Written by S. Thompson | Posted in Recreation |

How to Shoot Pool

I’m writing today to share with you one of my favorite ways to practice how to shoot pool. This is a lesson that, if used properly and frequently, will help you become more familiar with controlling the cue ball’s position from one shot to the next.

There is a lot more difficulty to good cue ball control than many players believe. Nailing the exact position you want seems like it should be simple to execute, yet when you add in other complexities like accuracy of your shot, speed, spin, force, and the fundamental mechanics of a balanced stance and swinging the the cue stick properly, things suddenly become a whole lot messier. These hurdles can seem near impossible to overcome for the beginner player, but don’t worry, I’m here with this great practice drill to help you iron out some of the wrinkles in your short-game. Repetition and dedicated perfect practice will help you become a better pool player.

You might wonder why you would need yet another practice drill to add to the slew of drills you already know. I argue that the reason there are so many drills on how to shoot pool, whether they are found online and in instruction booklets, is because diversity helps fuel concentration. You want to be able to perform perfect practices, not just boring repetitive drills that you are already familiar with. Being bored during practice exercises leads to poor focus and poor execution. So by changing up you drills every now and then, you will stay excited to practice and more attentive to the lessons you are trying to learn. This will help guarantee that you get the best results possible for the time you have dedicated to practice.

OK, so lets give you that drill. Here’s what I want you to add to your play book: start by placing five balls along the imaginary line that is the head-string. Space them evenly apart so that one ball is on the head-spot, a ball is frozen on each rail next to the diamonds, and balls are resting on the points midway between the head-spot and the rails. The second row of five balls will be created along the line that is one diamond back from the head-spot (thus one diamond close to the head-rail). The third and final row has three balls, freeze one ball against the head-rail at each of the diamonds on that rail.

Once you’ve finished you should have a nice tight grid laid out at the head of the table. the next step is to give yourself ball-in-hand, and to try to run out the table. The main rule is that you cannot disturb the other object balls while shooting at your current target. This exercise is designed to force you to figure out how to move the cue ball around in tight traffic spaces, and how to control its speed so that you can keep all of your shots short-range.Shoot only into the four pockets at that end of the table (avoid using the far corner pockets), and if you miss, don’t keep shooting. Instead, reset all thirteen balls and start from the beginning with a fresh ball-in-hand.

remember that your intent with this drill is to concentrate on controlling the position of the cue ball. Keep your shot choices as simple as possible, and try to keep the travel of the cue ball to a minimum. these factors will help you become comfortable with short-range position play, and will help you stay on track during your actual games.

For the purposes of quality practice, I suggest that you avoid side-spin altogether when you are performing this drill. That will not be as difficult as it seems at first. Too many players use and rely on side-spin to position the cue ball around the table, but without dedicated practice, your results can become worse instead of better whenever you try to utilize spin. If you are insistent upon using spin, then run through this practice drill a few times with the rule that you MUST use spin for every shot. Do this only after you have performed the drill a few times without any spin at all. Try to keep side-spin to its own practice drill.

With diligent practice, focus, and concentration you will gradually begin to find improvement in your skills. I hope that you continue to seek out new drills to practice, and that what you have found here can be helpful for your journey along the road of learning how to play pool for beginners.

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