A route can return to a cushion already visited. In three-cushion, that possibility makes the sequence of contacts more useful than simply counting how many different sides of the table were touched.
What qualifies as a point?
The cue ball must contact both object balls and make at least three cushion contacts before the second object ball. Repeated contacts with the same cushion may count. Two contacts with one cushion alone are not three; write the complete order.
Names such as double rail or snake are not substitutes for that record. Do not assume a return happens only through maximum reverse spin or that the ball can revisit a rail without another event changing its direction.
Start from the actual geometry
In the linked layout, white and yellow are close on the left and red is far to the right. First compare how two contact thicknesses on the nearby object ball alter the departure. Keep the pace and spin unchanged for this comparison.
Trace every cushion and object-ball event. If a candidate revisits a cushion, check when that happens relative to the two object balls. The diagram only shows the starting position; no scoring path has been pre-certified.
Separate contact count from success
- Restore the same starting layout for each comparison.
- Record the first object ball, each cushion contact and the second object ball in order.
- Distinguish a legal sequence that misses its final target from a sequence that reaches the target too early.
- Follow the nearby object ball after contact; an unwanted return collision is different from insufficient remaining speed.
Use spin deliberately
Compare side spin only after you understand the initial contact. An extreme tip-offset percentage is not a universal safe or successful physical stroke. In the simulator, record control changes as model inputs; on a real table, account for stroke execution and cushion response.
Keep your own complete attempt record. Neither a layout label nor a single successful replay establishes a general hit rate, professional preference or a recommended schedule.
Inspect the close first-contact layout
The link loads the actual three ball centres. White is the cue ball; choose and verify the contact order yourself.
Double-rail stack
White 55 × 71 cm · Yellow 65 × 81 cm · Red 250 × 71 cm
Open this layout →