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Top Tips for Becoming a Better Pool Player

Learn how to get better at English 8 Ball (with the 'old' rules) with these helpful tips and tricks. | Source

For the purposes of this article, I am referring to the English 8 Ball Pool 'old' rules. Although they are no longer used at professional levels, they are still in frequent use within pool leagues and in pubs and bars. For the most part, these tips will benefit novices playing either old or new rules—there are just a couple of instances where the tips will not work with the new rules.

Additionally, as this article is based on my own experience of playing pool both for fun and in leagues as a member of various teams over a number of years, I have used reds and yellows for the balls, as opposed to spots and stripes because these are in more frequent use in the United Kingdom.

The game is played on a rectangular 6-pocket table with 15 balls plus a cue ball, which consists of two different sets of 7-coloured balls. Usually red replaces stripes (9–15), yellow replace solid (1–7) and a black (also known as the 8 ball). Balls in the two coloured groups are known as object balls.

The player or team pocketing all their group of object balls in any order, and then legally pocketing the 8 ball, wins the game.

You can find a complete list of the 'old' rules here.

Note: These tips will be most useful for those players who are currently playing at the amateur level (as opposed to professional), or who are fairly new to the game and simply want some tips to raise the standard of their game in order to begin winning frames on a regular basis.

The Cue

Choose your cue carefully, even if only using a pub cue. Check the tip is not loose or worn down unevenly. Lay the cue on the pool table and roll it across the table.

If the cue is straight—which is what you want—it will roll smoothly. If it is bent or warped, it will quickly be obvious by the way the tip appears to move up and down as the cue rolls. If you prefer a heavier cue over a lighter one (or vice versa), then narrow down your final choices by weighing them off against each other, holding one in each hand.

If the shaft of the cue is highly varnished, it may become 'sticky' when you play. So carry a fine grade piece of sandpaper with you at all times to sand down the shaft and remove the varnish. (Rubbing some chalk onto the area at the base of your thumb and index finger can reduce any potential sticking of the cue.)

Here are two examples of how to how a cue.

Holding the Cue

The way each player holds a cue varies considerably. But in my own experience, I find the most successful method is to treat the shaft of the cue like the sight of a gun. In other words, when you are lining up your shot have the shaft of the cue virtually (or even actually) nestling on the bottom of your chin, so you are looking right down the length of the cue.

Too often, I see novice players virtually standing straight or bolt upright when taking their shot, and then wondering why they miss the pot they were aiming for. Watch how snooker players take a shot and copy their body position. Keep the cue as horizontal as possible. It is not at all unusual to see players holding the butt end of the cue at a much higher level than the tip. This can cause problems with accuracy, power behind the shot and tearing the cloth on the table with the cue tip.

It is also very important how you support the front end of the cue as you take your shot. Again, a common mistake—I am sad to say I see most often in lady players—is to rest the hand flat on the table and slide the cue over the thumb and index finger whilst these are still tightly pressed together. The ideal position is to spread your fingers and form your hand into a very slightly raised 'cage' on the table. Lift your thumb slightly into the air, and use the side of the thumb as the rest for your cue to slide across. (See illustrations.)

The Chalk

This may be a personal preference to some degree, but I have to say few players I have ever met either in pool or snooker like to use blue chalk for their cue. Green chalk is far more popular it would appear, possibly because it stays on better. Although most pubs and bars seem to provide blue chalk on the table, most players bring their own green chalk and use it instead. For the few pence it costs to buy a cube of green chalk, I highly recommend you always carry some with you in case there is none available at the venue when you arrive.

Remember to chalk your cue before every shot, making sure the chalk moves and not the cue as you apply it. It is incredibly frustrating to take a shot and hear that annoying 'click' as the cue tip slips off the ball, commonly known as a miscue. This can muck up your intended shot completely or even give two shots away to your opponent if it results in a foul. This can be easily avoided by remembering to use your chalk constantly.

