It's history is ancient.
Its action is infinite.
Its surprises never stop.
It's only a game, the fantastic game of pool.
Few people know more about using a pool cue than Bob Byrne.
A national class billiards player and a winner of major tournaments, he is also the author
of two books, considered by experts to be the finest of their kind ever written.
Byrne's standard book of pool and billiards and Byrne's treasury of trick shots in pool
and billiards.
His articles on the subject have appeared in numerous publications from Sports Illustrated
to Playboy and his monthly features in Billiards Digest have brought fresh insight into the
fine points of the game to players everywhere.
Along the way, Byrne has managed to squeeze in careers as a civil engineer, a magazine
editor and now as a successful novelist and freelance writer with 13 published books.
But foremost in his mind has always been his first love, the game.
Hi, I'm Bob Byrne and in the next 60 minutes I'm going to try to teach you just about everything
you need to know to be a very good pool player.
I can't teach you everything because that would take more like 60 years than 60 minutes.
But I can teach you a lot.
One of the great things about the game really is that you can play for 60, 80, 90 years
and still have more to learn.
There's so much to learn about this game, it has many layers of complexity, it has the
psychological, the emotional, the surprising, the discipline.
Knowledge is the part that I can get to you.
I can't do anything about your hand-eye coordination, your eyesight and I can't make you practice.
But practice is the key to success in pool, just as it is the key to getting to Carnegie
Hall.
So it's up to you to make yourself practice when I'm about to show you.
The game is great, it's a lot of fun, the more fun the better you get.
While you're watching don't be passive, take an active interest if you're watching this
at home, take a broomstick for example, go to the dining room table and try to imitate
what I'm going to show you because top players over the last couple hundred years have learned
a lot, ever since Mingo invented the leather tip on the cue while he was a prisoner in
a French jail, or ever since Thurston started vulcanizing the rubber cushions.
Many secrets have been learned and I can show you a lot of them, so let's get right into
it.
The best cue really is a one-piece cue, one solid piece of wood, of course the one-piece
cue is a little awkward to carry around town without prodding people on a bus or trying
to get through a revolving door, but really the joint doesn't add anything to the playability
of the cue, it does add a bit to the price.
A two-piece cue costs at least $100 and if you have it custom made, designed to your
own wingspan for instance, it might cost $200 and up.
My own cue happens to be made by Ray Shuler, one of America's fine cue makers, there are
many good cue makers in the United States.
My cue happens to be 56 inches long, it's a little bit shorter than the average cue,
the tip is 12 millimeters in diameter, I feel a smaller tip than that, say 11.5, it breaks
down too soon.
The weight is 18.75 ounces, I like this cue because it has a very good solid joint which
is mostly wood to wood contact and a taper such that the shaft is very stiff, now that's
a stiff shaft.
I'd advise you to stay away from spindly cues because a very flexible cue will cause the
cue ball to diverge too much offline when you use English.
Of course on the last analysis the best cue for you is the one that feels right, don't
buy an expensive cue at the beginning, of course after you're more proficient and you
know what feels good, then you might like the satisfaction of having a very nice cue
to play with.
A good tip is even more important than the cue, a ten thousand dollar cue with a lousy
tip on it is practically useless, on the other hand with a broomstick, if it had a good tip
on it you could make some great shots and sweep the joint out afterwards.
I like a really hard tip, one that you can't dent with your thumbnail, a soft tip will
mushroom out as you use it and you'll feel it as it runs through your hand.
The top of the tip should be curved approximately the diameter of a quarter, now you can achieve
that with a piece of hard sandpaper or a file, don't play with a flat tip and on the side
of the tip that should be exactly the same diameter as the cue so that you don't feel
it when it runs through your hand.
A hard tip has one disadvantage, that is that you have to chalk up a lot and to make sure
it holds the chalk you can scuff it with a piece of sandpaper, a fine file, I use a little
piece of metal with sandpaper glued on it, scuff it by just rolling the tip lightly on
it or tapping it, that way it will hold the chalk and when chalking the cue, don't just
put the chalk on the cue and roll it as if you're trying to drill a hole through it,
brush it on, in fact you can look down there and make sure that the tip is completely covered
with chalk.
You can chalk up before every shot if you want to, a lot of good players do that, that's
not too often, because after all no one is going to have any sympathy for you if you
miss cue and then chalk up.
