Left/Right Hand Side
Applying ‘side’ or ‘side spin’ (or ‘English’, in American parlance) looks easy. And it is. But applying the right amount of side is less so. Imagine a straightish pot. Hit the object in the sweet spot and the white in the very centre and the object ball’s potted, the white stays fairly still afterwards. But now you’re on nothing. You wanted the white to go to the left-hand side of the table…
Well, you should have hit the cue ball on its left-hand side, then. Applying ‘left-hand side’ spins the ball clockwise and sends it spinning off to the left (and vice versa with right-hand side). How far away from the centre of the white you hit it will depend on how much side is applied.
That’s the basic theory, anyway. The only way to master it is, like with all of these shots, to practice it. Over and over and over (and over) again.
Using The Rest
If you learn to the control the white ball, with a bit of luck, you shouldn’t need to go looking for the rest all that often. But, invariably, it’ll come in handy at some point during a frame. Don’t be intimidated by the rest, though. It’s not a totally new way of playing or even cueing, really. Think of it as an extension of your arm.
Now. It’s important to just focus on the pot here. You won’t be able to get too clever with position, so just ensure you’re potting. Make sure you’ve got a firm, supportive grip on the end of the cue and you’ve settled the rest down and slid it out of the way of your shot. Then, raise your elbow parallel to the table, line up your shot and poke at it firmly, with very little follow through.
Stun Shot
You’re attempting a long pot. A red. You’d ideally like the white to stay where it is, at the point of contact with the red. There’s a black available. So what do you do? Well, you stun it.
Stunning a ball at close range can be done by making the centre (or slightly below centre) your point of application. But when the object ball is some three to six feet away? That won’t work. Eventually, the ball will pick up top spin and you won’t get the position you want.
So what you need to do is make the point of application lower. Hit the bottom of the centre of the cue ball and apply back spin. That spin will wear off by the time it hits the red and it’ll stay put after making contact. If you apply the ‘stun’ correctly, that is. Again, practice will iron out the kinks.
Screw Back
That stun we just talked you through? Do that with a closer object ball and you’ll acheive screw. Screwing and stunning are basically the same thing. The only difference is the amount of room between the two balls.
Hit the white nice and low – and central – and once the white hits the object, it’ll come whizzing straight back to you…
Don’t forget, we’ve teamed up with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Associationand World Snooker this month as part of National Snooker Week. It’s all about getting more people involved in the sport
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