big part of the game is "recognizing" and playing the right pattern. This is something you can study off the table.
I read once, that the biggest factor to predict, how good a chess player becomes is the amount of time he spends on studying the games of grandmasters. Study position, think of the move you would take, than see, how the master played. Do you see the reason, why his choice is better?
I think it applies very well to straight pool. Study runs from great players, pause after break ball and identify the best and easiest pattern for the next few balls and what you want to accomplish (mostly to solve the problems as fast as possible, so you also learn to recognize problem balls). Than get immediate feedback, how the masters do it. Normally you plan for 4-6 balls before you have to go into a cluster and than reevaluate.
Can you predict, how the cluster will open up? Immediate feedback once again watching the actual video after making your prediction.
Than pause again after breaking the cluster, identify the problems and your next few balls. Check again if and why the grand master took different approach.
And then on the last 5-6 balls when all problems are solved you can pause again and try to find the easiest end pattern and see if there is an easier way played by the pro. And so on.
I actually make flashcards of different patterns so I learn them by heart and with time am able to recognize similar situations and find easier solutions.