Getting a grip (the right one) is vital to a good game of pool. Within the grip is an eye that sees the shots. An eye that looks out of the grip hand and down the shaft towards the target.

This eye must be able to visualize the shot. If there is something wrong, the eye cannot see and, therefore, you will not be able to deliver a smooth pure stroke. There will be interference within your efforts. You will be tentative as you start guessing at shots.

Get a grip. It should be comfortable, relaxed, and remain fairly consistent throughout the range of the stroke. A relaxed grip is usually best since too tight of a grip can tense up muscles in the arm that can cause your stroke to perform erratically. Likewise, too loose and you could lose control.

Start by balancing the cue in your hand. Hold it so the cue lays balanced and does not tip or drop on either end. This is the balance point. Now, move your grip hand back about four inches. Mark this spot with a small piece of red tape.

This is the proper place for getting a grip on your cue on most shots. There are times when the shot itself calls for you to slip your grip hand forward or backwards a few inches. For the most part however, your grip hand should be about four inches behind the balance point on the cue. You are training your eye to work with your hand. Repetition is the best trainer in the world. Analipotese once said, “The organism repeats that which is pleasurable.”

The eye and the hand go together. They must be coordinated. The eye moves the hand. The hand responds to what the eye sees. Have you ever driven in a white out? The snow is so thick you see only white. There is no perspective. No way to measure distance. We encounter these in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during the winter. The eye cannot see, therefore, the hands do not know how to guide the car. You panic and catastrophe follows.

We need to become one with our grip hand. This is vital to a winning performance. First, we need to be in line with the shot and have the confidence to allow the eye to move the hand. Let go of resistance. Let go of your preoccupation with making and missing the shot. Deliver the smooth winning stroke. Let it happen. Read my book, Point The Way. The chapter on “The Shot Shoots Itself” will give you some valuable insights on this fine art. Be one with your grip. Let the eyes and the grip become one unit. Transfer your eye to your grip hand. See the shot. Shoot the shot. First, by getting a grip. professionally.

Develop an intimate sense of feel in your grip hand. Set up the four ball exercise. Practice this over and over with a keen sense of the feeling in your grip hand. Feel the shot as the cue tip goes through the cue ball. Become one with the sound associated with a successful shot. Get a grip, feel the grip, hear the sound, see the shot. It all goes together. This is how you win.