Return to my
Billiard/Pool Pages
Go to my home page
© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
Here we are
trying to bank the red ball, cross corner (Maybe we are playing one-pocket, or
maybe this pocket is blocked). But the cue ball gets in the way, and we have
the dreaded kiss out. There are other kinds of kisses, but this is the most
common. How can we tell if this kiss out is a danger? Can we avoid it?
First of all, in the situation in the diagram, it doesn't matter if we use draw or follow; we are still going to get the kiss. We may be able to throw it; shoot with right English and cut the red thinner than we normally would, and maybe the white will be out of there before the red even gets to the rail. Maybe.
On the right is
a diagram of the kiss zone. Other people may disagree on its limits. The kiss
zone is the light green wedge-shaped area. Its outside limits (the black lines)
go from the center of the pocket, through the red ball on one side. The other
side is a line where you could just barely shoot the white ball, past the red
ball, into the pocket. If the cue ball is in the kiss zone, it is very hard
(often impossible) to avoid the kiss. When the cue ball is at the edge of the
kiss zone (near the black lines), you can often draw the cue ball out of the
kiss.
This wedge-shaped kiss zone works when the red ball is in other positions near the same pocket. Just draw two lines from the pocket, through the object ball, and beside it so the cue ball could be shot directly into the pocket.
In three-cushion billiards, we have the same kiss. But, since we are not trying to bank the red ball into a pocket, we have more choices of how to avoid the kiss. We can hit the red ball thicker or thinner (banking the red ball to somewhere else) to avoid the kiss.
Addendum:
Sometimes, it is possible to avoid the kiss
with follow and fairly strong running English. The diagram shows that
situation. We are trying to get the cue ball to the side rail (top rail in this
diagram). You will have to use your judgment to determine if you can get to the
side rail or not.
It is fairly easy to prove that the kiss zone will be wedge shaped, as the angles are what are important here. Distances are relatively unimportant. It is also easy to show that the wedge goes near a line between the pocket and the object ball. It is more difficult to find the exact edges of the wedge. A person should probably experiment to become comfortable with all this.