jump shot

• highly elevated cue jump shots
• object ball jump shot
• overcutting
• rail jump shot
• technique advice

for more information, see Section 7.10 in The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards

highly elevated cue jump shot

How can you make the cue ball jump over a close ball, and is it a foul?

See HSV B.19.

object ball jump shot

Is it possible to jump an object ball over part or all of an obstacle ball?

Yes. See HSV B.4 - object ball jump shot.

overcutting

Why do I sometimes miss jump cut shots?

If the cue ball hits the object ball while it is airborne, the effective cut angle is larger. In these cases, you need to aim for a fuller hit to get the right cut angle. For more info, see HSV B.37 - jump shot over-cut effect and examples.

rail jump shot

How can a rail cushion be used to assist a jump shot?

See HSV B.8 - jump shot off the rail.
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technique advice

HSV B.3 - various jump shot techniques and HSV B.5 - jump and break shot strokes and grips illustrate and explain various concerns with jump shots. Tom Simpson also has some good jump shot instructional videos on YouTube: part 1 and part 2. The dart stroke is useful if you need to reach or if you need high cue elevation for a close-range, high jump.

from Cornerman:
For a standard grip and standard cue length, I've found after lots of work:

Make your bridge hand as tall as comfortable. Some people with large hands will always have and immediate advantage for jumping.

Collapse the bridge elbow. This forces my front down, while I can keep my grip hand up. Being able to shoot comfortably with this angle is important. Robin Dodson teaches this to people at her Frog demo.

Don't look up when shoooting. Wear a hat with a brim. Seriously, for training purposes. When cueing, stare at the cueball and don't look up. Looking up sometimes makes people prematurely come out of their stance prior to hitting the ball. You want all of your stroke going into the cueball. That being said, your aim line should be correct before you get down on the shot.

Corollary: Drive the cueball directly into the bed.

Aim at the pit. For starters, hitting at the dead center of the ball (where the pit would be) is going to get you the most bang. Aiming a hair below center (as your cuestick "sees" the cueball") will be your next step.

Hard tip. One area that is very important to jumping with a full-length cue is that it's going to be easier with a hard tip. Earl Strickland used to shoot with a tremendously hard tip for the times, and he always complained about other people not jumping with their shooting cue. That's one reason he could do it so easily.

Let the cue do the work. This seems to be true for any shot: draw shot, break shot, and even the jump shot. Don't jab or overstroke. If you concentrate on hitting the center of the cueball, with an angled cue, with a real stroke, it will jump, and jump higher than you can imagine.

After all that, then you can buy a jump cue (if you haven't), use the same techniques above, and you'll be able to jump over anything with ease.