Plus Two system Plus Two · normal range
Subtract the start number from the arrival number to find the first short rail. It belongs to the same family as Plus, but you learn the normal, short and long start ranges separately.
Written and edited by TTBoys · How we write and check sources · Report an error
Sources and diagrams reviewed: 2026-10-10. Rules of thumb are practice references for a specific diamond scale and stroke. Geometric constructions are kept separate from real trajectories, and nothing was measured on a real table. On mobile, the table stays in landscape so the directions in the text match the diagrams.
Presets are comparison examples from a physics model; they do not guarantee the formula's real-world accuracy or a point.
What do you read from the layout?
- Start 30: three diamonds from the left on the bottom long rail.
- Arrival 70: seven diamonds on the same scale.
- First cushion 40: 70 − 30, 1.5 diamonds from the top on the short rail.
Slope and correction: This is the calculation for a normal start between 20 and 60. If the cue ball moves, read the start line again and check whether it moves into the short or long range. There is no separate angle term.
If you’re new: it’s in the same family as Plus
It is not a law of physics separate from Plus. Here you focus on how the table and stroke change with the start range. The beginner calculation uses only the normal range and does not borrow Maximum Plus’s middle 3-tip condition as is.
Read next: The basic idea of Plus
Read next: Comparing the stroke with Maximum Plus
1. Start and arrival at 10 per diamond, a nonlinear first cushion
- Bottom long rail: start S and arrival D, 10 per diamond from the left corner 0
- First short rail: top corner 0, then 20·30·40·50·70·90 every half diamond
- Extend the line from the cue ball toward the first short rail backward to the starting long rail and read S. Don’t automatically use the number right below the cue ball.
- Read the third-cushion arrival D on the same long rail. It is a bank-shot example that hits the cushion first. In the worked-example drawing, also check the path after the third cushion to the two object balls.
- Check first that S is in the 20–60 range. Near the boundary, don’t mix in another range’s table; check with a reference shot.
2. 70 − 30 = 40, short → long → long
Arrival 70 − start 30 = first short rail 40
- Red dashed line: extend the first aim line backward to read the start number
- White line: the order in which the cue ball travels around three cushions
- Yellow line: an example of meeting the two object balls after the third cushion
A sketch of the worked example's ball layout and travel order. Where the ball actually lands depends on thickness, spin and speed.
For this direction the source’s tip position is upper right at 2:30, with a smooth pushing stroke. The clock position alone doesn’t set the exact tip radius. Check the table condition and your own amount of spin, and for the opposite direction mirror the tip position left to right.
Check yourself: Normal range, start 40, target 70?
70−40=30. Read 30, one diamond from the top corner of the first short rail. Don’t draw the first-cushion scale with even steps of 10.
3. Short and long starts don’t use the same table
Short range
Start below 20
The first-cushion scale changes with the cue ball position.
Normal range
Start 20–60
The range where this article’s 70−30=40 example applies.
Long range
Start above 60
You need to reread the start and arrival scales and the tip-position conditions.
For the short range, the source gives a formula that doesn’t hold, such as 30−5+20=5. Rather than fixing one sign on our own and applying it to every layout, this beginner table leaves out the short- and long-range calculations. The two ranges also must not be calculated with the same first-cushion table.
Even in the normal range, the source describes a separate corner correction for boundary shots that aim at corner 0. Start with basic layouts away from the corner, like 70−30=40, and don’t apply the simple subtraction to corner shots without question.
The drawings are concept diagrams that explain the scales and the order of travel, not measured paths. Repeat with the same tip position, thickness and power, and adjust on a real table. Articles with a simulator link give a starting layout for comparison. The app’s results are not a real-world check of these rules of thumb.
Practice with the example layout
Back to the worked example and layout ↑An example that goes start 30 → first short rail 40 → long rail → arrival 70, then on to the object ball. Don’t turn the answer 40 into four diamonds; find it in the non-linear first-cushion table.
- Point to the cue ball, the ball you hit first and the last ball, and say the cushion order.
- Repeat the same layout 5 times and record where the first cushion and the calculated target actually land.
- If the first cushion is already off, check your aim and thickness; if the first cushion is right but later ones drift, check spin and speed. Change only one thing for the next 5.
Sources and verification
- 알면말해 · 플러스 투 시스템 — Checked the normal-range 70−30=40, the nonlinear short-rail scale, the 2:30 tip position and the corner correction. The short-range formula, whose calculation contradicts itself, was not adopted.
Sources may use different diamond scales and conditions. The text notes which scale it uses and the limits of what was checked; the diagrams are our own concept drawings.