This document intends a comparison between two differing styles of stance in the game of billiards, the snooker and the side-on stance. Using a step-by-step drill structure, differences will be discussed between these two broad categories of stance style.

If left-handed, switch right with left

A snooker stance is all about being flat on the table and square on and off-centered behind the shot. It is an off-centered stance. The bridge and feet together form the triangle that supports the stance. Going down square on and off-centered forms a triangle that is quite close to the shape of a right angled triangle. The vertical line of a shot runs through the bridge and somewhere close to the right foot. The horizontal line between the feet facing the shot is not quite horizontal because the left foot is slightly forward and to the side of the leading right foot. The right foot is said to lead because it is closest to the line of shot.

A side-on stance is the opposite of the snooker stance in the way the body is positioned side-on and centered to the line of shot, instead of square on and off-centered. It can be as flat on the table as a snooker stance, or it can be more elevated, with the head positioned off the cue. The bridge and feet together form the triangle that supports the stance. Going down side-on and as centered as possible forms a triangle that is quite asymmetrical. The vertical line of a shot runs through the bridge and somewhere between the feet, but unlike the snooker stance, there is not a great deal of width difference between the feet and there is far more length difference. The line between the feet facing the shot is much closer to vertical than horizontal, because the left foot is quite forward and only somewhat to the side of the leading right foot.

Step 1) Observing the {Line of Shot} stand [Head, Eyes] with [Right Elbow, Eye-of-Grip, Bridge, Cue, Chest/Belly] over [Pelvis, Legs, and Feet] behind the {Line} through the {Cue Ball}

The Eye-of-Grip is the 'V' formed between your forefinger and thumb

Observe the Line of Shot by first looking at the pocket, and then at the cue ball and object ball together, forming an imaginary line between cue ball and object ball that aims the object ball into the pocket.

Begin by positioning the head behind the shot, and then shaping the rest of the body and the cue to the shot. Through practice you learn what the correct distance from the shot is for you. Try having the grip holding the cue quite low to the table so that when you bow down, the grip and cue can come up into the stance to meet the body. This encourages a smooth motion into line. Point the cue in the general direction of the shot, already quite horizontal behind the shot, with the left arm and bridging hand extended gently forwards. Try having the cue somewhat flat in relation to your body and the table and the shot as you stand, not straight out away nor held against the torso. This helps with your sense of distance and gives you room to move the bridge out and forward as you stretch out down into a stance. While standing, I personally find that positioning the bridge hand just below the half way point of the cue works best, as it gives me the cue weight to guide the positioning down of the bridge hand.

Snooker stance: stand the right leg and foot straight, somewhere just outside the line of shot and slightly turned out to the right. How much you position the right foot outside the line of shot determines how centered you remain behind the shot. Because the stance is square on to the shot you can’t be too centered or you won’t be able to bring the head and elbow into line with the cue. If the stance is too off-centered it becomes uncomfortable with a twist to the right and too much weight pulled over onto the right leg. Differences in body shape, size, and flexibility determine how comfortably centered you can be while still able to bring the head and elbow and cue into line. Something to be aware of is that the more the shoulders turn the more the body can remain centered. Traditionally the line of shot passes through the right heel, but I think it's better to try to be slightly more centered if you can. When standing I position my right hip and foot just outside the line of shot. When I bend down the line, my hips move slightly left bringing my right hip just inside the line of shot. Turning the right foot slightly out will help create the angle of body needed to fit the right upper arm/elbow in line behind the head. Stand the left leg and foot slightly bent and slightly cocked inwards, forward of the right by about a half-length of your foot. Cocking the left knee inwards helps to stabilise the base and helps keep the left side of the body from being too clear of the shot. Once in the stance the width between both feet will vary depending on your body shape and size, but as a rule of thumb, shoulder width is about right, hip width is too narrow.

Going down square on and off-centered behind the shot means the chest, and belly need to bend over the pelvis square on and off-centered as well. Getting the belly center around the belly button well positioned and comfortably bent flat over the pelvis is very important, this is where the body centers itself, breathes the chest, and powers the limbs. Not being too centered or off-centered behind the line of the shot is the solution to staying comfortable here. Almost all of the turn required should occur in the shoulders and arms, not in the torso and pelvis. Because of the squareness of the stance, some shoulder turn is necessary to tuck the right upper arm/elbow in line behind the head, but it must be gentle.