There are several important things to remember about the cue and the cue tip, let's review
one, as a beginner don't buy an expensive cue, two, look for a cue with a solid stiff
shaft, three, the cue tip should be hard and round in shape, four, the surface of the tip
should be roughened to hold chalk, five, and finally chalk the tip before every shot.
Ever notice the way Jack Nicholas and the other top golfers set up over a shot, they
really settle in and they really study the fundamentals and they really concentrate on
their relationship to the ball, well you as a pool player should do the same thing, there
are a number of things to remember in a good stance and I'm going to tell you what they
are, now you can vary them a little bit later but I wish you'd try it my way first.
Now the first thing is to be well balanced, you can make any particular shot by standing
on one foot or putting your cue behind the back or something but if you're going to play
a whole game or you're going to play for a couple of hours, you want to be comfortable,
well balanced and then there will be no muscle strain.
When you walk into the shot, stop so that your feet are at about a 45 degree angle with
the line of aim.
I advocate a straight left arm with the elbow locked, that eliminates one variable from
your stance, set up so your hand is about 6 to 8 inches from the cue ball, the cue,
the right foot, the right elbow and your dominant eye are all in the same vertical plane.
You can tell which is your dominant eye by winking each eye in succession and when the
cue doesn't jump, you're looking through your dominant eye, some people use the left, some
people the right.
When the cue tip is about 3 inches from the ball, the right forearm is pointed almost
straight down at the floor, that's another element of the classical stance.
How far down should you crouch?
About a foot from the cue is typical, however I think that when you have a very accurate
hit that must be made, you should bend down even lower so you can aim that cue just like
a rifle.
Finally, try to do it the same way every time, consistency, that's the key to good pool playing.
Once again briefly, for a good stance, one, plant yourself firmly to assure good balance,
two, place your feet at a 45 degree angle to the line of aim, three, keep the left arm
straight with the elbow locked, four, place the bridge hand six to eight inches from the
ball, five, the cue, the right foot, the right elbow and the dominant eye should occupy the
same vertical plane, six, the right arm should point straight to the floor at aim, seven,
finally make your stance consistent.
The way that you hold the cue with your right hand is called a grip, I can tell you a few
things about it.
Don't hold it like this, that's the teaspoon grip.
Don't hold it like a baseball bat, that's the death grip.
Don't cock your wrist like that or like this, the wrist should be straight down.
Now most of the players you'll see just use the thumb and forefinger and maybe the second
finger as well and as they stroke on the backswing the hand opens out and on the front swing
all the fingers touch the cue.
There's a lot of discussion about whether or not the wrists should be loose or stiff,
it really doesn't make any difference and the best advice I can give you is just forget
about the wrist.
The cue ball doesn't know whether your wrist is loose or locked, do you have a stiff wrist?
Fine, welcome to the club.
There are four things to remember about the grip, one, hold the cue with the thumb, forefinger
and middle finger, two, the right wrist should not be cocked in or out but should form a
straight line with the forearm, three, the grip hand opens slightly on the backswing,
four, the grip hand closes on the cue on contact with the cue ball.
A really snug grip on the cue, that's what you need, it's called the bridge, it can be
formed this way or that way.
If you're just a beginner and you're having a lot of other things to worry about a V bridge
is perfectly fine, just lay the cue across the V formed by your thumb and forefinger.
Even top players do it that way sometimes when they're reaching or if they're hitting
the cue ball right in the center but if you're going to spin the cue ball or if you're going
to shoot hard you want a good solid closed bridge so that you won't miss cue and you
can guide the cue with security right through the ball.
One way to form it is just to move your middle finger down, cross your thumb over it and
close the tips of the fingers together like that, if that's too loose you can tuck the
tip of the forefinger under the thumb.
On the table put the heel of the hand down to make a solid tripod, don't hold it up like
this.
Now there is a solid bridge, you'd need a pickaxe to tear that apart.
One thing I want to caution you about is not to make a bridge like that up on the rail
unless you deliberately want to jump the cue ball or curve it because on the rail shooting
down like that you're going to force the cue ball off the cloth or to curve.
When it's this close to the rail just lay the cue on the rail and form your bridge hand
around it.
This is a common bridge, thumb alongside, one finger over and squeeze these two fingers
together so that the cue can only go back and forth, not sideways.
It gets tougher the closer the cue ball is to the rail, now you might have to back up
like this.
So you always just lay the cue down and find a way to hold your hand, this would be the
worst case, but even there you can find something to do.
When it's right against the rail like this you sometimes must angle down a little bit
to avoid miscuing over the top of the wall.
