one error is using top inside to get straight on the 8.
another one would be cheating the wrong side of the pocket and thus making the shot on the 8 harder
I'd be a bit concerned with not getting my cue ball far enough down table after shooting the seven. I wouldn't want to have to stretch too much on the eight.
Well, believe it or not, this IS the 2nd error. It looks really innocuous, but many games have been lost because a player didn't think the shot through, left themselves all stretched out, and couldn't execute the next shot. They might miscue, be forced to cinch the ball, or even use the bridge. I've seen it happens a hundred times. In fact, some people don't even recognize that their shape was short.
As shown below, shooting it with top, and not enough speed, results in shot cue ball "A" below. Even tall folks have a hard time stretching past the side pocket. This is especially true on 9 foot tables. Try this out on a 9 footer and you'll see what I mean. I set it up, and the shot is REALLY TOUGH from position "A". A better shot is shown below at cue ball "B". Basically, anything past the side pocket is good for right handers. Of course, this doesn't really apply to left handed folks...
This type of position play shows up frequently, so you should always remeber to push the cue ball past the side pocket - when you can.
