Seeing the kissDraw both paths, find the crossings, compare the timing
Spinside −2 · high
Ball fraction1/2
Speed3/5
The cue ball hits the right side of ball 2 at half-ball (left running spin 2, speed 3) and goes to ball 3 via the right long, top short and left long cushions; ball 2 goes up to the top short cushion and comes back down. The paths cross twice. At the yellow crossing, ball 2 passes on its way up; the cue ball gets there much later, so there is no danger. At the red crossing, ball 2 is coming back off the top cushion while the cue ball is heading to the top cushion, and they reach the same point: the kiss zone.
The first step in preventing a kiss is to see it before the shot. The method is simple: draw the path of the cue ball and the path of ball 2 cushion by cushion, mark every point where they cross, and estimate when each ball arrives at that point. Most crossings are harmless; the balls pass the same point at different times. The dangerous one is the crossing where both balls are there at about the same time. In this lesson the yellow areas show harmless crossings, the red area the kiss zone, and the green area the old kiss zone that is cleared by the safe way of playing.
When? When the path of ball 2 crosses the path of the cue ball more than once; when ball 2 stays in the middle of the table and the cue ball travels around it; when the shot can be played not with a single ball fraction but with a range of ball fractions.
- 1Draw the path of ball 2 not only up to the first cushion but extend it by at least two more cushions. Most kisses (kiss: the cue ball colliding with ball 2 again) happen after ball 2 comes back off the first or second cushion.
- 2At each crossing, ask: 'which ball gets there first?' If one ball clearly passes before the other arrives (for example, ball 2 by a short path and the cue ball two cushions later), the crossing is safe; the danger is only when they arrive at the same time.
- 3Do not consider the job done when you change the ball fraction and clear one kiss zone. With the new ball fraction the paths of both balls change too; a crossing that was safe (yellow) before may now be dangerous. After the change, check all crossings again from the start.
- 4Count how many cushions each ball takes to reach the crossing: every cushion contact slows the ball down. A ball that reaches the crossing off two cushions usually arrives later than one that comes with no cushion, even if its path is a little shorter.
- 5Practice: play the same position first with half ball, then with 3/4 ball. Put a chalk mark next to the crossing; at the moment one ball passes it, judge by eye how many diamonds the other is from the crossing.
- 6Look at the crossing angle: if the two paths are almost parallel (both balls travelling along the same long cushion), the balls can come side by side along a long strip. If the paths cross at a right angle, the danger area is small, about one ball diameter.
Voice coach
PROThe voice coach is part of the Pro and Club plans.
Watch outThe paths in the diagrams are ideal: the cushion rebounds of ball 2 are drawn without spin (angle of incidence = angle of reflection), those of the cue ball as an angle opened or closed by spin. On a real table the cloth, the cushions, the speed and the curve of the shot shift the path slightly; think of the red area as one ball diameter wider.
Watch outIn the risky examples the paths drawn are the planned paths. If a kiss happens, the cue ball is deflected in the red area and does not reach ball 3; ball 2 does not stop where drawn either.
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