Many players believe that they get bad rolls, or that certain situations develop on the playing surface of the table that keep them from running out. I believe that the reasons we fail to run the rack is mainly due to bad habits that we have developed over time. I believe that there are 10 bad habits that we have all had at one time or another, and that we utilize these habits subconsciously, either out of desperation or by necessity. Bad habits are the result of poor decisions. They are also the result of laziness. We find the easier, softer way, and avoid progress at all costs. These habits root themselves into the deepest and most difficult to reach parts of your game, making it seem nearly impossible to ever alleviate the symptoms and deal with the problems head on. No situation is impossible. No situation is helpless. When faced with problems such as this, we shouldn't stay in helplessness, Instead of saying, "I can't because," train your mind to say "Well, how CAN I?" Along with identifying these bad habits, I will pass along to you 10 good habits that can and will enable you to run out the rack! Remember, we don't have bad habits, they have us! BUT.... we can replace the negative habits with positive ones, and become trapped into doing the right thing, all of the time!

Bad Habit #1: A display of power on the break.

This is the downfall of many a player. Throughout this book you will here me say time and time again, "Never sacrifice ACCURACY for POWER." All of us want to make a few balls on the break, but the reality is that as long as you make "a" ball, you get to keep shooting. There's no rule out there that says you need to make two or three balls on the break, just one will suffice. The other reality is, that to accomplish this, you don't have to blast the rack to smithereens. Why?

Bad things happen when you break the balls too hard. More times than not, the cue ball either flies off of the table, or the cue ball flies into a pocket. This does nothing to help you, as your opponent will more than likely have a wide open table and ball in hand. Not a good thing from where you're sitting.

Most guys have this "macho thing" about blasting the balls real hard. Of course it's real intimidating to watch three and four balls rocket into the pockets off of the break, but if you have no control over the cue ball and the one ball, your chances of running the rack are slim. Why? Not only do you need to break and make a ball, you also have to get a shot on the lowest numbered ball. Remember? We're trying to play this game at a higher level now, which means that we need to abandon the idea of pot luck position. In "Breaking To Win" I cover all of the bases of why I use the break that I use. I play the one in the side (or bank the one to the corner which I'm breaking from) and I stop the cue ball in the center of the table. I stroke the cue ball at medium speed for maximum results.

Many of us get caught up with the excitement of having just won a game, and now we're breaking. We want to smash the hell out of the balls before the other guy lifts up the rack. We're already down in our breaking stance while the guys racking the balls. STOP DOING THIS!!!

This will only heighten your excitement and cause you to rush the break shot. Wait for the balls to get racked, examine the rack, and then set up your break shot. A good way to remain calm before breaking is to hold the cue ball in your bridge hand until the rack is lifted. Staying down in your stance only helps to tense up your muscles and your brain. Remember, before we can control what is happening on the table, we need to first control what is going on in our head. If we have no control over what's occuring inside the coconut, bad things can and will occur outside the coconut. Now to dispel a rumor: Power is not all that important on the break. Accuracy is! Over a period of time, you will see that being more accurate (as opposed to being more powerful) a ball is more likely to drop on the break. Why is this? I'm not a physics major or anything, nor do I really preach the physics of pool (I leave that to others) but I believe that the less that's flying around the table, the better chances I have of a ball dropping into the pockets. The Big Bang Theory of nine ball has always puzzled me. I would rather know exactly where my cue ball is going, and where the one ball is going. That way I know I will have a shot when something drops. How many times have you made a ball on the break only to get stuck rolling out or to be left with no shot at all? I bet that has happened plenty of times. This bad habit can be eliminated from your game. I have argued this next point over endlessly with countless people, but I still stand firm to my belief that the when the balls are blasted on the break, they tend to spread out to the rails at first, giving the illusion of a "nice break". After a about a second and a half, the balls tend to zing around the table at various speeds, eventually "mushrooming" back to or near the center of table. Why is this? What happens when a ball travels to a rail at a high velocity? It contacts the cushion and then goes to another cushion. These balls repeat the process until the ball eventually stops. Usually, it stops back where it originally started, or it clusters with two or three other balls. To put this in perspective, let's say that you are running out a rack, and you are now shooting the four ball. As you attempt to make the four and get position on the next ball, how many of the balls need to be moving? Preferably just the cue ball (for position) and the four going into the desired pocket. What would be your chances if you spread the remainder of the balls around the table in that situation? The shot on the four is no more and no less important than the break shot. If you have power, fine. Control it. If you cannot control your power, take it down a notch or two. You'd be surprised.

