The Fundamentals
Mechanicals skills like proper stance, bridge, stroke, grip and alignment provide the foundation upon which your game is built. Build a strong foundation with these fundamental skills, and you'll be well on your way to mastering the next stage of your pool journey. Don't forget to practice diligently. Be patient, and remember that pool isn't a sport that can be mastered overnight. Many of these skills will take you hours and hours of practice to bring under control.
Aiming
After you build a strong pool foundation, you're ready to start pocketing balls. To pocket balls consistently and effectively, you must first understand how to aim properly. Aiming the ball with precision will help you become a shot maker. Each and every professional pool player has a system he or she uses to aim and a training regimen they have used to become consistent and accurate shot makers.
Basic Shots
Shots like stop, draw and follow are the fundamental shots each pool player must master in order to advance to the next skill level. Basic shots will serve as your foundation for when you start to learn about playing position in the succeeding lesson plans. Understanding the basic shots will give you the basic foundation for controlling the cue ball and will introduce you to the concept of position play in pocket billiards.
Basic Position Play
Conquering basic position play will allow you to understand exactly how the cue ball will react after colliding with the object ball what path the cue ball will take after contact and how to control the cue ball to put it exactly where you need it to be for the next shot.
Side Spin (English)English is when you apply side spin on the cue ball. English affords you more options when it comes to shot making and/or position that can't be done by hitting the cue ball dead center.
Advanced Shots
Critical shots to advance your game to the next level. Before you learn these advanced shots, it is imperative that you are able to execute basic shots with consistency. Trying to learn these advanced shots without a knowing the basic shots would be an exercise of futility - trust me.
Bank and Kick Shots
Bank shots allow you to pocket the object ball in another pocket by using the pool table cushion to bounce the ball off of before it sinks into the intended pocket. Kick shots allow you to bounce the cue ball off of the pool table cushion and into the object ball.
Advanced Position Play
As you progress towards the advanced level, you will need to recognize and learn advanced patterns for position play. This advanced level position goes above and beyond the stop, draw and follow positions. Learning advanced position means learning how and where to position the cue ball for position on the next shot. This lesson plan will teach you some of the advanced level position concepts.
Safety & Defense
Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Learn how to take control of the table back when you have no offensive opening.
Practice, Practice, Practice
There is no substitute for practice. The only way to improve your game is through quality practice.
Equipment
Having the right cue for your game style and understanding the intracasies of a pool table gives you a leg up on the competition.
