Basic Strategy

Cut Shots

     Cut shots are performed whenever the ball you are attempting to pocket is anything but straight. Small to large angles of the shot will change the path and speed of the cue ball after impact.  In order to master cut shots you must master not only making the object ball but also you must know the cue ball speed and direction after contact in order to control the cue ball for a good leave on your next shot.  The thinner the cut shot (larger angle) the faster the cue ball will release after impact.  The fatter the cut shot (small angle) the slower the cue ball will release based on the same shot being hit with the same stroke.  

Bank shots

      Every good pool player gets plenty of work on bank shots. Pros and Amateurs alike get good practice on these.  Long table bank shots and side pocket bank shots are very challenging but to an experience player can be quite easy.  Professionals make them in their sleep.  Controlling the cue ball after a bank shot can be most challenging. Most find the leave much harder than on conventional shots. Being able to hit bank shots to play for a safety is also required to dominate a pool table. Speed control can win a ball in hand followed up by an easy victory.

Kick Shots

       Kick shots are most difficult for new players. Precise targeting is not available so the odds of making a kick shot in a chosen pocket are not good.  A great kick shot maker like Allison Fisher can make the kick shot in the chosen pocket about 25 percent of the time. Its not a great gamble to try for this if an easy safety is available. Anyone who is at the professional level is a master of kick shots and getting ball in hand from these people is few and far between.

Masse Shots

       Masse shots are considered by most players to be some kind of trick shot. Far from the truth  an experienced masse player can get out all kinds of jams on a pool table that a player with little masse experience could only hope for.   There are two types of Masse in this authors opinion.  Big Masse and Little Masse.  A big masse you want to get a lot of curve on your shot so you jack up the cue and strike the ball on its top almost on the side of the direction you want it to curve.  Strike the cue ball with a popping force and make sure you chalk up for this one. You'll watch the cue ball do a nice curve just like a baseball pitcher. Big masse will get you around a ball that is 100 percent eclipsing your view of the object ball.  A small masse is great when you only have to get around a 10 percent eclipse of your object ball.  Don't hit the cue ball so high and don't hit it very hard at all.  If you desire a slight break to the right then line up your aim to clear the ball that is in your way and make your first priority not hitting this ball as that would be a foul.  Jack up your cue just a little bit chalk up first. Pop the cue ball a little higher and more on top than a normal shot. Its just like the big masse except for a slower strike and big english and a slower hit. This cause the english to bite in time as the cue rolls slow and curves slightly.  These shots are best used when the object ball is very near a pocket. A make is a good bet if you can perform the shot correctly. Balls located far from pockets have a very low percentage of being made. .  

Jump Shots

       Jump shots need to be mastered both soft ones and hard ones. Cue ball flight distance can be increased but losing control of the cue ball is more likely the harder you hit.

Spin Shots

   Spinning the cue ball is done by hitting far right or far left english on the cue ball. This causes the cue ball to spin left or right on its way to the ball you are pocketing.  The advantage to a good spin shot are endless. This is the hardest part of pool to master as a good spin shot does two main things. First off it makes your leave much much easier to obtain and allows you to hit all of your shots softer which increases your shots made percentage. A lot of players cant get from one end of the table to the other without mastering spin.  When the choice is a hard hit power draw shot the full length of the table or to hit a slow speed spin shot which makes the ball jump off the rail in the correct direction the choice is clear. Pros hit spin rookies do not.  The biggest advantage to using slight spin is this. Did you ever hit a shot into a corner pocket and have it just rattle out barely and somehow not go in ?  Like you made the shot and it bobbled out somehow ?   What's happening here is simple.  Your hitting the little inside rail of the pocket perfectly and yet it bobbles out of the hole. When the object ball is striking this little pocket rail the object ball itself is spinning. If you hit a slight  angled cut shot in the corner pocket and the object ball hits the right inside pocket rail as it should the reason it is bobbling out is you have right spin on the object ball and its hitting the right inside pocket rail and its jumping immediately to the left pocket rail and bobbles back and forth while you get frustrated.  Here is what you need to know about spin. Hitting right spin on the cue ball causes the cue ball to be spinning counter clockwise when it strikes the object ball. This causes the object ball to spin the opposite which is clockwise. If your planning on the object ball hitting the right pocket inside rail then you want the object ball spinning with left english so you better put right english on the cue ball which gives the object ball the left english it needs to vacuum itself into the pocket like it belongs there.   

Playing for position

       Mastering position and strategy is the best part about improving at billiards. The better you are at this part of the game the easier all of your shots become which boosts up your game tremendously.  Some players play position terribly however they are great natural shooters. Some people master position but aren't natural shooters at all.  I've always chosen to concern myself with position more than making the shot I am attempting. Doing this for 10 years has made my position play top quality to rival anyone. However I still manage to blow the easy shot time and time again usually at least once per game. Some shot I should make and that I do make regularly I will miss. I have learned from experience that humans can be flat brainwashed by pool.  If you play every day for about 3 months anyone will pretty much be done missing easy shots. Its a zone of obvious easiness which is quite fun to play thru. Take a week off and go back and you will miss left and right like you went back in time. If you want to know how the pros do it the recipe is simple. Just like Tiger Woods hits 1000 balls a day a pool player needs to hit just as many every day to stay programmed and keep the eye trained.   

Billiard Strategy

9 ball strategy

8 ball strategy

Safety Strategy

Drills

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