To use the bank shot helper, pick a ball you want to bank and decide which pocket you want to bank it into. Place the device against the bank at the approximate location on the rail where you would have to bank the ball to make the shot.

Drop your eyes down to shooting position and look into the mirror until you can see the target pocket. If you cannot see the pocket, move the mirror left or right in the correct direction until you can see the pocket.

By aiming right at the pocket in the bank shot helper mirror, you will have just about the right angle for the object ball to go into the pocket. Move the mirror aside and take the shot. Even if the ball doesn't go in, you should be awfully close to the pocket.

Stand up at this point and notice the angle that is necessary to get the ball in the desired pocket from where the object ball is situated. This will help you visualize the angle again in the future when you encounter a similar shot.

This device can be used with the cue ball and an object ball, but I like to practice by using it with just one ball at a time. I go through the whole rack of balls several times until I feel that I really have the particular shot and angle down.

One thing that is really important to mention here is that you must hit the ball with no english and at medium speed. Any side spin on the ball as it hits the rail will cause it to veer off the correct angle and miss the pocket.

I like to hit the ball just above horizontal center and right on vertical center. This will cause the ball to roll as straight as possible and won't throw off your angle to the pocket.

This is excellent practice for your stroke as well. As you try this, you will find that you must concentrate to hit the ball perfectly straight every time. It's very easy to introduce some unintentional english to the hit.

When you can sink ball after ball into your chosen pocket, you'll know that you are hitting the ball consistently straight. Consistency is one of the truly difficult things to master in the game of pool.

The first picture below shows how things look when lining up the aim for a cross-side shot. You can see the pocket in the center of the mirror. I place a piece of chalk in line with the aim direction so I can easily replicate the shot with the next balls I hit.

In the second picture, I have moved the bank shot helper mirror aside and placed another piece of chalk on the rail to mark where the pocket was in the mirror. As I continue to hit more practice balls, I just place them in line with the two pieces of chalk as shown by the cue ball in the picture.

The last picture shows the setup for a ball that is on one end of the table, to bank into the corner pocket at the other end. The angle on this type of shot is particularly hard to visualize. This device makes it a snap.