis, 1st time viewer here. Of the countless pool (bank / kick shot) instruction vids that I've watched. This vid was by far the most basic, easy to follow and highly effective pool lesson for me EVER.

I found this the most easily understood of all the banking videos I've watched. I will play it many times until it actually sinks in. Thank you

When I was a kid I would read books about banking but it was hard for a 10yr old to grap those concepts but this is very nice. Made it simple and explained not only how but why and I respect the why more than the how in anything I learn!!!

I thought you did an exceptional job of explaining....diamond system across and lengthwise. Presented well .

You explained this system in simple terms. Thank you for helping me to understand. I've been trying to learn it forever, but a lot of people either don't truly understand how it works, or they make it more difficult than it has to be.

I have looked up and watched many videos on how to determine the bank and kick shots. You have been the most helpful on how to measure and determine the bank and kick shot. I’m going to watch this again and try this tomorrow and practice it. Thanks for explaining the bank and kick so it was easily understood.

Wow, this really opened my eyes. I've always had general success from just the "feel" of where I should go, but not consistent. This info is a game changer. This makes it repeatable with consistent results. Thank you Lil' Chris!!!

This was the first video of yours i watched. And im sorta hooked now. Banks were my nemesis. I have only been playing serious since the fall. Heart and other issues brought me to the game. And you have helped take me to a low 3 player to a borderline 5 with improvement every week. Well you and Corona as now i have a table in the Barn. Please keep teaching!!

One of the best, easy to understand, no bs explanations of banking I have seen.

Hi Chris, thanks so much for sharing. Will be great info for helping players. If I could I'd like to point out that the adjustment is not a parallel shift, but half the distance of the parallel shift. It's easily demonstrated by picking the "spot on the wall" technique for kicking or banking. Once you have the spot (that is the 'true' line back to the pocket, if you move your object ball to another position, that spot should still take you to the pocket). If you do a parallel shift, you are no longer pointing to the "spot on the wall". If you do half the distance of the parallel shift you are. Your eyes may be making the adjustment for you but on your demonstrations if you measure, your stick is actually inadvertently moving to the half the distance point and not parallel (easily demonstrated by laying two sticks parallel to one another). This method is the case for 1 and 3 rail kicks (the parallel shift does work for 2 rail kicks - I'm not sure why yet... it shouldn't for the same reason). This method can also be used to pocket an object ball that isn't in the pocket. It just means you may have to make two adjustments (one for your cue ball position and one for your object ball position - but the method is the same and it's no longer a guess). For your shot demonstration, start with the cue ball, pick the closest diamond, if the cue ball isn't on the line to the pocket, shift 1/2 half the distance of the parallel to a point on the rail. That should take you to the pocket. But you want to get to the 8 ball and the 8 ball isn't on that line. So take the point that you just determined on the rail for the cue ball and make a line to the pocket you are trying to kick into. Look at the the position of the 8 ball from that line. It is also a shift of 1/2 the distance from that return line to the pocket and wherever the 8 ball is (not a parallel shift or guess). In your example of the kick on the 8, figure your cue ball point just as you did (but it is 1/2 the distance your stick moved, it didn't move parallel). From that point now make a line to the corner pocket. 1/2 the distance from that line to the 8 ball is actually the exact distance you would need to shift down table - it's not a guess. So if that distance is 1 inch for example, simply shift down table 1 inch. You'll find this method works on extremely difficult length of table kicks as well and kicks at balls that may be sitting near the middle of the table on table length kicks and banks. It's not uncommon for players to believe it is a parallel shift (instead of 1/2 the distance of the parallel), and I've had to correct some professional and road players as well. It made perfect sense when I put it into the perspective of the 'spot on the wall' technique for them. I think this will help anyone begin to make those shots much more accurately. Again, thanks for sharing. I just try and give accurate info when I think it can help. You did a great job explaining. I just wanted to correct that one step.. This will also help as you make your side spin video. I'm gald to see so many accomplished players sharing info. Great for the game, when accurate. explain it correctly.

Finally someone who explains this fully and clearly enough to understand! Thank you!

Good explanation. Watched a young man’s video on how to make “99.9% of banks shots” and yours is 100% better.

The best explanation and simple enough to understand. Thanks for sharing.

I was able to apply this system tonight playing by myself and with others at the pool hall. You broke it down so well and simplified. I now have this in my arsenal. Thank you!!! 🎱

Been playing for 30 years and never learned this. I thought it was too hard. Thanks.

Watching your videos has drastically improved my game. Keep them coming.

You explain it so easy,instead of making it more complicated than it needs to be.thanks

Great system for showing proper angles for bank shots.

Excellent video. Clear, concise, understandable explanation. And excellent sound and video quality as well. After trying a few times I was start making a lot more kicks. And bank shots have always been pretty good but now are much more consistent. Many thanks for this. Now, if you could simplify long cut shots with english and when to use which english I'd be in heaven!

Excellent video. After one days play, I’m banking like a pro astounding friends and myself. I’m nearly clearing the tables with ease. Now on to ball control like side spin English.

