There were times in my journey with pool where I was playing nonstop.  I practiced every day, played in leagues three or four nights a week and in tournaments every weekend. But what about when you don’t get to play all the time? How do you stay in stroke? How do you continue your development?

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I recently gave birth to my first child and although I was playing pool up until my due date, I took almost two months off after the delivery. A few weeks ago, I accepted an invitation to my first pro event of this year and had just two weeks to prepare.  While you may never take time off of pool to have a child, there will likely be other life events that draw you away from the game.  Getting back into it is not always easy, so this month I’m examining where to start in order to get back to where I left off.

Pool is a game where developing muscle memory is important. When you’re away from the game for an extended amount of time, you’ll likely lose some of that muscle memory. So, one of the most important things you can do is go back to the basics and focus on your mechanics.

Pre-Shot Routine

Although the stroke where you actually contact the cue ball is important, everything you do leading up to that point is equally as vital. You’ll often see top pros like Allison Fisher and Karen Corr “step into” each shot. This is no coincidence; they do this for a reason. Some players just get down and shoot without giving much thought to how they’re lined up. This can cause a number of things to go wrong in your shot. Instead, stand a few feet back from the table and find the line of your shot. Then, line your cue up to the shot and position your body based on where your cue is lined up as you approach the shot, not the other way around. Taking the time to do this on each and every shot will not only assure that you’re lined up correctly, it also causes you to subconsciously focus more on the upcoming shot.

Stroke Drills

After taking so much time off from playing, it was very tempting to just hit balls and play games against friends, but I knew that wouldn’t help me prepare for a tournament in such a short time. Instead, I focused mainly on stroke drills. It may sound fairly basic, but the straight stop shots can tell you a great deal about the status of your stroke.  Set the cue ball up for a straight-in shot at least 1-2 feet away from the object ball and shoot a stop shot. If you’re truly hitting center ball on the cue ball, the cue ball should stop directly behind where the object ball was set, not a quarter inch to the right or left, but directly behind that spot. Chalk your cue and shoot the same shot, from the same location, over and over again. You’ll notice a line of chalk residue on the table after several shots. If this line or residue veers off to the right or left, then your follow-through is crooked. This sounds like a very simple drill but you’ll be surprised at how many times you won’t hit this dead on. Adjusting your stroke until you’re able to consistently stop the cue ball in the correct location, while having a straight follow-through line, is important before beginning real competition.

My pre-shot routine and stroke were the two major things I focused on during those two weeks of preparation. Finally, it was time for me to actually play matches again. A great way to prepare for a tournament is to play a race or format very similar to the tournament you’re preparing for. So my next step in preparation was to spar against someone of equal skill to my upcoming opponents and play a race format similar to that tournament. This prepares you for the mental aspect of returning to competition.

After my two week preparation, I returned to competition at the Ultimate 10-Ball Championships in Frisco, Texas. It was a great event and I came out strong winning my first two matches before I met up with Allison Fisher, only to be followed by top Japanese player Kyoko Sone. All in all I was happy with my results for my first major tournament after a long pregnancy. I will continue to focus on the basic fundamentals of my game moving forward in preparing for the upcoming U.S. Open in Oklahoma.

*Photo is Cristina playing in the Ultimate 10-Ball Championships. Photo by Jeff Smith of Heirloom Portrait Art.