The 'mindset' towards good positioning/cue ball control

[DeanH]

very similar, but I use one red and the colours in a line spread across about half way to the pink spot.
have a gentle angle on the black (make a little chalk mark for the cue ball consistency) and hit the red/colours. If you have a partner they call the ball for you to hit
Also, being low (on the Baulk side of it) on the Blue (again make a little chalk mark), the Reds you place on the two side cushions and the top (Black) rail, evenly spread out, so potting the Blue and work your way round the table aiming the cue ball to the gaps between the reds. If you want difficulty, aim for the Reds themselves

[nrage]

Another question - What would be a good way to practice knowing what angle the cue ball will go after hitting the object ball depending on which height you cue the cue ball at? I would think just set up 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 balls and then just play the same shots with different heights and observe where the cue ball moves. But is there some sort of routine that is taught to beginners to learn this?

The Wagon wheel routine is good. Place a red on the blue spot. Place the white just off straight, or half way between straight and 3/4 ball. From this position you have maximum control of the white, you can make it follow to the cushion next to the blue pocket, you can screw it back to the cushion next to the other blue pocket, and you can hit the cushion anywhere between the two around one end of the table (just running it into the first cushion, not off several cushions)

Play a maximum follow shot and place a red on the first cushion it strikes. Likewise play a maximum draw shot and do the same. Place a red in the middle of the end cushion (that you can hit directly with a perfect stun shot). Place more reds evenly between these 3 balls.

Now, pick a red and attempt to hit it. Try to hit it 3/10 times. Pick another red and repeat. Once you can achieve 3/10 try to get to 5/10, then 7/10, etc.

[nrage]

n the Blue (again make a little chalk mark), the Reds you place on the two side cushions and the top (Black) rail, evenly spread out, so potting the Blue and work your way round the table aiming the cue ball to the gaps between the reds. If you want difficulty, aim for the Reds themselves

You beat me to it! :P

[alabadi]

i think that position can only be mastered by practice, hours and hours of practice is the only way. as long as your technique is sound and consistent then you start to learn where the cueball is going.

i think after playing a while we all know when we stun a shot the cueball and object ball will travel at right angles to each other.so the question is if we need to be inside that angle we have to cue higher on the cueball and to widen the angle hit lower than centre. the tricky bit is how much power to apply to move the cueball a certain distance.

today i was playing with a friend and for the first two frames i hardly missed a shot, either close range or from distance. however my highest break was 17. i was in and around the black several times and on 3-4 occasions i got 2 reds with blacks and failed to acheive ideal position on my next shot. i was so frustrated sometimes the difference was 1/2 inch and i would have been ideally on the next ball on, i felt the way i was playing especially in those first two frames i could have beaten my highest break of 48 had i been more accurate with positional play.

i think a lot more practice with line ups , playing blacks high and low to hit balls lined across the table and star routine are needed

Alabbadi

[horriefic]

Thanks for all the advise and routines guys. I definitely have some routines to practice now to improve my knowledge and recognition of the angles and positioning.

[chrissmall147]

I am home tomorrow from holiday I will post a good routine for cue ball control and learning where the cue ball goes depending on height u strike the cue ball at

Cheers Chris small

[horriefic]

I am home tomorrow from holiday I will post a good routine for cue ball control and learning where the cue ball goes depending on height u strike the cue ball at

Cheers Chris small

Looking forward to trying out your routine Chris. Thanks!

[chrissmall147]

hi horriefic,

i will give you 3 things to try. 1- put black on the spot and the cue ball on lower angle say three quarter ball pot. put a red on pink spot and 4 reds either side of pink spot so you should have 9 reds in a straight line. now pick out a red you would like to cannon into softly so as you have to work out the exact height on the cue ball and pace of the cue ball aswell and just keep picking out different reds and see how you get on. do this for 15 minutes.