There are other angles along the rail, shooting like this, like that, back like this.
You're always trying to find a way to keep the cue as level as possible and to hold it
in such a way that it can't move sideways, only back and forth.
That's the key to a good solid bridge.
There's one position that completely buffaloes some beginners, it's because they don't know
how to form a bridge over a ball.
In this case you have to shoot down on the ball, the key to it is to find a good solid
tripod with your left hand, I do it something like this, get as close as you can to this
ball because you want to minimize the error of this lever arm.
Now since you have to shoot down on the cue ball you have to concentrate on hitting the
cue ball right in the middle, otherwise it will curve right or left.
So after you've set up concentrate on that center ball hit, it's even possible to do
it over two or more balls, it's a little harder but again get as close as you can, concentrate
on the center ball hit and follow through.
The rake, you might think it's easier to use a mechanical device but not true, it's a lot
harder.
But let's minimize the difficulty by remembering a few rules, one is put the rake handle down
on the cloth and pin it there with your hand, now be ready to pick it up in case there's
a rebounding ball off the cushion.
The right hand should hold the cue roughly like this, bend down so that you're shooting
more or less out of your chin, keep your right forearm more or less horizontal, a final point
is to concentrate on hitting that cue ball directly in the center because you are shooting
slightly down on the cue ball and you don't want that cue ball curving, if you keep all
those points in mind, the shot is not nearly as difficult as you might think it is.
A solid bridge is the key to hitting the cue ball accurately, remember, one, a V bridge
is acceptable for beginners or when shooting over balls, two, to form the loop bridge cross
the thumb against the side of the forefinger and then make a snug loop around the cue stick
by closing the tip of the forefinger to the tip of the thumb, three, set the heel of the
bridge hand firmly on the table, four, for shooting off the rail lay the cue on the rail
and form the bridge around it, five, when bridging over balls try to hit the cue ball
as close to the center as possible to avoid unintentional curves, six, when using a rake
set the rake handle firmly on the table, keep the right forearm level and shoot from just
under the chin, seven, always keep the cue as level as possible.
Players argue all the time about what type of stroke to use and there are several permissible
variations, but I want to teach you what could be called the classic stroke, there are certain
elements in it that you can learn.
Keep the cue level, and I mean really level, I can let go with my right hand and nothing
happens because the cue is already as low as it can get, in tournaments sometimes you
hear the cue rubbing on the rail because top players know the importance of a level cue,
it eliminates curves, there's a certain series of actions you should take, a sequence that
you should learn and make it the same every time, set yourself up, take some authoritative
warm up strokes, nothing wishy washy or namby pamby, get right in there and stroke the cue
like you're in charge, at some point stop and aim the cue to make sure you have it on
the right line, when you're confident of that, take a few more careful strokes, follow straight
through, you don't have to follow straight through, you can make almost any shot without
a follow through but it's a waste of energy and following straight through helps you deliver
the cue correctly through the ball, a good stroke also is characterized by the dipping
of the tip at the end like that, when you finally decide to pull the trigger, do it
when the tip is at the cue, not when it's back here, now I have a little drill for you
that will help you develop a true stroke, if you can do this drill correctly it will
prove that you are hitting the cue ball directly in the center, that you're following straight
through and that you are judging the perpendicular angle into the rail correctly, the object
is to shoot the ball into the rail and make it come directly back and hit the cue tip
like this, that's pretty easy across the width of the table, what's hard is to do it lengthwise,
if you can do that consistently you have very good technique.
Once again here's how to develop a reliable and consistent stroke, one, plant yourself
firmly and keep the cue level, two, to get the feel of the cue take several authoritative
warm up strokes, three, stop the cue at the cue ball and aim carefully, four, take a few
final warm up strokes, five, stroke, pulling the trigger when the cue is at the cue ball.
I know those fundamentals aren't very exciting, not as exciting as some of the other parts
of the game but master them and the game becomes vastly easier, you'll be able to make all
kinds of shots, long straight in shots for instance and that is exciting but before we
can reach the next plateau you have to learn how to make the balls obey your orders.
Let's go up to the demonstration board.
In the following sections a solid yellow line will be used to indicate the path of the cue
ball, a dotted pink line will be used to indicate the path of the object ball.
There's more to cut shots than you may think.
Let's set up a simple one so the point can be clearly understood.
Here the problem is to cut the one into the corner pocket.
If you're having trouble with simple cut shots like this, listen to this suggestion.
