Oct 3, 20142 min
You come to the table with a difficult shot. You are two balls away from winning—if you can make this ball. Your mind believes that the chances of success are 50%. In reality, you couldn’t make the shot even once in 10 tries.
You decide to ignore the truth and reality of your skills and proceed to attempt the fantasy. You declare your intent to your opponent and all the railbirds.
And of course, the cue ball stops in the perfect place on the table for your opponent to do an easy runout. This miss gave the game to your opponent. (To make it worse, your opponent thanks you for giving him the game.)
If you are getting tired of throwing away games, you are beginning to become a more intelligent player. Maybe you need to spend more practice table time on how to play a defensive shot, instead of making shots. This actually will ensure an opportunity to become a better shooter. This one little change in your regular shooting style will be key to becoming a better shooter. And all that is necessary is this little pattern change of your playing style—think before shooting.
Instead, consider this: play a defensive shot and your opponent can only shoot the table layout that you decide to give him.
Think whether you want to depend on the billiard gods for good luck or a chance to give your opponent bad luck. Therefore, before bending down over the shot, have a plan to play offense or defense.
The purpose of an offensive shot is to pocket the ball and get onto the next shot. The purpose of a defensive shot is to prevent your opponent from pocketing a ball and getting to the next shot.
*Blog originally posted on Billiard Gods Productions.
Photo: blog
Editor: Dana Gornall