How To Get Better At Pool

To answer this question , I would start with a famous quote that I have read somewhere on the internet related to pool “Amateurs practice a shot until they make it. Pros practice it until they can’t miss”.

Well that’s a truth! The only thing that is necessary to win all the games is practice and some prop tips. Even pro tips require a good amount of practice. Today we will be discussing some useful things to make you a better pool player. However if you are a pool professional you’ll surely agree to the above quote and will not miss a chance to read this article!

Some people just jump right away to be a pro player at pool without learning some fundamentals about this game like strong breaks, cue ball spin tactics, combo and draw shots.

Therefore, you can become a much better player by mastering certain basic practices. Let’s start by pinning down the few ones!

Proper gripping and posture required

1. First things First:  that is a proper gripping and posture. A common mistake that beginners do is holding a pool stick too tight with a stiff posture. However this would not take you anywhere near the winning position as it greatly impact on your hand and body balance. You can just follow some quick tips to work on proper gripping
2. Always practice to use light and loosen your grip calmly as the more anxious and tensed you are the more stress you are applying on your pool cue and the less it will travel in straight line
3. Your cue grip must be strong enough to pick the pool cue of the table
4. By resting on your fingers make you grip tight
5. Cue should not even touch your hand’s palm however your pinky finger can remain free
6. Maintain the overall body balance and control
7. You do not have to tilt the head just keep it straight as tilting will make your focus side view of the shot.
8. Make sure you have secured your bridge hand.
9. When you’re ready to take your shot, you need to slowly move your fingertips into the playing fabric to reassure that your bridge hand will not move as your cue comes through to hit the cue ball
10. Place your dominant foot right at the back end of the cue stick. Your foot must be positioned in the direction of the cue stick. Your non dominant foot should at an angle of 30° to the pool cue. You would not like to be directly opposite to the pool table, but somewhat, sloping. Don’t forget to put an equal amount of weight on both legs

Make A Marking Opening Shot

You need to understand the goal of the opening shot. It basically sets the direction of your entire game.  However if you miss the chance to pot the ball on this turn you open the way for your opponent to take the ball in your court Fail to pot from the break and you allow your opponent in. in this phase you need to consider two basic things which are the playing technique and power to take a shot.

You need to certain about that balls should be static and cue ball should be behind the baulk line and off centre. Always aim for the shot at the tip of the balls triangle which is nearest to your position.

You need to create a pendulum motion

This is about creating a perfect swing like a pendulum movement for your ball stroke.  The prerequisite for this pendulum movement is the correct position of your arm and hand that will allow your forearm to swing properly backward and forward by keeping your upper arm part static.

The benefit of this pendulum like movement is that it will ultimately produce a very smooth motion forward for taking an accurate shot movement is pendulum-like, and it creates a smooth motion forward. The basic things that you need to take care for producing this pendulum motion are as follows:

1. Keep your upper arm still in the whole process for creating the swing movement
2. Place your lower arm, underneath your elbow, that will produce a good swing backwards and forwards for the stroke
3. You need to keep in mind that the backswing must constantly be measured and stable
4. While holding the pool cue you need to make that very certain that your hitting hand is in a straight line below your elbow
5. Your other lower arm can sway along the elbow when you create a find force with the help of cue ball however it is not supposed to hold back a bit of your elbow position
6. You also need to practice an even pendulum swing motion with length altering shots
7. Learn by heart, that the backswing is always deliberate but you should also know how to be in charge of the pace of shots you take with the forward swing movements

Go for ball clusters in the start

Once the triangle has been broken, it’s the best strategy to deal with the ball clusters as soon as possible. In this way once you are on the roll later on, it’s possible for you to run the pool table without dealing with breaking the clusters and missing your master shot already. Also make a way for the shots you are best in which are your shots.

So it’s a better strategy to deal with the problematic shots in the beginning either by pocketing them or rearranging them with a vigilantly accordingly to other shots ahead. This will help you to clear the pool table easily.

Setting up a two way shots is beneficial

In order to avoid the chances to miss in times of difficult shots, you can always go for setting up a dual way shots. The idea behind this strategy is that even if you accidentally miss one shot you won’t be leaving any room for winning chances for your opponent as you’re going to line up a hard to take shot for the other player. You can either create a blocking shot or create a divergence for the cue ball.

Strategize to cover the pockets

Leaving the pool or cue ball by the edge of pockets can sometimes be very beneficial if you don’t get a chance to pool in the ball. Cover the pockets. In that way, basically, you’re jamming the ball pockets so that your opponent can’t pot the right ball in there with not hitting your ones  too. Yeah now that a clever tip!

Understand the standard rules for avoiding fouls

You need to understand the standard rules for avoiding all basic fouls because you can lose your turn. Also by playing foul during strokes you don’t get any points even if you hit the ball right in the table pockets. It would be completely useless.

Few basic fouls can be like

1. Striking the cue ball straight into the pocket (scratch foul),
2. Hitting the cue ball again and again
3. Just pushing the cue ball rather than hitting it properly
4.  By not striking your pool balls with the cue ball prior to hitting the opponent’s balls
5. You cannot just tap the cue ball with something but with the tip of the cue stick or make any pool ball to rebound off the pool table.

Work on your Bridges

Your bridge is one of the most important things in learning for mastering the pool game. The most common types of bridging techniques and how you can be an expert in them is already discussed in my previous article. Click here to learn all about bridging techniques.

Define pool table rhythm

This basically refers to the pre-shot routine you have and how you are going to set your timings during the pool game which indicates the rhythm of your game. However this cannot be defined quite well as each of us is different and may observe and aim for shots differently.

It can give you pretty good idea and give you broader information. At the end of the day, you know what ? Pool table is high ticket item and you have to do alot of due diligence before making buying decision.

The imperative thing here to focus is that that you need to spend some time in planning for each shot you take in advance. From this you can actually identify your aiming line and make alignment adjustments while visioning the centre at the back of the cue ball. You need to position the pool cue just behind the midpoint of the cue and slowly streak up your back foot, straighten your head angel, and put you all the focus on the midpoint of the object ball prior to moving into your posture.

With time, this will be converted into a well planned and smooth practice that just happens naturally like a rhythm without much careful thoughts. Therefore following a routine makes it  a natural habit and also by doing it time after time can radically perk up your skills level at pool game.

Closing thoughts

Well Guys, this is it. However I can add up the list with many other aspects but ive added just the few basic ones that can give you quite a good kick start and you can set your own pace easily. But you need to make sure that all these tips are only useful if you actually start practicing and following them religiously as once you will become a pro at these steps you can automatically upgrade your skill level in pool game. As per  Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots (VEPS).

The biggest tip and “secret” of them all is: Practice, Practice, Practice!!!