Imagine the target point here and direct an imaginary line through the center of the object
ball and out the other side, that's the contact point you're trying to hit.
Remember you can't direct the cue ball at that point, if you do you'll hit too much
one ball and miss it a mile.
That is only the contact point, not the aiming point.
The aiming point can be determined by using an imaginary ball.
Imagine where the cue ball will be at the point of contact.
Now wherever the cue ball is, to cut the one in you direct the cue ball through the center
of this imaginary ball, then the one ball gets directed into the pocket.
However, there's a little nuance here you should know about.
At that moment of contact there's friction between the two balls so that as the cue ball
passes it'll cling to the one briefly and carry it forward so that the line of travel
will be a little bit in this direction.
So on most cut shots you should overcut the object ball, that is try to direct it into
this part of the pocket so if there's any friction between the two balls, if it gets
carried forward at all it'll end up in the middle of the pocket.
Another aiming aid on a long straight in shot is the distant point.
Let's say you have a shot the length of the table and it's straight in, that means you
hit the object ball straight in the face, full in the face, extending the line of aim
to the back of the pocket gives you a point here.
If these balls are really straight into the pocket, if you aim the cue ball and use no
side spin that might throw things offline and if you follow through toward this point
you've got to make the one ball.
The other extreme would be a very, very thin hit.
To make this one now you'd have to direct the cue ball along a line that looks like
you're almost going to miss the object ball but remember it's just this edge of the cue
ball that hits that edge of the object ball.
That's a little easier to demonstrate at the table.
Notice how this works.
The aiming point can be determined by using an imaginary ball.
You direct the cue ball through the center of this imaginary ball.
Watch.
There are several steps to take to ensure accurate aim.
One, determine where the object ball must be hit for the desired result.
This is the contact point.
Two, now imagine where the cue ball must be at the instant it touches the correct contact
point.
Three, aim for the center of the imaginary cue ball and then stroke.
Four, on cut shots take into account the effect of cue ball friction on the object ball.
Pool is position.
You've got to think ahead.
Don't ever shoot any shot without thinking about what your next shot is.
Some players fool around for years without ever thinking ahead.
Maybe they think that position player requires fancy spin on the cue ball.
Not true.
Most position is simply a result of thinking ahead.
You can play a lot of position with center ball hits on the cue ball.
There's three ways really to play position without any spin.
One is controlling the speed.
Another is by cheating the pocket.
Another is by choosing the proper sequence.
Here's a simple position from the game of eight ball.
You make the one, then you make the eight and win the game.
Here naturally you would shoot very softly to keep the cue ball within range so you have
a shot on the eight.
However, if the eight ball were up here for example, you could have the same hit on the
one, center ball hit on the cue ball, shoot a little harder to get into this position.
If the eight were all the way down at the other end of the table, you could have the
same hit on the one, the same hit on the cue ball.
Just use a little more speed and come all the way down to here.
The other way of playing position with center ball hits is choosing the balls in the right
sequence.
I'll set up a simple example.
A game of eight ball again, it would be a major crime to shoot the one ball first.
In a position like this, the one ball can be considered the key ball.
That's the one that you can use to get easy position on the eight.
Here you take the seven first, come out for the one and almost anywhere in here that you
end up makes it a simple matter to make the one and get position on the eight.
Now for a really helpful secret, it's cheating the pocket.
When the ball is close to the corner or the side, you have tremendous leeway in making
it.
You can hit the ball way over here and still make it or way up here and still make it.
So it's an easy shot.
But you should make use of that freedom in playing position.
If you play this ball full, the cue ball will come out about here at a given speed say.
But if you hit it thin, the cue ball can go all the way down to the other end of the table.
Good players use the freedom they have on the pockets routinely.
Let's see what the dynamics of that shot looks like at the table.
This is a treacherous shot because it's so easy to make you forget about the position.
If you hit the ball full at a certain speed, the cue ball goes about like that.
But using the same speed but a thin hit, driving the one into the other side of the pocket,
the course of the cue ball is tremendously different at the same speed.
You have to think about that carefully on those shots that look so easy.
Pool is position.
Remember, one, the faster the cue ball rolls, the farther it travels.
Two, a pocket is over twice the width of the ball.
Where you aim the object ball into the pocket will affect the cue ball's position.
This is called cheating the pocket.
Three, the best shot is not always the most obvious one.
Examine the position of all the balls to determine the correct sequence of shots.
