Walk Into the Shot

OK, it’s your break. Do you:

1) Pick up the chalk?

2) Step away from the table?

2) Chalk the edges?

3) Put the chalk down?

4) Pick a random place to be bent over the table at the beltline, and then drag yourself down the rail and around the corner to the cue ball? If so, you’ve just cleaned several feet of rail top with your shirt, and you are in no position to accurately assess where your body is in relation to the cue ball, much less the dry cleaners. Instead, at step 4, we usually step away from the table, find and walk down the shot line towards the cue ball and into our stance. I’ve rarely seen a top player routinely step into the shot line from the side.

Now, expand that to include EVERY shot. As part of your routine, always walk into the shot down the shot line, never across it to the stance.

A good analogy is negotiating a curve when we’re driving: we see it coming; we get set with the proper angle of approach and speed; take the correct line; clip the apex and accelerate out. Imagine if you hadn’t planned for it and instead suddenly found yourself entering the curve with no preparation. You can neither “step away” from the curve and try it again, nor is it possible to find the right “line” when you’re already in it, discovering that you need reactive, unplanned doses of brakes and rapid steering corrections.

Instead, give yourself a chance. Treat every shot as THE shot. Follow your complete pre-shot routine, every time, and step into the shot from behind, not from the side. This will do wonders for your pre-shot alignment and execution!

By: Mark Powell, PBIA Master Instructor.