Side-on stance: Stand both legs and feet comfortably lengthwise behind the shot with whatever bend combination you find the most comfortable. Position the right foot somewhere outside the line of shot, angled out to the right. Stand the left foot straight ahead establishing good length difference between the feet. The width between the feet is considerably less than the width in a snooker stance, my left foot is only about 2 heels width outside the line of shot. The flatness of the torso in relation to the table is a matter of preference, you can choose to be as flat on the table as a snooker stance, or you can remain more elevated over the cue. Because the body is presented side-on, almost no shoulder turn is needed to tuck the right upper arm/elbow in line behind the head.

Once in a stance, the head, eyes, elbow, eye-of-grip, bridge, and cue, all need to be lined up together to deliver a smooth, relaxed stroke with the right forearm. The upper edge of the forearm should be presented facing the line of the shot over the cue, neither turned outward or inward. The right upper arm/elbow is significant, if it is not aligned, the upper edge of the forearm cannot be presented facing the line of shot, the eye-of-grip underneath cannot swing straight through, the head will want to move, and the stability of bridge and feet is compromised. The pendulum effect relies on a correctly aligned upper arm/elbow. If it is out of line gravity becomes your enemy rather than your friend and the muscles of the forearm tense to hold the cue in place as you stroke. Traditionally, the forefinger and thumb are the parts of the hand that grip the cue, but there are many variations that can work, it all depends on what feels right for your hand. Try the traditional single forefinger and thumb grip, two fingers and thumb grip, three fingers and thumb grip, middle fingers and thumb grip, and even a whole hand grip where all the fingers hold the cue. I recommend experimentation to find what suits you best. I use the traditional forefinger and thumb grip, and I find it works best by making sure that the forefinger is fully curled around the cue. That creates a necessary stability and makes it easier to release the other fingers, allowing them to touch but not grip. Where to grip the cue is different for everyone. Body height, arm length, and how flat you like to go down into the stance are all variables that effect where the grip should be positioned. Also, the grip position should change depending on the type of shot being played, so no particular grip position can be said to be correct for all situations. A simple technique for getting the grip position approximately correct for most shots is to position the grip two hand widths down from the balance point of the cue. The most common mistake people make is to not grip enough of the cue which tends to correspond with a stance too close to the shot and hunched up and crouched and leaned forward too much.

Step 2) [Head, Eyes] bows [Right Elbow, Eye-of-Grip, Bridge, Cue, Chest/Belly] over [Pelvis, Legs, and Feet] onto the {Line} behind the {Cue Ball}

Step 2 is the critical part of this drill. The important bit is the aiming of the shot from the head, as you bow down the elbow, bridge, and cue into place under the head. Once the elbow, bridge, and cue are in place, all the lining up behind the shot should be complete.

Bend the head down as straight as possible to keep a consistent view of the shot. As you go down onto the cue, pull back slightly with the right upper arm/elbow and eye-of-grip and extend gently with the bridge. This brings the cue up in against the chest, and helps line things up with the head. I liken this action to that of drawing a bow in reverse, one arm holds relatively still while the other extends forward. Both shoulders, arms, and hands need to move in unison for precision. It is important to get your weight slightly forward into the shot, with the pelvis slightly forward over the legs and feet. If your butt is sticking out over your heels, you are falling away from the shot and you will lack power in the stroke. Don't lean too far forward though, it is important that the pelvis, legs, and feet carry most of the weight, it is what this part of the body is designed to do. The heels and toes of the feet need to be firmly planted. On the table, the left arm should carry only some of the weight comfortably, creating the triangle or tripod of weight bearing points. The left arm should rest slightly bent on the table if it fits. In my experience, a completely straight left arm tends to exert unnecessary pulling pressure on the left chest part of the body. A too bent left arm, on the other hand, is likewise something to avoid because it encourages the body to hunch up and crouch and fall forward, instead of stretching comfortably out. A good tip is to make sure that the left shoulder/upper arm joint is as flat as possible to comfortably carry weight and stabilize the stance and minimize strain down the left side of the body. The bridge should be approximately one hand length away from the cue ball for most shots. You can vary the angle of the bridge hand, how much if at all is a matter of preference. The cue tip should be directly behind the cue ball at first, ready to move back with the first practice stroke. All of the bridge fingers need to be firm, although perhaps the forefinger needs to be especially firm since with the thumb it forms the base for the groove.