Bad Habit #2: Failure to properly read the rack.

Many skills are necessary in nine ball, but none is more important than possesing the skill to properly and effectively read the rack. When it is our turn at the table, we need to know exactly what needs to be accomplished. Just aimlessly shooting from ball to ball won't work here. You might get lucky every now and then, but you won't be successful consistently.

Planning is essential in any endeavor, but here it pays dividends on your confidence and hopefully your cashflow. What is "reading the rack"? It is the art and skill of seeing a pattern (shot for shot) that will eventually lead you to a game winning shot on the nine ball. Every shot that you make is designed not only to get position on the next ball, but it must aid you in your efforts to run the rack. This can be practiced by watching others play, or it can be practiced while you are playing.

What causes us to improperly read the rack? Lots of things. Jitters, nervousness, anxiousness, or in some cases our own stupidity (me included). Some of us just don't pay attention to what we are doing. We take an easy layout for granted and eventually stand over the table scratching our heads while mumbling, "oh, sh*t!" Our mind must work like a rack-running computer, analyzing each shot of the layout, while recognizing the patterns and routes required to get you out of the rack. Carelessness gets us nowhere but sitting back in the chair. We need to concentrate on every shot, calculating each and every move with precision. Later I will give you some ideas to consider when reading the rack.

Bad Habit #3: The inability to effectively deal with clusters and problem balls.

This is the Achilles heel of many players. Many of the younger players of today are at a disadvantage compared to players of twenty of thirty years ago. I have always maintained that the game of straight pool (14.1) is and always will be the game's best teacher. Many of today's players have never played straight pool or one pocket, and that is a shame. The game of straight pool forces you to learn how to break up clusters and eliminate problem spots within the rack. So how does this relate to nine ball? Simple. Many times clusters develop and make our path to the nine ball seem impossible. A seasoned player knows that these clusters serve a dual purpose:

a) They can stop our opponent dead in his tracks as he attempts to run the rack.
b) We can use these clusters to our advantage by using them as target areas if and when we have to play safe.

But, what if we are the shooting player and we are forced to either duck, or break up the cluster? As with anything else, this can be learned through practice. Remember how I spoke earlier about some of us just aimlessly toss nine balls out on the table and start shooting away as opposed to practicing a specific part of our game that needs work? This is what I was talking about. All of us could use work in this area. Set up a few clusters and see how you can effectively break them up after shooting in the lowest numbered ball. Leaving it up to chance, or hoping that our opponent will do the dirty work for us is not very smart. We want to be in control of the table, and we want to keep shooting. That is how we win games. Problem balls can be classified in two categories.

a) They can be the "key shot" in the rack.
b) They can be that ball that has the least pocket availability options.

Either way, these balls must be dealt with accordingly. Perhaps you can start by setting up for the key shot from the get go. This bad habit goes hand in hand with effective rack reading, and problems can be avoided by utilizing proper planning. If we are weak in this area of our game, it will be exploited by a more experienced player.

Bad Habit #4: Flashy position routes.

This is probably the most common among novice and intermediate players. Some players enjoy having the cue ball travel from rail to rail with more english than is required. Please understand that there is a such thing as doing too much with the cue ball. The rule is "do whatever is the simplest". If you can get position by using one rail, use one rail, not two or three. We're at the table to win games, not to impress the railbirds. If you want to impress the railbirds, learn some trick shots. Nine ball is a game that is played best when it is played in it's simplest form.

Bad Habit #5: Indecisiveness.

This is a killer. This is a mental flaw that is brought upon by not having the balls roll your way. We become timid and duck instead of going for a shot. We lose confidence in our ability to make sound decisions, and the wires become crossed during mid-match. Pool is a game that is based on the players making sound decisions and utilizing good judgement. Take away the player's decision making abilities and his good judgement and he'll look like a deer in the headlights.

