Official Fergal O'Brien Website
7 red sequence
Place the balls as shown above left with 4
reds between the pink and black spots and the other 3 reds beside them.
All of the reds must block the other reds being potted into the opposite pocket
as shown in centre picture.
As you pot each red it frees the path for the next red into the opposite corner
pocket.
Starting with the red beside the black and finishing with the red at the top
try to pot 7 reds and 7 blacks.
You can also place the 3 reds on the other side of the 4 reds as shown in
picture above right.
This will give you good practice and confidence in potting balls from either
side of the table.
Excellent position play is needed to pot all
of the balls in sequence.
Landing straight on the black into the corner pocket or hitting another red
means that you must start the sequence again.
This routine can also be evolved to use 9 balls as shown
here.
Alternatively if you need an easier start to your practice routine
you can start with 3 red balls and move onto 5 then 7 then 9 to finish with.
After mastering this routine you will see a marked improvement
in your overall positional play.
It is often said that club players make their shots
difficult and professional players make the shots look easy.
The reason for this is the professional player positions the cue ball
to make his or her next shot as easy as it can be.
You will often hear it said that when a player starts to go out of position
the problem compounds itself
and a good positional shot is required to put the player back to the perfect
position.