Pool Trick Shots You Can Learn

15 trick shots and skill shots with diagrams and step-by-step setup, from easy table tricks to the jump and the massé. Every one teaches something you can use in a real game.

★ Easy ★★ Medium ★★★ Hard 🎯 Aim trainer game

★☆☆ Easy

#1 · ★☆☆The Dead Combination: Two Balls, One PocketTwo frozen balls lined up with a pocket go in almost no matter how you hit the first one. The easiest trick shot in pool, and a real game-winner.

#2 · ★☆☆The Train: Three Balls in a RowLine up three frozen balls toward a corner and pocket the front one with a single hit. A crowd-pleaser that only takes a minute to set up.

#11 · ★☆☆The Escape Kick: One Rail Into a HangerYou're snookered, but your ball is hanging in the pocket. Kick off one rail using the mirror method and knock it in.

#13 · ★☆☆The Perfect Lag: Stop It on the Head RailShoot the ball to the far rail and back so it stops as close to the head rail as possible. It decides who breaks, and it is the best speed drill there is.

#14 · ★☆☆The Speed Run: Five Hangers Against the ClockPut a ball in the jaws of five pockets and run them all as fast as you can. Time it with your phone and try to beat your record.

★★☆ Medium

#3 · ★★☆The Throw Shot: Make a Combination That Isn't Lined UpTwo frozen balls point a little off the pocket. Hit the back ball on the correct side and the front ball is "thrown" into the pocket anyway.

#4 · ★★☆The Frozen Rail Shot: Cut a Ball Down the RailA ball frozen to the rail looks impossible to cut in. The secret is to hit the rail and the ball at the same time.

#5 · ★★☆Two Balls, Two Pockets: The 90-Degree CaromCut one ball into a corner and send the cue ball off at 90 degrees to knock a second ball into the other corner. Pure geometry, and very useful to know.

#10 · ★★☆The Cross-Corner Bank: Use the DiamondsBank a ball off the long rail into the opposite corner. Use the diamonds to find the line and you will make it more often than you think.

#12 · ★★☆The Kiss Shot: Carom One Object Ball Off AnotherThe pocket is blocked, but there's a ball nearby. Send your ball into it at the right angle and it kisses off into the pocket.

#15 · ★★☆The 9-Ball Billiard: Carom Off the 1 for the WinThe 9 is hanging and the 1 is close by. Hit the 1 first (that makes it legal), let the cue ball glance off it, and carom straight into the 9 for the win.

★★★ Hard

#6 · ★★★The Power Draw: Two Rails BackPocket the ball and pull the cue ball back off two rails. A test of a straight stroke that impresses everyone watching.

#7 · ★★★The Wing Shot: Pocket a Moving BallRoll a ball across the table and shoot it into a pocket while it is still moving. The classic exhibition shot.

#8 · ★★★The Jump Shot: Hop Over a BlockerA ball blocks your path. Elevate the cue and hit down so the cue ball hops over it and still makes the shot.

#9 · ★★★The Massé: Curve the Cue Ball Around a BallElevate the cue and hit the side of the cue ball to make it curve around a blocking ball and into the target.

Before you try them

Ask the room. Jump and massé shots can damage cloth. Many rooms don't allow them, and some don't allow jump cues.
Set up carefully. Most trick shots fail because the balls are not quite where they should be. Use the diagram and take your time.
Learn the "why." Each page explains the physics, so the skill carries over to real games.

Want to build the basics first? Try the 7 practice drills, test your eye with the aim trainer, or see how well you know the rules with the rules quiz.

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