Many of the qualities that make a good golfer can also be applied to the game of pool. Because of this, it should be no surprise that some of the top professional poolplayers like Gabe Owen and Jeremy Jones, are also scratch golfers. Neither sport is reactive; in both pool and golf you’re not blocking your opponent’s jump shot or fielding the line drive they hit. Rather, you’re executing a set shot by contacting a stationery ball with no immediate interference from an opponent. You’re in complete control over the outcome of that shot and changing your contact point by mere millimeters completely determines the success or failure of your shot. In this article we’ll analyze the qualities in a good golf game that can be applied to your pool game.
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I briefly touched on this similarity in a previous article and will expand on it now. Having a successful break shot is not necessarily related to strength and force but rather precision and understanding of the objective. Many players think that the key to a good break is hitting the cue ball hard. But, just like a tee shot in golf, hitting it hard isn’t as important as accuracy. The goal in pool is to spread the balls nicely AND control the cue ball. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of pictures in magazines of a pro player’s break where their back foot is kicked high in the air and their cue stick is bent almost in half from the force of the break. While this makes for an exciting picture, it’s not completely necessary for a successful break. There’s a saying in golf, “let the club do the work.” This means that the clubs are designed to give you maximum results for that particular type of shot so you don’t have to hit the ball hard to get good results. Rather, your ability to make solid contact and transfer your weight at the correct point in your stroke will determine how successful you are at driving…or breaking. This is what is called “timing.” If you pull your body through too early or too late, you won’t get the extra whip on the ball that creates the necessary force to spread the balls well.
Having solid contact and good timing is important when you need to break the balls hard, but is breaking as hard as you can always necessary? No. There are plenty of other breaking options depending on the game you’re playing and the desired results.
First, let’s talk about 8-Ball breaking options. Just like golf, sometimes you don’t want to break straight up the middle and just stick the cue ball in the middle of the table. A great option in 8-Ball, particularly because making the 8-on-the break is a win, is the second ball break. When executing this break, you want to first check which of the second two balls is frozen to more of the other balls. Whichever second ball is touching the three balls next to and below it, you should break from that same side because the rack will spread easier. In this break, you should always break from the rail and aim low right on the cue ball (around 5 o’clock). Aim as square at the second ball as possible while avoiding any contact with the head ball. The low right spin will cause the cue ball to come off the rack, hit the side rail and kick back into the cluster of balls where the rack was resting. Many times this causes the balls to cluster on one side of the table, but it also results in much more movement on the 8-ball, increasing your chances of making it in the side or corner pocket opposite from the side you broke from. While playing APA, I almost exclusively used this break because winning safety battles was my strength and I liked the odds of getting movement on the 8-ball.
Not all holes are par 4’s or par 5’s where you need a long drive. Sometimes, you want a short, controlled tee shot and this might mean putting some spin on the ball to get it to stick in a particular part of the green. The same is true in pool, particularly in some 9-Ball games. I must preface this by saying that if you’re playing on old, worn down equipment, this break may be less effective because it may not be possible to get a good tight rack. But on decent tables, this is a very effective break. Again, check the rack to see which side has more frozen balls. If the 1-ball is only touching the second ball on one side, you want to break from the opposite side of the table so your force is going into the frozen ball. It’s actually best to have a line of four frozen balls but sometimes that’s hard to get on many tables. The 9-Ball rack is set up in a manner that the wing balls shoot towards the corner pockets so you have a strong chance of making one of them. You can either break from the side rail or anywhere up to one diamond away from the rail. In this break, you don’t need to hit full force, but more like 70-80% force and aim a little low on the cue ball. The 1-ball naturally will shoot towards the side pocket opposite from where you’re breaking and if it misses the side pocket it’ll most likely come down table to the end you broke from. Aiming low on the cue ball will bring it back towards that bottom rail, helping you have a shot on the 1-ball if it misses the side pocket. Practice this break with different speeds and place the cue ball at varying distances from the rail to see which one works best on that particular table.
Golf and pool have many more similarities—studying golfing strategies can greatly improve your pool game. Because of this, one of the most highly recommended books for improving your mental game in pool is Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent. The concepts can also be applied to pool.
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