My 3-Rail Bank Shot

Last night, XY surprised me by taking me to the pool hall on her dime; which was definitely a nice surprise.  Overall, the night was less than stellar, but at one point, myself and Josh, another local, were playing and when got down to the 9-ball he tried a 3-rail bank that just missed.  So, we kept trying to either kick or bank the 9 at least 3 rails.  After one of his attempts, he left me nearly straight in the corner along the bottom short rail.  I thought about it for a bit then shot this:



I was ecstatic!  I wonder if I could do it again if I had to? haha... not on the first try i'm sure. On the other hand, i don't have to make it again - i just did.  I'll be keeping that shot in mind if/when I ever play a Banks game.

Weekend Pool (Banks + Practice)

Friday, XY and I went to the pool hall again. It was an otherwise uninteresting evening par for the course I'd say.  With one exception.  I played my first game of "Banks" ever.  Bonus: I won my first game of Banks ever.

Bank Pool: Racked like 9-ball, broken. If you make a ball on the break, keep shooting, but spot it when your turn is over.  The object of the game is successfully call and make *cleanly* 5 bank shots.  No kicks, no combos.  Pure and simple bank shots.  If you scratch, you lose a point and a ball is spotted. If you make a ball without banking it, it's spotted and your turn is over.  If you bank a ball by caroming off another ball it's spotted and your turn is over.  Scratch is ball in hand behind on the headstring, no other fouls.  Must call the ball, the pocket and the number of rails.

I really enjoyed this game. A lot.  Lucky for me, I have long made it a practice method to play what i call "bck" - Bank, Kick, Combo.  I made a few really nice cross-side shots and a few standard shots.  I will definitely be playing this more in the future.

Sunday, MX has business up in north county, so I had her drop me at C&C while she worked.  The biggest lesson I learned was that I should NOT run advanced drills to warm up.  I failed - every attempt -  and I was infuriated with my playing, which only set the stage for 2 more hours of extreme frustration.  I could have played through it and gotten into stroke, but her work was finished and I had to go.  I must find a way to keep anger out of my game. I'm okay with missing, I'm not okay with missing the same shot 12 times in a row.

I really need to find a playing partner - I never get as angry when playing with someone else.