Tips / Systems

Rodriguez system Rodriguez · side around with close balls

When both object balls are near the same long rail, halve the gap between them to find the target on the second cushion. Count diamonds before reaching for a complex number table.

Formula / route reference

Second-cushion target (diamonds) = gap between the two object balls along the long axis ÷ 2

When to use it

A side around where both object balls sit near the same long rail. The source’s basic layout: hit the object ball first and go long → short → long.

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.

What do you read from the layout?

First object ball position: place it close to the same long rail.
Second object ball position: four diamonds apart along the long axis.
2nd-cushion target, 2 diamonds: from the gap 4 ÷ 2.

Slope and correction: This is not a formula that adds the cue ball’s incoming angle. If the cue ball changes but the gap between the object balls stays the same, the calculated target is the same, but the thickness and tip position that send the ball there change.

See the worked example and layout See related practice

If you’re new, go in this order

In this example the yellow ball is the first object ball you hit and the red ball is the last, second object ball. What you calculate is the target on the second cushion, a short rail, not the first aim point. Go in this order: read the gap between the balls → halve it → practice the thickness and tip position that send the ball to that short rail.

1. Count the four diamonds between the object balls

Match each ball’s center to the long-rail scale and count the gap between them. The 0–4 here is a temporary scale for counting the gap, not fixed system point numbers. The dashed lines mark the distance.

Check that both object balls are near the same long rail. This is not a formula for the distance between the cue ball and an object ball.
Count the difference in position of the two object balls along the long rail. In the example it is four diamonds. Don’t measure the diagonal distance between the balls.
If the first ball is far from the cushion, don’t plug it straight into this close-balls rule; look at other side around methods too.

2. 4 ÷ 2 = 2, mark it on the second cushion (short rail)

4 ÷ 2 = 2 → 2 diamonds on the second cushion (short rail)

Cue ball → yellow object ball 1 → near long rail ① → the calculated short-rail target ② → opposite long rail ③ → toward the red object ball 2. Halve the 4-diamond gap on the blue dashed line to set the short-rail target of 2 diamonds. The ② is the cushion order.

On the short rail you hit second, take the corner opposite the long rail with the two object balls as 0. Two diamonds from there is the target. A 3-diamond gap gives 1.5 diamonds; a 2-diamond gap gives 1 diamond.

Especially when you see 3÷2=1.5, don’t take the reference corner from the wrong side. The source example counts the short-rail target from the corner on the long rail opposite the two balls. If you flip left–right or top–bottom, flip the ball layout and the reference corner too.

Check yourself: If the object balls are 3 diamonds apart, do you aim straight at 1.5 diamonds on the first cushion?

No. 3÷2=1.5 is the target on the second cushion, the short rail. You need to practice separately the thickness and tip position that hit the first ball and send the cue ball through the first long rail to that target.

3. Come back long → short → long

The source says you must practice the thickness and tip position that send the ball to the second-cushion target, and gives no fixed tip count or power that works for every layout. Don’t memorize something arbitrary like ‘2 tips’ or ‘maximum spin’.
First fix the gap between the two balls, hit the first ball, and see whether the cue ball comes to the second-cushion target. Don’t change thickness, spin and power all at once.
Even if the ball reaches the target short rail, you score only if the direction after the third cushion and the object ball contact are right. Read the source’s claim that it goes in automatically as a beginner reference line only, not as a guarantee.

The drawings are concept diagrams that show which numbers to read and the order of balls and cushions. They are not measured paths that reproduce ball size or the spin and speed after contact. Practice with the same tip position and power, and adjust on a real table.

Practice with the example layout

Back to the worked example and layout ↑

On this page the yellow ball is the first object ball and the red ball is the second object ball. Connect long ① → 2 diamonds on short ② → long ③, then the red ball. Don’t mistake the calculated 2 diamonds for the first cushion.

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

INPROD · 로드리게스 시스템 (옆돌리기) — Checked the 4→2, 3→1.5 and 2→1 drawings, the corner the target is counted from, and the thickness and tip-position practice conditions.

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.