The ideal in billiards is to have the ability to clean the table (all balls in), without using excessive speed or too much english, getting perfect position for each shot.
All this is possible, but it requires excellent control of the cue ball speed and planning the position of the cue ball.
Often, the position of the balls on the table, your position or your lack of skill prevents you from reaching the “Holy Grail of billiards“.
But what is the Holy Grail of billiards?
The Holy Grail of billiards is the ability to pocket all balls smoothly with preferably no spin and leave the cue ball in perfect position for the next ball and so on until you win the game.
This requires excellent speed control, position planning and strategy.
In those cases where you are presented with an impossible or difficult situation, you must strive to find the best alternative to the “Holy Grail”, this is the ability to play a perfect safety.
The objective of this defense is to leave the cue ball in an impossible or difficult position so that your opponent has no option to hit any ball of his and hopefully, this would give you ball in hand, which would allow you to continue chasing the “Holy Grail of billiards”.
Playing position fundamentals.
This is all about leaving the cue ball in perfect position for the next shot. If you can leave it in very good position, you will win consistently.
In fact, this is the skill that really separates professional players from casual players.
A player who controls ball position will beat a player with great shot making skills, but poor cue ball placement skills most if not all of the time.
The most useful and common techniques to control cue ball position include:
- Speed control
- Leave angles
Use forward spin and backspin
Using English and Kick shots
Using the speed control without spin is better than using it with spin because it is possible that the cue ball will overshoot your speed or you will miscue the cue ball.
So I’ll leave you to try it today.
Try to make the “Holy Grail of billiards”.