Sometimes it's not enough just to hit the cue ball in the center.
You have to spin it.
Let's consider hitting the cue ball above center and below center.
Now watch what happens when I shoot the cue ball down the table with low spin, backspin.
First it will spin backwards, then it will decay into slide, and finally it will be rolling
forward.
I'm going to use this special striped ball so you can see the action.
Now watch.
Let's take another look at that.
With a low hit on the cue ball, it must start out with backspin.
Then it will slide, then it will roll forward naturally.
Here's how you make use of that.
If you can judge the hit on the cue ball so that it slides into the object ball, it will
stop absolutely dead because there will be no topspin and no backspin.
There are two ways to shoot a stop shot.
One is by hitting a little bit below center and hard, and the other one is hitting quite
low but softly.
I'll shoot the easier one.
Stops dead.
That's a very important shot in pool.
It comes up all the time.
They use it probably more than any other type of cue ball action, and it's vital to be able
to do that reliably if you want to build long runs.
When a cue ball hits an object ball on a straight end shot, it first stops dead.
What happens next depends on what kind of spin the cue ball has.
If it has topspin, it will go forward and follow the object ball.
If it has backspin, it will back up.
Let's look at this follow action.
In applying English, high English, to the cue ball, follow.
Keep the heel of the hand down.
Don't raise the cue like this.
Just reform the fingers so the cue comes up and keep the cue level.
I'm going to hit the cue ball above center, about seven-tenths of the way up.
Don't hit it any higher than that because it's useless and you're running into the
chance of a missed cue.
The problem I have here on this position is to hit the 11, make it in the side, and judge
the forward roll so that I stop right near the lip.
Only if I get the cue ball there will I have position on the nine in the corner.
It'll look something like this.
You can see it's possible to judge the length of the follow rather accurately.
Here's another thing you can try in a similar position.
If it really is straight in, you have quite a bit of leeway here in the pocket.
You can cheat the pocket.
Drive the two, in this case, to this side of the side pocket.
Then the cue ball will follow a little bit to the left over to this rail without any
risk of scratching.
That way there's not nearly as much risk.
One final possibility is to play a carom off the nine, deliberately drive the five into
the nine, knocking the nine further down toward the pocket you're trying to make it into anyway.
Now you don't have nearly as much risk.
It's very good practice to set up an easy follow shot and try to judge the distance
of the follow exactly.
If you can do that, you'll have a lot better chance of running the table and winning the
game.
In my book on the game, I have 10 position practice shots that you should really work
on.
Making the ball is easy.
The object is to put the cue ball in a certain spot.
I'll show you two.
One is to help you develop speed control and the other to help you develop judgment on
carom angles.
Here I have a two near the side.
The object here is to cut the two in the side, put the cue ball three lengths of the table
and leave it between this line at the one diamond mark and the end rail.
Shots like this come up all the time in games.
Running the ball is easy.
The object is to put the cue ball in a certain spot.
Second example.
Make the two.
No problem there.
The problem is to make the five.
It gives you practice on judging carom angles.
Work on those shots.
They'll help your game tremendously.
And this is Mr. Irving Crane at the table on a run of 111, he leads by 100 points, 111
to 11.
Look at the forced draw on that.
The ability to make a draw shot is one of the profoundest pleasures in life and I really
feel sorry for people who have never enjoyed it.
There are millions of people in the United States who have never executed a draw shot
properly and some of them are pool players.
If you're one of them, your troubles are over because I'm going to show you the essential
steps of making a draw shot.
It's one of the things I do best in life.
There are five key points to it.
If you'll remember them, you'll be able to do this shot too.
One, make sure the tip is well chocked because you're going to hit the cue ball well off
center and you don't want any missed cues.
Secondly, you must have a snug bridge.
No open bridge on the draw shot, please.
This is snug and solid because you're going to hit it very low and you want to drive the
cue through the cue ball with security.
Third, keep the cue level.
To hit the cue ball below center, don't lift up the butt.
Just lower your bridge hand so that the cue stays level.
Fourth, get a very low hit.
Many players do not hit the cue ball low enough when they are trying to make a draw shot.
Maybe they're afraid they're going to golf the cue ball off the table, but it's essential
for lively action to hit the cue ball very low.
Fifth, and finally, the speed of the shot must be appropriate to this distance.
The greater that distance, the harder you have to hit the shot.
Let's say in a game you had a ball here and you have this shot.
I'll use this striped ball as the cue ball so you can see the spin.
