About The Shot

These seven balls are shaped as a question mark. In one shot, they all scatter into six pockets. Mike Massey and Rick Malm call this Inquisitive, but I use this clip at the end of my presentations to invite questions.

Discipline: Trick & Fancy

Difficulty: Intermediate

Any Questions

Make This Shot

Obviously, this one's all in the setup. I'm just going to refer to the balls in the pictures. First off, the 2 ball (solid blue) needs to be placed along the long centerline of the table, halfway between the side pocket and the nearest diamond. Then I freeze the 3 ball (solid red) to the 2 so the tangent line points about a balls width up the long rail from the corner pocket (Figure 1).

The next ball is the 4 ball (solid purple). Set this frozen to the 3 ball so the tangent goes in the middle of the side pocket (Figure 2).

I like to move to the 5 ball (solid orange) next. Freeze it to the 2 ball so the tangent line points just to the short rail inside the far corner pocket (Figure 3).

Then I place the 13 ball (striped orange). This is one of the more difficult ones as there is quite a bit of throw. The line of centers between the 5 and 13 point at the short rail (Figure 4), anywhere from next to the point of the corner pocket up to a half diamond in and maybe more, depending on the conditions. These first five balls make up the smiley face/slam dunk/half moon shot.

From there, I set the 14 ball (striped green) in line with the 4 ball pointing just further than the first diamond from the corner pocket (Figure 5). In the photo, the chalk is on the first diamond sight. The photo might be a bit deceiving but the balls are not pointed directly at the chalk, rather, the right edges of the balls are about lined up with the chalk.

Here's the key to the 15 ball (striped maroon). There's a small gap between this and the 14 ball, about 1/8-inch.

I line the 14 and 15 up towards the left side of the corner pocket. Since the 14 actually moves a bit forward before contacting the 15, this line compensates for that and the throw.

I place the cue ball about 2 1/2 diamonds from the short rail, so it's line with the 14 ball points just to the far side of the side pocket. You have to hit this shot pretty hard to make sure the 15 will reach its pocket. Instead of hitting the 14 ball full, I like to hit it just a little bit to the right, maybe 80 - 85%, with a little bit of draw. Good luck! Any questions?

Video: Any Questions

Video: Any Questions

Any Questions

Figure 1

Any Questions

Figure 2

Any Questions

Figure 3

Any Questions

Figure 4

Any Questions

Figure 5

Tim's Tidbit

This shot is an extension on the 5 ball smiley face/half moon/slam dunk shot.