Breaking

It's not something I am personally very fond of, but when I have to I try to use a heavy cue with a large tip—as opposed to my personal cue which is light with a 9mm tip—I always place the cue ball just to the right of the of the D. Keeping the cue as horizontal as possible, I then take a few warm-up backward and forward movements of the cue across my left hand, before hitting as hard as I can on the centre of the cue ball, whilst aiming at the top, central and therefore nearest coloured ball in the rack.

Usually, if I am lucky, this pays off and I pot a ball or two. At the very least, I split the pack and rarely put the white (cue ball) in off the break. Given the choice, I tend to let my opponent break though, my thoughts being to 'let them make a mistake first' or at least leave me with the choice of colours hopefully.

Note: This is very different to the standard snooker 'D' break, where you aim to hit a red on one of the furthest corners of the triangle and then come off cushions in order to bring the white back up the table into the 'D' area.

Assess the Balls on the Table

Before you go rushing in to your next shot, always walk right around the table at least once. Look at the position of the balls on the table. If you can, try to think which ball is the best to go for based on the following shots you plan to take (or what you are likely to leave for your opponent if your shot goes wrong).

In other words, as a novice, try to be thinking at least two or three shots ahead. This will enable you to plan the speed you hit the cue ball and whereabouts on the ball you strike it, especially if you are planning to pot several balls in a row.

If you have any doubts as to if you can 'see' the object ball you plan to hit, then crouch down until you are at eye level with the table, and look at the line of your shot from the white (cue) ball through to the object ball. If you can't see the object ball, either choose another or plan an alternative way of striking that ball, e.g. off a cushion or by deliberately colliding with another of your balls first.

You might NOT want to pot this, even if you are playing reds!

This shows the player on reds is snookered, as they cannot directly hit any of their balls.

Choosing Your Shot

Novices are frequently tempted to always go for the obvious pots, e.g. the ball hanging over the pocket. Unless you are confident that there are enough pots you can follow this one with to put you way ahead of your opponent or even clear up, then leave your ball over the pocket to 'cover' it. By covering the pocket with your ball you are preventing your opponent from potting one of their balls into this pocket. If they accidentally do pot your ball during the game you will at least gain two shots from the penalty they receive as a result. In an ideal game you will end up with all your balls either over or near the pockets and can then clear up, (although the frame rarely pans out exactly like this in practice).

The game plan that works best for me (and many other players), is to play a safety game until you are confident you can clear up, or at least have gained two shots from your opponent in order to give you a better chance of clearing extra balls until you run out of shots, and then you can play a further 'safety' shot, or snooker them by placing the cue ball in a position where the opponent cannot 'see' any of their own colours and will have to play off one or more cushions in order to hit one of their colours and not give you two shots. Naturally you want them to give you two shots so the advantage is in your favour. What I am trying to say here is that the 'slowly slowly catchy monkey' approach is best unless you are a naturally fantastic and confident potter.

This is advice that mostly only works in the English 8 Ball Pool Old Rules because in new rules you can't simply roll the cue ball up behind one of your own colours so it just touches and snookers your opponent on their own ball. In new rules this would be a foul based on the fact no ball hit a cushion during the shot.

How Hard to Hit the Cue Ball

A frequent mistake I see on the pool table is the player whacking the ball far harder than the shot requires. If you don't know where the cue ball is going to end up, you put yourself in a dangerous position. Only use as much power as you need for the shot you are taking. Otherwise, the white ball may end up in the pocket, may hit an opponent's ball and pot that too or you could put the black down halfway through the frame and lose the match as a result.

One of the most annoying things I see are players who are already 'on' the black go for the pot, wallop it in at full pace (apparently because they think it looks flashy) and then the white ball merrily bowls its way into another pocket, losing them the frame. More often than not, a gentler touch would still have potted the black. Although the 'pizazz', cheers and adulation from other players or onlookers might not have been as exciting, the frame would have at least been safely won and 'in the bag'.