Tips / Systems

Thin cut 7-ball system Seven Ball · long thin cut

Link the slope and the arrival number from a half-ball, 2-tip reference. When the target changes, adjust either spin or thickness.

Formula / route reference
Half-ball · 2-tip reference: slope 7 diamonds → arrival number 7
When to use it
The reference layout for a long short → long → short thin cut. The 7 is a slope and an arrival number, not seven balls or 7 tips of spin.

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?

  1. Angle 7: the difference of the center line where it meets both long rails.
  2. Reference: look at arrival 7 with half-ball 4/8 and 2 tips.
  3. Target 6: an arrival number 1 lower than the reference.

Slope and correction: For arrival 7 → 6, change only one: spin +1 or thickness −1. Practice 3 tips with 4/8 and 2 tips with 3/8 separately, and don’t turn it into the ball system’s sum formula.

If you’re new: the two roles of the number 7

Slope 7 is a layout where the line joining the two balls, extended to both long rails, differs by seven diamonds along the long axis. Arrival 7 is the corner number at the end of the opposite short rail. First learn the reference shot with half-ball (4/8) thickness and 2 tips.

1. A slope of 7 diamonds, not the distance between the balls

Horizontal difference: 7 diamonds4567123
The yellow dashed line is the slope reference line joining the cue ball and the first object ball. Diamond 1 on the top long rail and diamond 8 at the bottom corner differ by 7. It does not mean the two balls are actually 7 diamonds apart.

The arrival numbers run from 7 at the top-right corner down through 6·5·4 to 3 at the bottom corner. Don’t mix them with Five & Half’s 10·20·30 scale.

2. When the target moves from 7 to 6, correct only one thing

Slope 7 → reference arrival 7 / target 6 → spin +1 or thickness −1

Object 1①②③4567123
Concept drawing of the path corrected to target 6: cue ball → red object ball 1 → short ① → long ② → 6 on the opposite short rail ③ → toward the yellow object ball 2. Reference 7 is the top corner number. Rather than drawing an exact corner hit as the successful path, the example uses 6, one diamond away.
  • Slope of 7 diamonds: extend the center line from diamond 1 on the top long rail to diamond 8 at the bottom, a difference of 7
  • Arrival 6: the third-cushion target on the short rail, corrected from the reference 7
3 tips + 4/8 thickness2 tips + 3/8 thickness
Red is the first object ball; white is the cue ball overlap you see when aiming. Thickness divides the ball diameter into eighths. The drawing is not a top view of the layout at the moment of contact. It does not mean the two combinations have the same real separation angle, spin or speed.

The 7-ball correction rule is not the front around ball system’s ‘tips + thickness sum’ formula applied as is. From the 2-tip, 4/8 reference, it is a choice between adding only spin or making only the thickness thinner.

Check yourself: To go from 7 to 6, do you use 3 tips and 3/8 thickness at the same time?

Not at first. The source gives 3 tips with 4/8 or 2 tips with 3/8 as examples. Changing both variables at once applies the correction twice, so change only one and check the arrival.

3. Practice the arrival number together with the stroke conditions

  1. The source uses half-ball thickness and 2 tips as the reference. The lecture captures show both top-right and middle-right tip positions. It is not a table fixed to one tip height and power, so check the reference arrival first with a smooth, consistent shot you can repeat.
  2. When the first object ball is within one diamond of the long rail and there is a lot of spin, or you put strong bounce into the shot, the source suggests subtracting about half a tip. This too is a rule-of-thumb correction to check on your table, not an automatic answer.
  3. Learn the arrival reference for the long thin cut first, then move on to thickness and spin corrections. The source’s corner reference does not automatically guarantee a 3-cushion score or the object ball contact.

Read next: Sunrise–Sunset: another thin-cut method that gives a tip-position step

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 ↑

The diagram is an example corrected to target 6 instead of a boundary hit at corner 7. Follow cue ball → first object ball → short ① → long ② → 6 on short ③ → second object ball.

  1. Point to the cue ball, the ball you hit first and the last ball, and say the cushion order.
  2. Repeat the same layout 5 times and record where the first cushion and the calculated target actually land.
  3. 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

  • 처음처럼 · 비껴치기 7볼 시스템 — A summary of the original lecture screens. Checked 7 diamonds, half-ball thickness, 2 tips, the two combinations for the 7→6 correction, and the exception near the cushion. Not a measured verification.
  • 7-ball original lecture link — The video cited by the summary. This review is based on the summary’s text and lecture captures.

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.