Last night, I led a Picture Yourself Shooting Pool Clinic for nearly a dozen beginning pool shooters. Their common fault, a fault that shows up at times with even expert billiards players? A cue tip too far from the ball at address and practice strokes.
Why make the game of pool harder than it is already? Get the cue tip way the heck on that ball...
...The accompanying photo says it all. Pool great Willie Mosconi would go further and for his instruction books, would be photographed with the tip actually touching the cue ball.
A beginner could also get their bridge hand within an inch or two of the ball. Hemmed in, the cue tip has no option except to drive forward along the intended path of stroke.
I almost feel like shouting in this article but will confine myself to a bolded, italicized declaration--get your cue's tip closer to the cue ball at address than you normally do, and build in this habit going forward.
Why?
It is of necessity to give yourself a fighting chance at striking the cue ball where you aim. If your tip is even half an inch from the ball, that distance represents over 20% of the cue ball's size (.5" divided by a typical 2.25" cue ball equals 22.22%) and you are taking a risk of missing the point of aim over that distance gap.
By standing with my cue tip equidistant from the cue ball with each stroke, I am further building "repeatability" into each stroke of my career.
Get that tip close to the ball at address.