Very simply explained Chris, until I saw this I never even knew what those diamonds were for so I always guessed on bank shots. Some I would make but more often I would miss and just come close which don't help at all. You just helped my pool game a lot and I hope to put it to a table tonight at my local 8 ball tournament. Thank you Sir!!

Tried this in every pocket during power play, this man got the perfect system.

Thanks!everytime I asked people how they manage to shoot like that they couldn’t explain,talking about physics and stuff.i just tried your way and succeeded,twice!

Great explanation. Very helpful. One point. When you are shifted, your shot had English imparted on it and hit the rail first. The actual shift isn't parallel. It's 1/2 the distance of the parallel between the cue ball and diamond line. An easy test is to mark the mirror image of the object ball off the table. Aiming at the mirror image, you'll see your shift is actually 1/2 the distance of the parallel and not the parallel. If you shift to the parallel and aim there, you are no longer aiming at the mirror image. If you aim at 1/2 of that distance, you are also still aiming at the mirror image (the true line back to the object ball). One final point. If your object ball is off the line to the pocket, you can also determine the exact adjustment by doing the same thing to the object ball. Take the midway point to the pocket then 1/2 the distance between that line and the pocket to find the distance you need to shift your aim point on the rail further. This gives you your exact aim spot back to the object ball. Still a very well explained lesson. If you look at where you are pointing on the rail and if you are actually hitting that point, you will notice that you aren't. In each case you actually hit 1 inch, 1/2 inch further than you pointed. Those distances were 1/2 of the parallel shift for the shots.

I love the way you explain these rail shots. Thank you very much for making such amazing learning content. ❤❤❤

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection, as long as you hit the ball straight with no side spin. This is a very good easily understandable video, thanks Lil' Chris.

I only got minor experience playing and won very little. Watching this helps VERY MUCH. Thank you

I watched 5 videos before this on banking...yours by far was the best!!

This is the best bank/kick video I’ve ever seen. And you explain it perfectly, there are so many out there that just turn into a mess to understand. Just knowing now that it is just 1 of 4 options with a shift. Watching this video just made the 💡 go off in my head!

I appreciate the conciseness of your explanation. Now I've got to try & put it into practice!

For me...you gave one of the best, if not the best breakdown on how to bank and kick. I'll use this system I promise you lol. I enjoyed it, and learned from it.

Finally a video that my slow brain can actually process. Thank you great job explaining the system you use. I am going try this today.

This is the method that I've used for side banks for the last 10 years. After using a few times it was easy to quickly identify which diamond is 'inside' for your bank. I'll have to give it a try for long rail banks, as I've used 'spot on the wall' for those. Spot on the wall works really well for those banks, but in busy bars it's not always easy to find that spot with people walking back and forth.

That was excellent. The clearest explanation I’ve ever heard.

Ben playing pool for years and am pretty good but I've never had the diamonds explained as far as using them to make a bank shot. Good information. Thanks!

Just found this video series and am very impressed. I've been shooting pool for a long time but you have explained in very "Easy to Understand" principles of the game and I'm very happy to have found this. Liked and Subscribe..... definitely!!!

My friend you dont believe how interested I got when watching your video . It was so helpful thanks so much for your gentleness explanation. All the love 🌹👏🏻

I never noticed what the diamonds are for. Thanks for the lesson.

Amazing how math chris uses math to make bankshots. I never realized how crucial geometry is in any game of pool. Thanks for the awesome tutorial bro. You should really get people to pay you for tutorials this good.

Cheers man... I've been struggling with rail bank shots a lot... This really helps

Absolutely EXCELLENT lesson. I can't wait to try it because I know it works. I will be viewing it a few more times before I practice it. Thanks and Blessings to you!

Great Explanation. Seen this system before, but you do a great job of explaining it.

I've played so much over the last 20 years I can kinda see the angle naturally. That being said, I usually go with my gut when I'm guessing the angle of a bank shot. It seems whenever I second guess myself I tend to be more off on the angle. It's very important to know the angle before you go down on the cue ball. However, I will definitely incorporate these tips into my game to further advance my pool game. Thanks!

What a great explanation, this will take my game to the next level, gonna shock my friends with this 😅

Just used this system tonight, made a great kick that caught everyone by surprise! Great lesson, thanks!

Awesome, my bank shots are some of my weakest I feel. Appreciate this

Very clear and concise with very objective rules for his systems. You sir are a very good teacher.

EXCELLENT PRESENTATION. METHODICAL!

Thank you so much. This is the best explanation on RU-vid on how to do a bank shot.

Saw the video yesterday. Tried it yesterday. This shit works.

Really helped me for the first day of my new pool table in my game room. I’ve played snooker but I didn’t play pool as a young man.

what an amazingly explained video. This method truly works

Hello Lil' Chris! Thank you for posting the video! It was very informative, but as a recreational pool player, but with a vast knowledge of the game, I would like to point out something that you and many other instructors have failed to mention when kicking the ball using one rail, and that is where to hit on the cue ball because it makes all the difference. People need to know that the ball need to be hit center ball or slightly high on the center ball; otherwise, it will either be short or long is slightly hit with inside or outside English. Believe me, a lot of of people don't realize that they hit the ball with English because their aims are slightly off than they think, and this would make all the difference in being successful with the kick or the bank. . Players can easily find out if they are hitting the center all by lining up their cue ball across two diamonds and shoot at the other diamond. If they hit center ball, the cue ball should return to them in the straight line. It will veer off to the right or left if they had slightly used english on the cue ball. This is based on the assumption that the table plays perfect, meaning there isn't dips in the table or bad cushions.

