Principles of Position - Part II - Easy Pool Tutor

Here are two more principles that you can use as guidelines when playing for position.

Leave an angle for your shot

What this simply means is that it is always a good idea to have some angle on your shot. Having a little cut shot allows for better control of the cue ball as opposed to a straight in shot where the cue ball can only go forward or backwards on the same line. It is always ideal to have some angle on your shot because this generally gives you a lot more flexibility to position the cue ball in virtually any spot on the table. Let's look at an example illustration below.

In the above illustration, the ideal position of the cue ball after pocketing the 8 ball is indicated by the grayed-out area. In order to achieve this position for the cue ball, you mush have an angle on your shot for the 8 ball. If you have a straight-in shot on the 8 ball then there's virtually no way to position the cue ball on the ideal spot.

Using your knowledge of where the cue ball goes after hitting the object ball (discussed in previous lessons), you can determine how much of an angle you need to position the cue ball for your next shot. As you gain more experience you should be able to calculate the approximate angle you need and this process will become automatic and second nature.

Keep in mind that these principles serve only as guidelines and that there are exceptions to these so-called guideline rules. In the above example, you will notice that you have a straight-in shot on the 9 ball. That is okay; as a matter of fact this is ideal because the 9 ball is the last ball you need to pocket to win the game.