(About the author)

(This is today’s bit of advice from the book Safety Toolbox.)

Without control over how far the cue ball travels, you are just guessing where things stop. This allows billiard god luck (chaos) to enter your game. With control, offensively you can play better position. With control, clever defensive shots can greatly frustrate your opponent.

The precision you gain with these exercises are related to game situations. These are not as difficult as you might initially think. With the donuts and Post-It sheets, each attempt gives you instant feedback. Within a few minutes, you soon make the necessary muscle adjustments.

Practice each aspect of every exercise, including the various starting positions (light shadow balls) and the ending positions (dark shadow balls). Mastery can only be confirmed when success can be achieved four times out of five.

With your new cue ball positioning skills learned from these exercises, move on to the others. It takes time and some of it is boring. These newly acquired skills ensure you become the “Wizard of Touch”.

1 cushion, example 1

There are 20 exercises (4 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are target positions.

1 cushion, example 2

There are 20 exercises (4 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are target positions.

2 cushion, example 1

There are 20 exercises (4 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are targets.

2 cushion, example 2

There are 20 exercises (4 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are targets.

3 & 4 cushion, example

There are 25 exercises (5 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are targets.

4 & 5 cushion, example

There are 25 exercises (5 start positions, 5 stop positions). The light shadow balls are cue ball starting positions. The dark shadow balls are targets.