How to Play Pool Well

A consistent stance or stances, is a requirement for every swing of your pool cue to be the same or very similar for each shot. Less last minute adjustments of your arm or body being required, will add a consistency to your game.

Grab your cue somewhere between the balance point and the rear of the cue. Unless you have very long arms, about 48 inches from the tip will be close to correct for the typical teen or adult between 5 and 6 feet tall.

Determine your shot before you get down to shoot. Align the pool cue in line with the intended path of the cue ball, to sink the object ball. Now position the cue under one of your eyes or under your nose, if two eye sighting is preferred. (Practicing and experimenting will help you to determine whether one eye or two eye aiming is best for you).

With your cue situated under your aiming eye, align the cue with your cue ball's intended path. With the cue tip at least a foot away from the cue ball, approach it and get down into your stance simultaneously. (Approaching the cue ball from the left or right, as might be determined from which direction you're coming from, can give you an inconsistent stance, such as two legs straight for one shot and two legs bent for the next one).

Many seasoned players appear to be ignoring the approach to the shot as mentioned in step 4 above. Yet it or a similar approach helped develop their consistent stance.

With exceptions for shots that require stretching over the table, have both of your heels and your toes flat on the floor for each shot. The lower part of your arm, that is holding the cue butt, should be positioned so that it is near perpendicular to gravity, when the cue tip contacts the cue ball.