A beginner or someone who can't draw is in trouble.
They'll leave the cue ball here, they'll have a tough shot on the one.
A player who can draw the ball has no trouble at all because he can bring it right back
for position on the one.
Very good practice is to set up an easy shot and try to estimate the length of the draw.
You can put a piece of paper on the table and see if you can leave the cue ball on it.
Problems like this come up all the time in position play.
It's even possible to draw the length of the table.
Let's say the problem is this.
The 13 ball is at the other end of the table.
With a good lively draw, you can get the cue ball all the way down there for position on
the 13 in this fashion.
Down the table it goes for perfect position.
If you follow those points and practice, you will have a gift that will stay with you for
the rest of your life.
Let's review the principles of making shots with stop, follow, and draw.
There are two ways to make the cue ball stop on contact with an object ball.
One, hit the cue ball hard and below center.
Two, hit soft and even lower below center.
How hard you must hit the cue ball to produce stop action depends on how far it must travel
before striking the object ball.
Learning to stop the cue ball in a variety of situations is an essential key to playing
good pool.
The cue ball will follow the object ball when it is struck above center.
Remember, one, don't hit the cue ball above seven-tenths of its diameter.
Two, keep the heel of the bridge hand firmly on the table to avoid missed cues and jumping
the cue ball.
Again, practice will help you learn to judge the effects of speed and distance on follow
shots.
To execute a draw shot, remember the following five steps.
One, chalk the cue tip.
Two, make a snug bridge.
Three, keep the cue level by flattening the bridge hand.
Don't lift the butt end of the cue.
Four, hit the cue ball low.
Five, remember that the farther the cue ball from the object ball, the harder the cue ball
must be hit to make it draw.
Don't forget, practice.
Now let's talk about the wonders of throw.
I love teaching this part because it doesn't have anything to do with skill, it's only
knowledge and knowledge is something I can give you.
Remember earlier I mentioned that on a simple cut shot, the object ball gets thrown slightly
forward as the cue ball passes it.
Now that phenomenon of cling or throw shows up most dramatically when the two object balls
are frozen, such as this position.
Now you can see that the balls are lined up for a point right about there.
Now can this shot be made?
The two balls are frozen.
You can't change the contact point.
If they were not frozen, you might be able to cut the 11 in by hitting the 10 way over
on this side.
But when they're frozen, you can't do anything about the contact point.
Yet the shot can be made.
All you have to do is hit the left side of the 10.
The friction between the two balls will carry the 11 off the anticipated line and toward
the pocket.
Say the balls were set up here, now it looks like a dead combination.
And many times this shot is missed and afterwards you hear the players say, jeez I thought that
was dead.
But it isn't dead.
You have to hit it in the right spot.
Here it's aimed at the middle of the pocket.
Now you have to hit the 10 close to the point opposite the pocket.
If you hit it on this side or this side, the 11 may very well get thrown offline and miss.
So keep that in mind.
Here's another position involving throw.
The cue ball is now frozen to the object ball.
The line of centers is here.
If they were not frozen, I could make the 11 in this pocket by cutting it in this direction.
But since they're frozen, it looks like I'm stuck.
But I'm not stuck.
There are two ways to make that shot.
One I call directional throw, the other is English throw.
Directional throw, all you have to do is aim in a direction like this.
The cue ball will go off in this direction.
That will carry the 11 offline into the pocket.
But say you don't want the cue ball to go down to that end of the table.
You want it to stay up here.
No problem.
You just shoot over here with a lot of left hand English.
The friction will be in this direction carrying the 11 offline.
Looking at it from a side view, if this is the table, that is where you would hit the
cue ball to give it left hand spin.
The left hand spin will carry the 11 into the pocket.
One final point on throw shots.
Let's say you have multiple combinations like this.
Positions like this come up all the time in a partially broken rack.
You'll see good players studging the rack carefully to see if there's a position like
this they can exploit.
The point is this.
The 11 and the 10 now form a frozen combination aiming at this point.
Can the 10 be thrown over into the pocket?
Yes, if the 11 is hit on the left hand side, which is just the opposite of what common
sense dictates.
If you hit the 3, the 11 is hit on the wrong side.
It'll throw the 10 off this way and you'll miss even farther.
Anywhere on this side of the 11, in other words you can hit the one anywhere and throw
the 10 into the pocket.
That's why I like throw.
It's a matter of knowledge, it violates common sense, and it's a tremendously powerful weapon
to use.
