3 Simple Tips To Improve Your Pool Game
It can be annoying to miss shots in pool, especially when they are quite straightforward. With these simple techniques, you can gain more fluency in your pool playing and also start potting the more challenging shots and get the right positions.
It all comes down to the right techniques and cue ball control, not only to pot the shot but to also get the position and line up on the next ball.
It is important to realise why you are missing shots in the first place.
Common mistakes are:
- Not shooting straight down the potting line from cue ball to object ball.
- Adding unintentional spin to the shots (ie hitting the cue ball on the left or right) which deflects the cue ball and takes it out of the potting line.
- Not aiming straight in shots with side spin.
It stands to reason then that in order to improve your game, you have to start doing the opposite of these common mistakes.
Notice where you are doing these things and adjust your game so that you are implementing the following 3 tips to improve your pool game.
I have also included a video link below this post to show you how this looks when you're playing at the table.
1. Shoot straight down the potting line
Adjust your cue to follow the straight potting line between cue ball and object ball, otherwise you will be shooting off line and missing the pot.
This can easily happen when you you move the back of the cue in the aiming position which takes it out of line. Move the back of the cue so that it is aligned with potting line straight down the centre.
Take a look at this image: You can see the alignment of the cue with the line of the pot. In this case it's a straight shot!
Now if you had to hit the object ball at an angle to get the pot, which is often the case, see where you need to strike the object ball to get the required potting angle. Then follow that line and make sure the cue is lined up front and back and straight down that required line for the pot.
2. Don't add unintentional spin to your shots.
When you need to hit the cue ball in the centre, a common mistake is to hit it on the left or right instead which makes you miss the pot.
This will deflect the cue ball in the opposite direction to the side you are hitting it on. So for example, if you strike the cue ball on the left hand side, it will deflect to the right and vice versa.
This will take the cue ball off the path of the potting angle and you'll miss!
The way to avoid this is to the hit the cue ball in the centre whilst lining it up for the potting line.
However, it is often the case that you need side spin as most shots are at an angle and you need to get the cue ball lined up in the right position for your next shot.
In this case, it's important to:
3. Aim straight in shots with side spin.
As mentioned earlier, if you hit the cue ball on the left or right hand side, it will deflect in the opposite direction.
What will that do to the line of the pot? It will take it off the required line for the pot and you'll miss.
For this reason, in spin shots you have to adjust your aiming to compensate for the deflection in order to hit the object ball where it's required.
So if you need right hand side spin on the cue ball this will deflect it towards the left. This means that you need to adjust the aiming so that the left deflection of the cue ball still hits the object ball at the required angle.
This is a subject within itself so I have dedicated a separate blog post with a video to show how it's done.