Thanks for taking the shot to the table. After looking at the pic again I agree it’s not close to a kiss. I’ve played plenty of players that would shoot the one railer but controlling the cue ball on a thin hit is not in the cards.
I tried to find that shot on the YouTube replay to see where Alex parked the cue ball.
Thanks, Pilot! I put the cb on a wider angle such as from the 5th diamond just past the side, and then the cb will stick by using center ball.
I tried to develop a kicking aiming formula as to where to contact the point on the rail, but was unsuccessful. As a starting point I drew a line from the left side of the 5 to the cushion then aimed backed from that approx. 3/8", and that worked well. When using right hand english just above center, I then aimed a little back from that, and it worked well in keeping the cb in that corner. Without having some kind of starting point I was totally lost as to where to contact the rail, for it does not look right for it seems you are aiming to deep past the 5 ball to contact it right, so developing a starting point really helped!
My banking % was low for making the ball, but % of keeping the cb by the head rail was very high when using center 1/2 tip left english. I either had a bad day of banking, or can not bank anymore, or it is just a hard bank. Probably not seeing the bank well, but it should be banked close to pocket speed to avoid leaving a return easy shot! Whitey