2- black on the spot and cue ball in high angle position and you can vary the angle every shot as long as it is high angle and go as low as just off straight. you can even use some side on this routine if you like but most shots just top and centre cue ball striking. your target here is to predict where on the side cushion your cue ball will come to rest so before each shot work out where on the side cushion you think the cb will finish and place a bit of chalk there and see how close you can get but remember you want the cb finishing tight to side cushion. you can also use the other side cushion past the middle bag depending on the angle you have given yourself obviously. this is a good routine for learning the exact path of where your cb is going as some players just can not work out the angle of the pot and then the cb path. this is vital for positional purposes for your next shot. this is not an easy exercise so dont get frustrated if your predictions are not spot on but with practice they will get better. tip for this exercise is to visualise the pot going in and visualise first contact point on the black cushion and then its easier to predict the path of the cb to the side cushion.

3- black on the spot and cb in lower angle position but varying the angle every shot. every shot top of cb and centre striking. this time your target is to leave the cb in the centre of the table so in other words in line with the spots in the middle of the table. this is a good exercise for again predicting cb path and then judging the pace of your cb. if one of them is wrong then you will not be finishing in the centre of the table. so just imagine that if you land in the centre of table then this is you perfect for your next shot and good positioning.

hope this is ok for you mate and remember they are not easy exercises to predict exactly so give yourself a wee bit of room for error

all the best chris small

[horriefic]

hi horriefic,

i will give you 3 things to try. 1- put black on the spot and the cue ball on lower angle say three quarter ball pot. put a red on pink spot and 4 reds either side of pink spot so you should have 9 reds in a straight line. now pick out a red you would like to cannon into softly so as you have to work out the exact height on the cue ball and pace of the cue ball aswell and just keep picking out different reds and see how you get on. do this for 15 minutes.

2- black on the spot and cue ball in high angle position and you can vary the angle every shot as long as it is high angle and go as low as just off straight. you can even use some side on this routine if you like but most shots just top and centre cue ball striking. your target here is to predict where on the side cushion your cue ball will come to rest so before each shot work out where on the side cushion you think the cb will finish and place a bit of chalk there and see how close you can get but remember you want the cb finishing tight to side cushion. you can also use the other side cushion past the middle bag depending on the angle you have given yourself obviously. this is a good routine for learning the exact path of where your cb is going as some players just can not work out the angle of the pot and then the cb path. this is vital for positional purposes for your next shot. this is not an easy exercise so dont get frustrated if your predictions are not spot on but with practice they will get better. tip for this exercise is to visualise the pot going in and visualise first contact point on the black cushion and then its easier to predict the path of the cb to the side cushion.

3- black on the spot and cb in lower angle position but varying the angle every shot. every shot top of cb and centre striking. this time your target is to leave the cb in the centre of the table so in other words in line with the spots in the middle of the table. this is a good exercise for again predicting cb path and then judging the pace of your cb. if one of them is wrong then you will not be finishing in the centre of the table. so just imagine that if you land in the centre of table then this is you perfect for your next shot and good positioning.

hope this is ok for you mate and remember they are not easy exercises to predict exactly so give yourself a wee bit of room for error

all the best chris small

Thanks a lot Chris for taking the time to write the above down. I will definitely try them out, and practice them until I am decent at them. Will give feedback later on how it helps my game as well.

[sharkster63]

Thanks a lot Chris for the insight. I do have some sort of pre-shot routine, but I think I really need to focus on it a bit more, and make sure I actually do it for ALL shots.

Another question - What would be a good way to practice knowing what angle the cue ball will go after hitting the object ball depending on which height you cue the cue ball at? I would think just set up 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 balls and then just play the same shots with different heights and observe where the cue ball moves. But is there some sort of routine that is taught to beginners to learn this?

Thanks,
Wong

Good Day, I like to practice cue ball control from a half ball pot on black, I try to scratch in side, scratch in corner, draw and scratch in far corer and far side. I find that my concentration is far better if I am thinking of where cueball is going that just a straight pot. I often will plan an easy place to put white even when shooting last black to keep my concentration on.
Cheers,