Have you ever heard the expression, "He's playing over his head" or "He's playing out of his head"? There is a such thing as "playing out of your head. Shooting the object ball into the pocket is a task external from your mind. By that, I mean that the task is external, and the thoughts that complete the action are internal. The internal thoughts are the motor functions that are necessary to complete the task, such as looking at the cue ball, looking at the object ball, lining up the shot, getting down in your stance, placing the shaft of your cue in your bridge hand, gripping the butt of the cue, performing your practice strokes, having your tip contact the cue ball, your follow through, watching the cue ball make contact with the object ball, watching the object ball reach its destination, and standing up straight to prepare for the next shot. I don't think any of us need to meticulously prepare to execute any of those tasks, as by now they should be second nature to you. Many of us do concentrate on these tasks while we are choking. Let me explain.

Many of us become indecisive by "second guessing" our decisions. What we should strive for is having all of our decisions made before we get into our shooting stance. All of our planning should be done before we bend over the shot. If we are planning our position routes or our shot options while down in our shooting stance, we are a big underdog. Plan, then execute. Get out of your mind. On the same token, learn to recognize your opponent's indecisiveness. The deer in the headlights look goes both ways. Nothing shakes a pool player's confidence more than the sinking feeling of despair and bewilderment. Recognize this and go for the jugular.

Bad Habit #6: Rushing through the rack.

Though shooting quickly is quite intimidating, it opens the door for many things to go wrong. The first thing to go is our ability to SEE the table. We are so busy shooting the balls in at light speed that we forget to read the rack properly, or we completely eliminate or condense our pre-shot routine. The most common habit is not staying down on the shot. We open the door to carelessness and eventually make a tiny error on a simple shot that we should have made.

There is no advantage to rushing through the rack. This habit brings forth carelessness. If you need this explained any further, all I can say is, "a rushed job is certaintly not the best job that could have been done".

Bad Habit #7: Limited shotmaking ability.

Shotmaking is essential. I don't care how good of a position expert you are, sooner or later you will be faced with a tester and have to come through with your best shotmaking. We would all like to be straight in on every shot, but that is not always the case, therefore we must prepare ourselves by knowing how to make the tough rail biters and bank shots. This could either be your Waterloo or your ace in the hole.

Bad Habit #8: Losing control of the cue ball.

A mental as well as physical error which is mainly the fault of having your brain concentrating on one task (making the object ball) as opposed to concentrating on both shotmaking and cue ball position. Cue ball control is essential. Contrary to popular belief, the cue ball will not do anything that you don't tell it to do. Cue ball mastery is much easier to achieve than mental mastery. This is a prime example of how the brain likes to do it's own thing when placed in pressure situations. Our mind and body must work in unison if we are to perform our best under pressure. More about this under Bad Habit #10.

Bad Habit #9: Overconfidence.

This bad habit comes from a basic lack of respect for the complexity of the game of pool. We all know that the balls roll funny for everybody. The main problem with being "overconfident" is that we tend to trash talk while being in that state of mind. Nothing disgusts me more than an arrogant player who has no respect for the complexity of the game. Being overconfident can cause its share of problems. We tend to rely more on our arrogance than on our abilities. We begin to make flashy shots and position routes. We lose our mental focus and believe we are in "Dead Stroke" when all we are doing is being a pompous ass. Carelessness is the substance of overconfidence. Remember that, above anything else.

Bad Habit #10: Choking.

Choking occurs when the mind is so flustered that it can no longer effectively communicate with the body, therefore altering our normal motor functions. Our brain becomes overloaded due to increased excitement or pressure, and we do exactly what we don't want to do, we choke. Shooting the nine ball into the corner pocket is a task external of the mind. When we are in "dead Stroke" our focus is almost completely external. That is why it hard for us to remember what was going on when we were running rack after rack. That is why we say that a player is playing "out of his head". When we choke, we are playing inside our head. The wires become overloaded and too much information is being passed from our brain to shooting arm. The wires start smoking and we choke.