Bridge Over the Corner

So you think you’ve got a straight shot now, eh? Well try out this exercise which will certainly test that. The purpose of this is to get you used to making a bridge, open or closed, over a corner pocket. The important thing to focus on is that your bridge is SOLID.

Once you are very confident in your stroke being straight, it is time to start practicing this drill. The challenging part of this exercise is that you are trying to make a solid bridge on the corner pocket. It takes a little getting used to, but that is what this drill will help you with.

Place the object ball on the head/foot spot, and the cue ball in the corner pocket about a .5″ from falling.

illustration of a pool table side pocket shot

I used to start off with this drill in my practice routines, I would put all 15 balls on the table and then make 5 balls in from the head spot. Then I would position the next 5 object balls about 5″ below the head spot. For the final 5 I would put the object balls 5″ above the head spot.

illustration of a pool table
Illustration of a side pocket pool shot

Note: This practice drill is great because it covers 3 different aspects of your control of the cue-ball. It helps you build a straight shot, it helps you to build a solid bridge and it also helps you with cut shots.