[Diagram at Bottom]

Mastering pool can occur to many players as a very daunting task when one considers the seemingly infinite possibilities for the way the balls can be arranged around the table. It’s highly unlikely in fact that someone who plays for a lifetime will ever encounter the exact same layout twice. This is the source of pool’s allure, the challenge of responding effectively in the face of continual change. Great players have a way of shrinking the game’s vastness into a catalog of familiar shots and mini layouts that tend to repeat themselves more frequently than others. Each game has certain shots and patterns that because of their frequency become critical to mastering that game.

This month we’re going to work with a shot that is essential to great nine ball. Naturally you will encounter this shot in other games but, because of shot selection, might not opt to play it the same way that you are often forced to in nine ball. Nine ball, because it is a rotation game, often requires the player to move the cue ball long distances across or around the table to connect successive shots. This month’s shot and its variations repeat themselves over and over throughout a match, sometimes several times inside of one rack. What I like best about this shot is that I played it a certain way for many years until I watched one of Denver’s great players shoot it differently and saw immediately that he plays the shot more smoothly and effortlessly than I had been. I began to practice what I saw him do and realized instant improvement.

When you look at the shot in the diagram, cutting a ball near the rail and moving the cue ball diagonally across the table for a shot on the striped ball, you should recognize it as one that occurs very frequently in nine ball. Although you may play this shot the same way sometimes in other games, nine ball is the game that will force you to move the cue ball that far most often. When this same shot comes up in eight ball or straight pool for example you are likely to search for a nearby ball that allows you to keep the cue ball in the same area for the next shot.

Thus far we have discussed several distinct strokes and applied them to the shots with the same names i.e. the draw stroke for the draw shot and the follow stroke for the follow shot. When you can distinguish the different strokes that comprise a complete pool game, you are ready to learn that each one is not strictly matched to the shot with the same name. For this shot we are going to mix things up a bit to give you access to another set of tools for cue-ball control. This shot is executed most effectively as a draw shot with a follow stroke. Begin by looking at the shot and recognizing it as a draw shot. Before getting down into your stance remember your follow stroke as a smooth, level stroke with gradual acceleration. You may want start with a few natural follow shots to nail down your feel for the stroke.

Now that you have decided that this is a draw shot, it’s time to change your mind about it to consider it as more of a spin shot with right hand english in this case. The english is key to getting the cue ball moving toward the opposite corner without a lot of effort or force. The required spin is what makes the follow stroke more effective for this shot by working to spin the cue ball more efficiently while taking much of the deflection out of the shot. You should not need excessive draw or spin for this shot but do not be afraid of the edge of the cue ball. Hit the cue ball in the place that produces the desired result, disregarding any nonsense about keeping your tip within one tip’s width of the cue ball’s center. As you become more comfortable with the shot, your stroke will work more efficiently allowing you to hit the cue ball closer to the center.

With the balls set up as in the diagram decide exactly where you want the cue ball to go and begin shooting. After you are hitting your desired cue ball track four out of five times you may begin to experiment. First, without changing the shot, begin adjusting your hit on the cue ball to make it go to each of the diamonds marked in the diagram. Then you need to change the shot itself, adjusting its angle, the object ball’s distance from the rail and the pocket, and the distance between the cue ball and the object ball. Also it’s important to set up the shot on the opposite rail to repeat the exercise with left-hand english. Mastering this shot and its variations is essential to your pool game. Finally, remember to give up your concern for the cue ball and place all of your focus on the object ball as you shoot.

Mastering this shot will cause a dramatic leap for your pool game. As you see and learn certain shots that occur frequently in pool, the game will appear increasingly familiar and less random to you. And you are experiencing greater freedom in your classification of shots. You can now separate and recombine your strokes with various shots. Can you think of a common follow shot that would work better with a draw stroke? When the layouts begin to look more familiar to you while you are stepping out past previous boundaries, you will experience greatness.