You generally won’t read or hear anyone talk about the shots they missed in a match.  The funny thing is that missing is a very important part of the game, and probably the most overlooked opportunity for improvement.  Don’t get me wrong, I would never advise anyone to miss more shots, even though I miss shots on purpose in certain situations.

Please understand when this situation comes up it is not that I am trying to “hustle” anyone or anything like that; it is because of the layout of the table.  As you practice more and become more familiar with what shots you can make consistently, you will only want to shoot those types of shots in a win or lose situation.  If I am confronted with a shot that I feel is not only very difficult to make, but also tough to use to get position on the next shot I will change my strategy and look for another option.  Many times when there are more than two balls on the table, there are ways to shoot at a tough shot and play safe at the same time.  I look from the pocket I’m shooting at and draw a straight line through the other balls on the table, looking to see where I would want the cue-ball to end up if I missed the ball that
I was shooting. Usually, a missed shot will stay close to the intended pocket.

Sometimes you will be shooting the shot with enough speed that it will go to a different part of the table if it’s not made. In those cases, start at that location and draw a straight line through the other balls on the table to see where you would want to end up; play your position with that in mind.

Remember, a missed shot is just a shot that isn’t made for a reason and usually that reason is for you to practice the same type shot until you can make it.  The difference between an amateur and a pro is “an amateur will practice until they can do something right and a pro will practice until THEY CAN’T DO IT WRONG.

There are a lot of people that think pocket-billiards is a very complicated game.  Even Einstein said there are over six million possible shots on a pocket-billiards table.  I haven’t double checked this figure and expect it to be true if I did.  It’s know wonder the game can be so overwhelming at times if it is indeed so complicated.

When people come for  instruction from me and I sense that they are so caught up in the infinite amount of shots that they can and can’t execute I will try to bring their attention back to what you must do everytime to become an advanced player.  Simply hitting a round ball straight with a wooden stick.  If you have any trouble doing this one thing I can safely say you will never master six shots let alone six million.

In the following series of articles I will describe in detail what has to happen everytime to achieve a high level of consistency, and it starts from the ground up.  In order to get your body in the same position every time relative to the line of the shot you must be aware of your feet position.  You couldn’t duplicate a building without first dulplicating the foundation.  Once the foundation is established you can duplicate your most effective body position.

When I say the “most effective” body position I mean one that feels comfortable to you and even more importantly delivers you to a position that is directly on the line of the shot.  The line on a straight in ball would be center to center.  If you come to a position that puts your eyes and the stick on that straight line then the only thing left is hitting the ball with a straight stick.  I almost feel like I can “throw” my stick through the ball, because the more authority I have in my stroke the more accurate it becomes.

There are different opinions of how you see the line of the shot in so much as which eye is dominant and if this is something that matters.  My position on this is that you should look at the line exactly as you would look at anything else in your life, as straight and clear as possible.  I assure you that no tremendous player gives any thought what so ever to which eye he’s aiming with when the winning shot is being made.

I look forward to again be writing and teaching to some degree.  I am in the process of putting together a full teaching program with my friend Wade Crane, (who gives lessons at CJ’s)  that will be offered to the people who seriously want to improve their games.  We will teach people things that can only be learned in the line of fire, through many years of traveling all over the world playing for large cash prizes.  Face it, if your game doesn’t hold up under pressure what good is it?  Remember this: pocket billiards at it’s simplest is consistently hitting that cue-ball at its sweet spot with a straight stick to make those little balls in those big, big pockets.

If anyone has a question or comment please e-mail me at cj@cjsbilliards.com or stop in and talk to me in person at CJ’s Billiard Palace here in beautiful Dallas.  Next month we’ll get into how the upper body falls correctly on the line of the shot slot.