The Kiss Shot: Carom One Object Ball Off Another

Trick shot #12 of 15Difficulty: ★★☆Teaches: The 90-degree rule for object balls

The 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.

White dashes: cue ball path. Yellow dashes: object ball path.

Setup

1. Place a "kiss" ball about a diamond and a half out from a corner pocket.
2. Place your object ball and the cue ball so the object ball will strike the kiss ball at roughly a half-ball angle.

How to shoot it

1. Find the line from the pocket that just touches the kiss ball. Your object ball needs to be on that line when it contacts the kiss ball.
2. Hit the object ball firmly and straight, with a center hit on the cue ball. The object ball slides into the kiss ball and caroms along the tangent line into the pocket.

Why it works

Just like the cue ball, an object ball that is sliding when it hits another ball leaves at 90 degrees to the line between their centers. Object balls slide for a while after being hit, so the 90-degree rule works well over short distances.

Common mistakes

• Too far between the object ball and the kiss ball. The object ball starts rolling and curves forward of the 90-degree line.
• Not checking the line of centers. Sight it like the dead combination.

In a real game

Kiss shots get you out of trouble when the pocket is blocked, and they explain a lot of "how did that go in?" moments.