Here's the same position we saw on the board.
The 10 and 11 are aimed for here and it's not clear whether it can be made.
The trick is hit on the left, not on the right, so that the 10 can throw the 11 toward the
pocket.
Another common mistake is when it looks like you have a dead combination, but they're not
really dead.
You have to hit them in the right spot.
Here they're aimed for the middle of the pocket, so the player says, aha, a dead combination.
But if he hits it on the right in order, say, to break up a cluster, he'll miss the 11.
A strict reading of the rules permits you to shoot right into a frozen ball.
Here's the cue ball, frozen to the 11.
They're lined up straight for here.
No way to make the shot, you might think, but you can make it in two ways.
One is with English throw, shoot way over on the left so that the rubbing friction between
the balls will throw the 11 in.
There's another way to throw the 11 ball in and that is with what I call directional throw.
The 11 ball, again, experiences a rubbing action in this direction.
Here you can use a center ball and throw the 11 in.
The principle of the third ball, here the 10 is lined up for there.
You want to throw it to the right, third ball back is the one that determines which way
that throws.
If you hit the three anywhere, you'll miss the shot.
You hit the one almost anywhere, you make the shot.
From 35 to 11 on a continuous run at the table by Mr. Irving Crane of 135.
So far we've concentrated on hitting the cue ball along the vertical axis for topspin,
stop and draw.
Let's consider hitting it to one side or the other, English or side.
Now what do the English call English?
They call it side.
It has its maximum effect when you're shooting straight into a rail.
Hitting the cue ball off center to the left will naturally make it spin to the left on
the rebound.
Incidentally, if you want to make a maximum effect, it's best to use low English as well
as side spin.
That will make it go the other way.
Remember though, and I want to leave you with this thought, side spin is only used to affect
the rebound angle off the rail, not the caram angle off the ball.
The caram angle off the ball is influenced by high and low on the vertical axis.
The side spin is just to influence the rebound angle off the rail.
Unfortunately, there are some dangers in using English and you should never use it unless
you absolutely have to.
Take a look at this long straight in shot.
If you're using left hand English on this ball, four things can happen.
One is you have the phenomenon of squirt.
Hitting the cue ball to the left makes the cue ball diverge a little bit to the right
on the side opposite the tip.
That's one problem.
Another is swerve or curve.
If you're shooting slightly down on the cue ball with left hand English, the cue ball
will curve to the left.
It's sort of a compensating error, but it doesn't compensate exactly.
Another problem is transfer of English, which causes the one ball to throw.
Using left here puts a little bit of right on the one ball and throws that off line.
And finally, you can miss cue if you use too much English.
A little tip on English, the softer you shoot, the more English you can use.
If you're going to shoot hard, don't get out more than, say, halfway from the middle
out to the side of the ball.
I'm sorry to have to tell you about those four risks, but I don't make up the laws
of physics.
I just interpret them.
Let's take a look at a couple of game examples.
Here's a three ball.
The eight ball is near the side and we want to play position on that.
Without English, the rebound angle off the rail would be something like that, which is
okay if there's no interference.
But let's say there's a ball in the way.
If we shot it exactly the same way, we're liable to hit the 15.
But watch what happens if I use a little bit of side spin on the cue ball.
Now the rebound angle will be affected.
We easily miss the interfering ball and get position on the eight.
Another example would be this.
Say the eight ball is down here.
And we have to get position on the eight ball here.
Now we use what we call inside English.
In this position, right English would be outside and left English would be inside.
Watch the effect of the English on the rebound angle.
That's how we could bring the cue ball back for position on the eight.
Those are the things to remember with English.
It's a tough thing to master, but it's beautiful to use in certain situations.
Sometimes though, it might be better to miss the shot rather than to use English for position.
You can always play safe, you know, and wait for a better opening.
Let your opponent make the mistakes.
English or side spin is used to control the way the cue ball rebounds off the rail.
It does not affect the way the cue ball caroms off the object ball.
Remember, one, right English applied to the cue ball will make it rebound to the right
off the rail.
Two, left English will produce a rebound to the left.
Three, for maximum effect, use low English as well as side spin.
Four, take into account the risks of squirt, swerve, throw, and miscuing.
English is difficult to control and should be used only when absolutely necessary.
I have very sad news for you on bank shots.
The various geometrical systems for calculating them don't work or aren't practical.
The most common one is called splitting the angle or dividing the distance, and it looks
like this.
