Tips for Helping Your Carom Shot.

If you need to plan a carom shot that cannot be conveniently set up in the 90 or 30 degree directions, the 90 and 30 degree rules still give you good points of reference. The amount of cue ball vertical spin (follow, stun, draw) will determine where it goes relative to the 90 and 30 degree directions. With full stun, the cue ball will head exactly in the tangent line direction. With complete roll, the ball will deflect in the 30 degree direction. For other shots, it is difficult to reliably know exactly where the cue ball will go, so it is best to not attempt caroms in these cases unless you have no other options. Like many things in pool, all you can do is practice a bunch and develop intuition for how much the cue ball deflects with various amounts of vertical spin. Also shot speed affects the exact cue ball trajectory. However, the 90 and 30 degree directions are still good to know to have some definite points of reference.

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One advantage of a tangent line (90 degree) carom or kiss is that the CB path does not depend on the speed of the shot, assuming the CB has stun at impact (which does depend on both speed and tip position). However, most people have a good feel for stun shots (stop shots at an angle) since they are so important in pool and therefore are practiced a lot.

The advantage of a 30-degree carom or kiss is that the natural angle applies fairly closely over a fairly wide range of cut angles, so your aim doesn't need to be perfect. Also, it is very easy to ensure ball roll, by using slow enough speed, or with shot distance, and/or by hitting the cue ball above center. The disadvantage is the CB's path off the OB curves before heading in the natural angle direction, and the amount of shift down the tangent line depends on shot speed. This isn't a significant factor at slow speeds, but at faster speeds, the shift is significant.