Is it possible to make a shot with an effective cut angle greater than 90°?

Yes. Here are several examples:

Here’s an example 90 degree cut (or very close) using extreme sidespin to pocket the ball:

Here’s another extreme cut by Bob Jewett, and another posted by Venom on Facebook, and another back-angle rail cut shot (and another).

See also these Venon-Elliott-inspired bank shots at “impossible” cut angles:

Impossible cuts can also be made by jumping or hopping the CB so it hits the OB while airborne. More info and video demonstrations of this can be found here:

jump shot over cut effects


from Bob Jewett (in AZB post), in response to my throw video example above:

You very nearly covered every aspect and application of throw, but I have one that I only recently discovered. It is a special case of the near-90 cut shot you showed in part 2 that is played with “excess” or what I call “retrograde” outside spin.

Sometimes the cue ball ends up very nearly touching the object ball and they are not quite pointed to the pocket as in the diagram.

If double hits were allowed, you could just shoot straight at the ball with left. Or, play a fullish cut on the right side of the ball to throw it to the right.

When that close to the ball a very thin hit is condoned by the rules even though the tip may still be on the cue ball when the cue ball hits the object ball.

My solution is to play thin as shown with extreme left to throw the object ball to the right. The degree of throw is exaggerated in the diagram unless by some miracle there is chalk at the contact point.

You do have to hit the shot pretty hard, but that speed does not reduce the throw much because the actual retrograde surface motion is pretty slow.


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