I’ve had some questions from the Billiards and Darts Direct channel subscribers. They want to know how to do a long shot, like I showed in an earlier video. Well, you ask for it, you got it. Here’s a how-to on shooting Long Shots.

Since the term “Long Shot” can mean many thing to many players, I’ve set up a situation that I feel best exemplifies the term. Basically, you have two balls, far apart from each other with the cue ball near the rail and the object ball all the way at the end, with a cut-shot.

You’ll want to shoot the ball in just like any other shot but there is one very important thing you can do to improve your chances of making the ball. Hold the cue with your back two fingers (your Ring Finger and your Pinky). This will make the cue go much straighter because you will have fewer imperfections in your stroke.

Of course, if you have to hit the ball in really hard to get crucial shape then you may not be able to do this quite as easily. If you just want to shoot the ball in, nice and easy, then this technique will give you a definite advantage. Go ahead and take your shot at normally and you’ll make your ball.

Today I’m going to show you how to break 10-ball. It’s essentially the same process as when you break 8 ball: Hit the 1 ball head-on, not off to the side. You want ALL your force to go into the ball.

I personally go one diamond up and one diamond over but you can hit it anywhere, as long as you hit it with straight-on force. You still want to keep your body weight leaning back so you can throw that body weight forward when you break. That will transmit the full force of your body to the shot.

You can also break off the rail if you prefer. The biggest thing is getting that force moving forward and hitting the lead ball head-on. If you do it correctly, the balls should scatter pretty well and the cue ball should end up close to the center of the table.

Making the 8 Ball on a break is no easy feat. It’s a bit of a luck shot. It’s so difficult that nobody can do it with 100% accuracy every time. That being said, there are certain steps you can take to ensure that you have the best chance of making the 8 ball on a break. First thing we need to do is position our cue ball.

You’ll need to be all the way to the side rail. Next, you need to avoid the head ball and instead focus on the second ball down (in the video below, the second ball down is the 15 ball). You need to hit that second ball down head-on. You don’t want to clip the ball in front of or behind the 15 ball because that will ruin the shot. You can’t hit the cue ball in the center either, since you’ll scratch it after making contact. So you want to draw the ball, so that after you hit the 15 ball, it will come off to the side.

Take your time and line up your shot, again being careful not to clip the other balls. Shoot the cue and watch the 8 ball (hopefully) land in that side pocket. Now again, this is a technique that takes a TON of practice and just as much luck to get absolutely right. Expect to miss the shot the majority of the time. Take solace in the fact that even if you don’t make the 8 ball any of the time, you’re still getting some good practice in on breaking.

Welcome back for another exciting how-to billiards tip from Billiards and Darts Direct. Today we’re going to learn how to shoot combination shots, these are also often called simply “Combos”. Combos are a very important aspect of playing pool and mastering this concept will pay very large dividends in real-world games.

So, lets imagine we’re playing a game of 8 ball and we want to shoot the nine ball into the side pocket. First thing I’ll need to do is line up and figure out where my point of contact is. The point of contact in this particular case is where I want the eleven ball to hit the nine ball. Once I’ve figured out my first point of contact, then I’ll move on to the eleven ball and I’ll figure out where it’s going to make contact on the nine ball. After that, I’m going to see where my spot is on the eleven ball, where my cue ball is going to hit the eleven. So basically, I’m just working backwards from the very last ball and going until my cue ball.

Now all I’m looking at is that spot on the eleven ball where the cue ball is going to make contact. I’ll go ahead and take my shot and, like magic, my object ball will go in. Of course, like any technique, this will take some practice to master but once you do, it’ll be an often used and much appreciated technique in your repertoire.

Pool players often have trouble with drawing the ball. I get lots of players in my store coming in and asking me what they can do to improve their draw. Before I show them the proper way to draw the ball, I first like to go over the mistakes that they are likely making when attempting their shot.

The first mistake players make when trying to draw the ball is to lift the butt of their cue up so as not to jump it off the table. This is a very inefficient technique because of all the wasted energy that your cue is putting into the table. Shooting at a high angle like this also yields poor rotation on the cue ball. A much more efficient and powerful way of drawing the ball is to level out against the table. Shooting at this angle (or rather, lack of angle) will help transfer all of your energy through the ball.

Some people may know the correct techniques but they fail to implement them consistently. I don’t believe that any technique is worth doing unless it can be done every time. The best way to fix this inconsistency is to always start on the felt. Line up your shot using the leveling technique mentioned above. Next, stroke the cue tip on the felt a few times. Once you feel comfortable and you’re ready to shoot, bring it up one tip length. That ensures that you’re not guessing anymore and you can accurately hit the ball where you intend to.

Some players will do all the above techniques properly but when it’s time to actually hit the ball, they hit it just like it’s a normal stroke. That player may sink their shot but the cue ball will not draw very far after impact. To draw the ball properly, you need to snap it while also following through. This will make the cue ball spin backwards after impact.

There are a lot of techniques that pool players need to know to become proficient at their sport. One of the most important things to learn is something called Running English, which is essentially English going towards the ball, hitting the rail slightly before coming into contact with the ball.

A great way to practice shots like this is to start an object ball relatively close to the pocket and work your way up, moving a little bit farther away with each successful shot. To begin, with the ball on your left side, you’ll want to use left English. Take your shot and hit the rail just before the ball. This way when the ball hits the rail, it will spin into the ball and transfer energy into it, which will send the object ball into the pocket. Keep practicing by working your way up the table, each time getting a little further away from the pocket.

Although Left English is useful for making a lot of shots it won’t work every time. To be a truly versatile player, you’ll want to learn how to shoot with Right English or Center Ball. Practice using Right English after you’ve mastered Left English and you’ll be unstoppable. The key is knowing how to spin the cue ball into the object ball. If you can do this, you’ll be able to pull off some shots that most players consider to be impossible.

The common phrase “Practice makes perfect” is a bit misleading. It seems to imply that as long as you keep doing something, you’ll eventually become the best at it. This is flat out wrong. If you continually do something wrong, you won’t improve, you’ll just figure out the quickest and most efficient way to do it incorrectly.

To improve in any aspect of life, you must practice using the proper techniques. Learning the right way to do something and then emulating that is the only true way to attain perfection. So, really a better phrase would be “Perfect practice makes perfect“. That is what I hope to impart on you today with my Pool Technique video.

We’re going to learn about how to properly follow the cue ball. Learning this technique will help you to become much more accurate and that will make it easier to sink balls.

The first thing to do is make sure your stick is level. You don’t want to angle your stick too high and transfer your energy into the table. You also don’t want to go over the top of the cue and transfer your energy over the ball. You want to hit the cue straight on, so that you transfer all your energy directly into the cue.The best practice is to create a reliable pre-shot routine and remember to do it each time you line up a shot.

Begin by leveling out your cue as I mentioned before. Then you want to aim just above the cue ball and then bring it down a tip-length. This will ensure that you are going to be hitting the cue ball straight on and it will transfer nearly all of your energy into the ball. It seems like a simple and obvious thing, but I’ve seen professional players who sometimes forget this relatively easy to grasp technique. Learn this technique and make it part of your daily routine and I guarantee your accuracy will begin to improve dramatically.