Corner positions and escape routesUsing the ball in the corner as a target, rescuing ball 2 from the corner

Cushion orderL→S→LDifficulty FREE🖨 Drill cards

ScalesReference linePath

Reference position

Spinside 0 · high

1/4

Ball fraction1/4

Speed3/5

The cue ball is in the upper right area, the red to its left, the yellow in the bottom right corner. Hit the left half of the red with a 1/4 ball fraction, no side spin and medium speed; the cue ball reaches the yellow in the corner via the left long cushion, the bottom short cushion and the right long cushion. The green triangle shows the size of the target: the cue ball can reach the yellow off the bottom short cushion or off the right long cushion. With the thin hit the red slides to the top left corner. Result: the cue ball next to the yellow, the red in the diagonal corner. The next shot is again played to the ball in the corner.

A ball in the corner is the biggest target in three-cushion: the cue ball can reach it off the long cushion or off the short cushion, and small angle errors are forgiven. That is why the aim in position play is often to send one ball to a corner. On the other hand, if ball 2 is trapped in a corner, every shot on it bounces the ball between the cushions; here you have to choose the escape route and avoid the kiss.

When? When ball 3 is in a corner (one or two balls off each cushion), or when ball 2 is trapped in a corner and the cue ball's path will pass through the same corner.

Tips

1If ball 3 is in the corner, send the cue ball there by the simplest path. The cue ball can reach the ball in the corner while taking the third cushion, or by touching a fourth cushion after the third; because the target is big, you do not need to force the angle.
2When sending ball 2 to the corner, do not freeze it to the cushion; aim for it to stop about one ball off both cushions. The cue ball can reach a ball that is off the cushions from either cushion; a frozen ball is a much smaller target.
3If ball 2 is trapped in the corner, hit it thin: ball 2 takes one cushion and leaves the corner along that cushion. If you hit it full, it bounces between the two cushions, lingers in the corner and comes back into the cue ball's path.
4Send the ball 2 in the corner away in the opposite direction to where the cue ball will go after the corner. In the long-cushion escape example, the cue ball goes down and to the left out of the corner while the red escapes up along the right long cushion; because the paths separate, there is no kiss (the balls colliding unintentionally).
5If the path of ball 2 crosses the cue ball's path in the corner, ball 2 must pass there well before. For this, hit thin (3/8) and at medium speed; if you are too slow, ball 2 lingers in the corner and there is a kiss.
6Bring the cue ball softly to the ball 3 in the corner. A cue ball arriving fast bounces the corner ball between the cushions and pushes it toward the middle of the short cushion; you lose the big target.
7Practise corner positions in both directions: arrive at the same corner once off the long cushion and once off the short cushion. Once you learn the difference in speed and angle between the two entries, in a match you will quickly choose which way to go to the ball in the corner.

Voice coach

PRO

The voice coach is part of the Pro and Club plans.

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Watch outIn the corner the two cushions are very close to each other; here the paths of ball 2 and the cue ball overlap, and the chance of a kiss is high.

Watch outA cue ball that comes into the corner too hard can hit the corner ball and come back off the cushions; here speed control matters as much as the point itself.