Let's say you want to bank the five ball into the side.
It is two diamonds down from the side, therefore the system holds.
Divide the distance and direct it toward the first diamond, and it will bank in.
Not necessarily true.
What if the five were close to the rail?
Now it is still two diamonds down, but if you divide the angle or split the distance
and shoot it toward the first diamond, it obviously is going to go way too long.
The problem with all those geometrical systems is that the angle of incidence does not equal
the angle of reflection.
There are several reasons for that.
Speed is paramount.
If you shoot a long bank shot, fairly hard, by the time it gets to here it has top spin,
and the top spin will make it bend a little bit long as it comes off the rail.
However, if it is still sliding when it hits the rail, then the top spin bend won't be
in effect and it will come short.
The rubber.
The rubber is not a wall.
It comes to a nice edge, and the harder you hit it, the more the ball sinks into it, and
the better chance the rubber has to grip the ball and throw it short.
Finally, you have the problem of transfer of English.
If you're shooting straight at the five, any left English or right English on the cue ball
will transfer slightly to the object ball, thus changing the angle of reflection.
If you're passing the five ball, so that when you hit the five, the cue ball will go down
that way, the five picks up a little bit of right hand spin, which will influence the
rebound angle.
Or if you're passing it in this direction, it picks up the opposite English and shortens
that angle.
There's one geometrical system that works a little bit.
That is this.
Let's say you want to determine, from this position, the correct contact point to make
that bank.
Well, here's what you'd have to do.
You'd have to drop a perpendicular to here.
Imagine that point.
Imagine a line from this ball to that side pocket.
Imagine a line from that contact point to this side pocket, and at the point those two
imaginary lines cross, you drop another perpendicular to the rail, and that is the contact point.
But who would do that in a game and what opponent would wait for you while you did that?
You can try the mirror system.
Put a mirror right along the nose of the cushion and drive the five ball toward the reflection
of the side pocket.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to carry mirrors into a game.
Sorry to say that the only way to make bank shots and get good at them and to make them
consistently is to be aware of those factors that influence the angle and then practice
them and practice them until they come out of your ears.
There is no system for calculating bank shots accurately.
Practice and good judgment are the key elements of successful bank shots.
Remember that speed, distance, transfer of English, and the consistency of rail rubber
all have an effect on the way an object ball rebounds when banked.
Here's a brief review of what you must do to make successful bank shots.
What should you do to hit the balls as hard as possible, because that's what you have
to do in a break shot?
I can give you a few pointers that will help you accomplish that.
Put the cue ball as close as you can to the pack, but maybe not right in the center of
the table because there's often a groove worn in the cloth or a spot there, and it might
tend to make the cue ball jump off the cloth.
A little bit off center, but close to the pack.
Holding the cue is a little bit different.
The bridge hand is back a couple extra inches to give you more room for a big backswing.
The right hand moves back a couple more inches.
That'll help you get more power.
Now the very important point, concentrate on hitting the apex ball, or the one ball
at the front of the pack, dead in the center for two reasons.
One is you want to transfer the maximum energy of the cue ball into the pack, and secondly,
you don't want the cue ball running around the table after the break.
You want it to stop dead, perhaps back up a little bit, end up in the center of the
table is perfect.
Now watch what happens when everything works perfectly.
Let's try that again.
A good break shot depends on hitting the cue ball hard.
Here's how.
One, place the cue ball as close to the pack as possible.
Two, move the bridge hand back from the cue ball to permit a longer backswing.
Three, move your cue hand back on the cue for more power.
Four, hit the apex ball dead center.
That's all we have time for on this tape.
On the next tape we'll take up some really delicious stuff like jump shots and curve
shots and masse shots, and I'll show you how to handle certain special situations that
come up.
You want to be a good player, here's what you do.
Review this tape.
You have a rewind button and a pause button, use them and make sure all the fundamental
points I've tried to make are part of your own game.
You can read a book.
There are a lot of books on billiards that you can get at a billiard supply store or
a bookstore.
My own Byrne Standard Book of Pool and Billiards is probably the most comprehensive, but get
somebody else's opinion on that.
And finally, take a lesson from a good teacher.
Not every top player is a good teacher, but you can get a recommendation on who is a good
teacher by looking up a billiard supply store on your yellow pages or go to a pool hall
and ask for a recommendation.
There's really no substitute for teaching and there's no substitute for practice.
So until next time, good luck and good shooting.
Don't miss part two of Byrne Standard Video of Pool.