Use this drill to find out how much tip offset gives you 1, 2, and 3 diamonds worth of spin. This will dramatically improve your positional play. When you see that the tangent line of the shot leaves you 1 diamond short of where you want to go, you will know exactly how much side to put to get there. This might seem less “stroke” focused than other drills here, but a consistent stroke is vital to getting a consistent amount of spin. You need to stroke well not only on centre ball hits but when using side as well.
Set up the balls as shown. Shoot the balls directly into the diamonds, using side spin to bank them into the pocket. Repeat on both sides, into both the corner and side pockets.
Variations
Shoot lengthwise up the table and note how much spin gets you to each diamond as well.
Snooker
This drill is a little trickier on a snooker table since they don’t have diamonds. It can still be beneficial, however. Find the amount of spin need from the baulk and bottom of the D to the corners, the black to the corner, the pink to the side, and the blue lenghtways to the corners. Don’t forget to use both sides of the table.
Tips
You can think of the amount of spin you’re using in terms of how many tip widths from the centre.
After calibrating, set up shots and test your predictions. Shoot a stun shot and see where the ball goes following the tangent line off one rail. Try again using your “1 diamond” level of offset, see if it actually gets you 1 diamond.