Wow, this is just simplest explanation I've seen.. Thanks.

Saving my life here man haha. I knew there had to be an easy way and I've heard the diamond halving explained before but not this simply. As a new player, this is incredibly helpful. Can't wait to get to the table tonight and practice these!

On all the tables i see there are pop rivets where the diamonds are. I didnt know they wernt structural but there like dots on guitar neck telling you measurements. Awesome

Very clear instruction, good job. I want to add a possibly advanced tip on this. If you notice on your shots, when you move the line directly over the object ball and make the shot, the object ball is going in the near side of the pocket, not the center. The way I learned this system has one more adjustment step that fixes this. You're working with two parallel lines, one from diamond to diamond, and the new line that goes over the object ball. The last step is to find the center point on the rail between those two lines. THAT is the best target for the object ball. If you make the object ball hit there, you'll hit the center of the pocket more often.

Thank you so much. It's so embarassing to say that for 10 years of playing billard with my friends I didn't know what the diamonds are for and how to use them, now I will finally caluclate the right angles every time.

Lil' Chris!!! Your videos are very informative and I am always eager to practice your techniques after watching your videos! Starting with your bank shots! I want more!!! You rule! Thanx!

Wanted to say I played my pool league tonight and I watched this video Monday evening. Absolutely incredible how well this works. I’m a 5 in APA and it worked well for me and had my very first 8 break and run with this tip. Thank you!!

Very helpful lesson. I LOVE a bank shot. Could you do a video on cutting a ball against the rail? If I'm saying that right. Lol. Thank you for what you're doing.

Thank you Chris for posting this video and the great explaination. I have been not bad at bank shots just by guesstimating but this is the proper way to figure it out. This will help me improve my game. Cheers

I realize my message did not make any since the first time Deleted Wanted to let you know this video is VERY useful will put this into play. I have repeated this video several times so I can understand it better I normally visualize the shot, but the geometry is starting to make more since. Really never thought of the diamonds and pockets.👍💪🎱

So, serious comment. I personally look at angle in and angle out from the object ball and that determines the point where i want to hit the rail. It works for me. It just seems so complicated the way you're explaining it. I do like your content and thank you for teaching me a lot.

Omw to pool hall. Very informative. I can go practice off this

Awesome. Love the bank shots. both methods. I learned both ways. Not an expert on either but still learning. You are by far my go to guy to learn stuff.

Good explanation, thanks for your time and video

Really enjoy this video! Can't tell you how many times I've watched it!

Great job in explaining it... I subscribed to your channel

This is the best example and demonstration on how to use diamond. Thanks

6:40 I got scared bcs I tought my eyes were blurry

Your explanations are so helpful. In the past 2 weeks my game has got better

Well u made so clear it appears easy but now I’m gonna have to try it 😬

As someone who's been playing at a pool hall weekly for just over a year now and athough your videos are mainly covering basics at the moment, im picking up some new tricks and helping me consolidate things I've picked up along the way. Ive won some amateur tournaments but ways struggled at a slightly higher level and money matches. Your videos are helping me reach that next level, thank you.

I had no idea that's how you used the diamonds. I just kind of figured it out intuitively with a lot of trial and error.

This is by far the best and easiest tutorial ever

6 minutes in, in your first illustration, you moved the cue over parallel to the original position. Doing that would NOT result in the ball going in the side pocket. If you move it parallel without changing the angle at all, the point of impact on the rail gets shifted over, and the point of impact (near) the pocket shifts over the same amount. Since you're shifting the cue away from the pocket the angle becomes a little less acute. Slowing down your video you'll note that you only sink the ball because you're not actually impacting the cushion at the place your shifted cue pointed at.

This is the best video on banks and kicks in youtube. Guys trus me,you can trust me on this.

New to pool an watching a few of your videos has me killing my friends now . there so mad at me lol

Wow!! This is so helpful. I appreciate your speed of sharing the information. I've seen so many videos on this and none of them are like this. Thank you!

informative and well-spoken but try turning autofocus off

Doubt you check the comments Chris, but wanted to say thank you. I am a S/L 3/4. I have played for years and years. I could never figure out how to bank and kick properly. Its to the point, I will joke and call a "blamo" shot and just crack it. I've watched the diamond system, the number system, the mirror system, the fixed point in the room system, and none of them translate to me. This took. So from me and my team, I say thank you. From the rest of our league, you may have made enemies lol.

A parallel shift isn't really accurate because a one increment shift on the far rail equals a two increment shift on the near rail. Your shots are actually doing that, as you clearly are not hitting the point on the rail that your parallel shift pointed to. Here is the correct method: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jJC1shXDUNw.html