Official Fergal O'Brien Website

Long Potting

Long straight

Place the white on the baulk line and place a red dead straight, level with the pink spot.
Using below centre striking of the white, try and pot the red and hold the white where the red is.
Again a good test of cueing.
When I practice this I try and find out how softly and sweetly I can pot the red and still hold the white where the red was.
With practice I found I don't have to play the shot at 100 miles an hour in order to hold the white.

3/4 Stun

Move the red so it is now a 3/4 pot and try to stun the red and hold the cueball between the red and the black.
The cueball will finish to the right of the red as shown in the picture above right.

There is a variation on this routine you can try out after mastering the above shot.
Play the cue ball off the left cushion after potting the red, while still maintaing the same position on the black
Secondly play the cue ball off left and back cushions after potting the red to end up on the above described positions for the black.

Stun over

Place the red as shown and now pot the red and stun over to the right of the black so you can pot the black into the same pocket as the red.

If you miss it is vital that you make a note of how you missed the shot.
Did you hit the red too thick ? Or did you overcut it ?
We want to avoid repeatedly making the same mistake so if you keep missing the shot the same way
e.g. too thick, despite feeling that you have cued it well and stayed down on the shot,
then you are aiming at the wrong part of the object ball and you need to make an adjustment.
Rather like an optical illusion the point you think you had to hit is incorrect.

Only with practice can you find the correct potting angle for every shot and then of course
only with good straight cueing can you take advantage of this knowledge.

Return to Practice Main Screen