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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
In Pool, this kind
of shot comes up very often, especially on small tables, which are more
crowded. And yet, most players don't even look at it. Here, we want the
one-ball to kiss the two (which moves out of the way), then kiss the three, and
go into the corner pocket. To make the shot, you must figure out two things:
Once you have figured those things out, you will know if the one-ball is likely to go. Then you just concentrate on making the one-ball hit the two-ball first.
You often see this shot with all three balls almost touching. In this case, you can hardly miss, if they are lined up right. You just have to make sure you make the object ball hit the correct ball first. And, you will see these shots hidden in the rack. Sometimes there are even extra balls in the way, which will move out of the way.
In the diagram, the one-ball caroms off the other two balls. Balls kiss when they touch each other. This shot is a kiss shot because a shot is normally called a carom shot when the cue ball is the one caroming off other balls. But, it can also be called a carom shot.
This type of
kiss is surprisingly difficult. We are trying to make the one hit the three and
carom into the corner pocket, knocking the three out of the way of the
two-ball. You can hit the three too thick (double kissing), and not even make
the one-ball. Or you can hit the three too thin, making the one but nudging the
three closer to the two. Or you can miss the three completely, this happens a
lot. I think that we goof up this shot for two reasons, (1) the target is
fairly small, (2) psychological. The psychological problem is that we
instinctively know where the pockets are, and can shoot balls into them from
anywhere on the table. But, we are not used to NOT hitting the pocket, hitting
an inch off, or a diamond off, or whatever. It might be a skill worth
practicing.