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How to Bank a Frozen Ball in a Pool

In pool, a ball is "frozen" when it has come to rest touching another ball or a rail of the table. These balls --- whether they're target balls or cue balls --- can be hard to hit and afford you few options. Often, because of the limited range of motion, a bank shot (bouncing off one of the rails) is the best thing to take in a frozen situation. You'll have to line up the shot as you would any other shot, making allowances for the limitations of the frozen ball.

Instructions

- 1
  Draw an imaginary line from the pocket through the center of the target ball. The point at which it comes out the back of the ball is the ideal point of impact. If the target is frozen, you will have to clip it --- strike it on the side in such a way that pushes it in the opposite direction.
- 2
  Estimate the angle created by extending the line from the ball to the rail, then bouncing off the rail to the cue ball. If no such angle can be made, try looking for ways you can do it with multiple banks of the cue ball or by banking the target ball off a rail to get it in line for a pocket.
- 3
  Make sure that the path you've chosen won't leave the cue ball frozen to another rail. This is likely a tricky shot you're setting up and you can't be certain of putting any balls in pockets; therefore, the least you can do is unfreeze your cue ball.
- 4
  Hit the cue ball fairly high if it were frozen to a rail. Make sure you give it the right amount of force for the length of the trip, and influence the angle it takes when banking off a rail by hitting it slightly to the left or right of center.

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