This legend pool player became utterly popular for being the first ever showman in the world of billiards. He is the only billiard player capable of performing numerous trick shots that never fail to awe-struck everyone in the audience.

He had his first world title in 1919 and by 1937, he was able to win 14 more world titles. He continued to entertain audiences during his every match until his last days when he suffered from a heart attack in 1950.

Photo via poolroom.com

This article is the final part of the trick shot subcategory discussion. The player’s technique and control are the keys in the Stroke trick shot. The set-up for this kind of shot is indeed challenging and one must be very careful with his moves because the cue ball is really in close contact with the target ball. In ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic, a Stroke trick shot known as the Hundred Dollar Bill shot was used to break a tie.

To impress you more, the Jump trick shot shows some interesting moves like jumping on obstacles then getting the target ball. The One Handed Jump surprised lots of audience once executed. Last but the not the least is the Masse trick shot that is considered to be the most complex of all. It would require difficult spins that follows unusual paths. The Rocket Masse makes some unbelievable moves for this one.

Let me continue the discussion about the trick shot subcategories. If you already read the previous article about the Draw shot, the reverse is true for the Follow trick shot. Topspins are produced after a hit above the cue ball’s centre so that it would continue moving on its original path after contact with a target ball. The Hug the Rail shot is a good example of follow trick shot.

For the bank and kick trick shots, rails play an important role. The difference between the two shots lies on the ball that is needed to make contact with these rails. For the bank shot, the target ball should hit a rail before dunking while on kick shot it is the cue ball that would perform this task before getting the target. The movie entitled The Hustler illustrated this kind of trick shot.

But this section is for the basics. Let’s have two to three balls for examples. If the cue ball comes in contact with an isolated target ball, the target would go in the direction that connects the two balls’ centers. You could make an imaginary line for this purpose.

In another scenario, if the cue ball targets ball A and ball A has contact with ball B, where would the target balls go? The ball B would be in the direction that connects ball A and ball B centers while ball A would be on the tangent line’s direction drawn between the two target balls or simply perpendicular to ball B path.