For both stances, I advocate having the head and chin all the way down gently touching the cue for most shots. This reduces the 3-dimensional image your eyes record to a more 2-dimensional image making long distance aiming easier. This isn't at all necessary, and if not comfortable is probably not a good idea, and indeed at times having a more 3-dimensional view of the shot helps to see the line as you stroke it. Another reason to have the head and cue touching is that it can help with your sense of head, eyes, elbow, eye-of-grip, bridge, and cue being lined up correctly.

Snooker stance: When using a snooker stance on the American Nine-Foot Tables I use exactly the same upper body shape as the one I use on a Snooker Table. However, I alter the shape of my base in relation to the line of the shot. To get low and stay comfortable I allow the right leg to unlock and bend slightly. I am careful though to keep the bend less than that of the left leg. I also move my left leg a bit wider. On the American Nine-Foot Tables I don't recommend the traditional lower body shape of a snooker stance. The greater height of the Snooker Table makes it easier to bend a flat torso over the pelvis and a straight right leg/foot. In my experience to achieve a comfortable flat square torso in relation to a Nine-Foot Table, the legs need to be spread slightly more width wise and the right knee needs to be unlocked and slightly bent.

Whatever shape you settle on for your base in the pelvis, legs, and feet, the important thing is that you can stay down comfortably and more or less evenly weighted between both legs and feet. A little more weight on the front left leg and foot is fine, but too much is disastrous, as this puts too much weight onto the left arm and bridge, restricting the movement of the swinging right elbow. A firm base is essential for achieving controlled, comfortable, and aimed stroking.

The last and final step is of course to shoot the shot and I include how I structure this step for your interest.

Step 3) Stroke the Line-> Pause-> Shoot

The stroke should begin with the cue tip just behind the cue ball. At this point of contact the right elbow should be vertical, forming a 90 degree right angle between upper arm and forearm. The first motion of the stroke should be away from the cue ball, then returning to that starting point on the forward stroke. The entire body should be comfortably still as you stroke. The head, and neck and shoulders especially, should not move, only the elbow, forearm, and grip should swing the cue. This is impossible to do without a good base in the pelvis, legs, and feet. The right upper arm/elbow needs to remain in line with the head and cue.

It isn't enough to just stroke, you have to aim that stroke as well. Eyes can move up and down the line between cue, cue ball, and object ball, but at the moment of contact it is essential to be looking at the line passing through the cue ball and object ball together, so that the shot can be confirmed as it is played.

Pausing the stroke, I feel, has many merits. Firstly, if your stance is well set up, comfortable, and stable over a solid base, you should be able to pause the motion of elbow, forearm, and grip without strain. If you find it difficult chances are you're not really that stable over your base. Secondly, pausing, whether at the front of the stroke next to the cue ball, or at its apex at the back, gives your eyes the chance to check the line of the cue in relation to the line of the shot. No matter how good you are at setting up it's still easy to miss. The subtlest of body movements can throw your aim off. This is why I recommend a pause, either at the front or back swing of your last stroke- it gives you one last moment to check the line and the alignment of your body and cue in relation to that line before you shoot.

I hope you have enjoyed, please feel free to email me with questions/comments at wesma740@hotmail.com

The Pattern of the Number 3 in Billiards:

#Three Fundamentals:

1) Head/Eyes = Aim

2) Hands/Cue = Stroke

3) Pelvis = Stability

#Three Fundamentals:

1) Head/Eyes/ guiding Hands/Cue/ over Pelvis into Stance

2) Head, Eyes, Elbow, Eye-of-Grip, Bridge, Cue, all in Line

3) Sighting, Stroking, Shooting

The Pool Break:

Channel swinging elbow power and body weight transference from right to left foot through the bridge hand / Hit the cue ball with a flat cue / Swing with the elbow in line and a loose grip on the cue, tightening on impact / Hit the dead center of the cue ball at maximum cue speed.

The Head:

The head is so important. Your head is where your eyes are. It is where the balance of the body begins. The reason I think people miss most often is not because they fail to cue the ball where they want it but rather that they fail to sight the shot correctly in the first place.