How do you practice 3 balls ahead for position?

Ralph Kramden

Ralph Kramden

BOOM!.. ZOOM!.. MOON!
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It seems the pro players can gain almost perfect shape every time when they are planning shots 3 balls ahead. It's not hard to do when there are only 3 balls left, but they seem to be able to do it when there is a lot of traffic on the table. When they have any decent shot it seems that they can make the cueball end up just about anywhere they want it.

I use a practice drill that some may find fairly easy to do but it still takes some planning ahead to run out. I rack 9 balls... 6 striped balls and also the 1,2 and 3 are randomly placed in a diamond shape. After the break all balls spot so that all 9 balls remain on the table.

I start out with BIH to pocket any striped ball. I pick a striped ball that will break up a cluster or a ball that may be blocking the 1 from a pocket. I then pocket a second striped ball to get shape on the 1 ball.

You must pocket 2 striped balls and then pocket the 1 ball. Then you must pocket any 2 of the other striped balls followed by the 2 ball. Finally you must pocket the last 2 remaining striped balls and then the 3 ball. You don't get penalized for not getting perfect shape on the striped ball you were planning to shoot next. You can pocket any striped balls, but the 1,2 and 3 must each pocket in rotation after any 2 striped balls pocket.

Sounds like it's not difficult to pocket 9 balls this way but it takes a lot of concentration to do it and you have to think ahead. You can write down how many times you pocket the 1,2 and 3 for each 9 ball rack to keep track of how well you played position. A miss is the end of your run for that particular set.

I have been using this as a position drill but would be interested if you have any other position drills to share. How do you practice 3 balls ahead for position?

EDIT: If the 1,2 or 3 ball pocket on the break, they spot 1 ball distance from any other ball spotted. This eliminates clusters with the solid balls.
 
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Planning ahead

When I evaluate the table after the break and making a ball, or when my opponent misses, I pretty much plan the whole runout, but make necessary adjustments through the run if I need to.

When you say 3 balls, I assume that is your current shot, plus the next 2 balls you plan to shoot afterwards. You just need to see the 2 future shots really to see which side of the shot you need to be on, to make it easy for the shot after that.

I will sometimes start with a hard shot, if that shot will make the rest of the run easy after that. (like a solid/stripe combo when the table is open) In 8 ball though, take extra care to be sure you make your first shot after the break. Nothing is worse that planning a good run, missing your first ball, and watching your opponent then running out.

Novice and intermediate players alike will take ball patterns that will prevent them from running the table. I never worry about leaving the last ball in my group as one being close to the 8 ball because I can get to anywhere on the table for shape. I have watched many players play a real tough shot even though the ball close to the 8 is much easier trying to leave that ball for the last one when making the ball close to the 8 is better to get shape on the original tough ball to finish out the run, and they miss the tough ball, and never get to the table again.

I love the guys that always take solids no matter how the table layout is.

It's like what I told a woman player one time, 'You ball pattern is pretty good in 9 ball, but your 8 ball game needs work'......:D
 
I don't care much about the 3 balls thinking ahead. The only thing I need to know is: can I run out? So my practicing drill is:
1) Rack a 9-ball rack
2) Break and take all the balls from the table and leave the last 3 balls (like the 7, 8 and 9, if you potted the 8 at the break you just leave 6, 7 and 9) on the table
3) With 3 objectballs left on the table you make a run out.

Do it like 3 times in a row. If you pass this, you will add 1 extra ball on the table after the break (so there will be 4 objectballs on the table), and go on.
 
"3 balls ahead planning" is more a description of a greater concept than a concept in and of itself. What a professional does, especially when playing a rotation game like 9-ball is they attain position on a shot that is favorable for getting position on the next shot. See my diagram below:

CueTable Help



Now, in this layout, the shooter will first make sure to pocket the 1-ball and have some sort of angle on the 2 so they can get position on the 3. Now, some of the position routes professionals use are predictable as is the case regarding position from the 2 to the 3. All that is necessary is that the shooter slide the cueball to the other side of the table however, look further into the rack and you'll see some scenarios that might not be so obvious.

CueTable Help



Now, with this shot on the 5-ball, both routes will give you position on the 6-ball however, the shooter might feel it's better to assure an angle on the 6 EVEN IF it means the route will require traveling around the table a bit. Because of the position of the 9-ball, falling dead straight on the 6-ball (red route) can pose a bit of a problem. The shooter will need hit the window between the 8/9 or draw back, leaving himself fairly long. What to do will rest entirely on exactly how he falls on the 6-ball, something that is completely out of the equation the moment you take the gray route.

The point I'm making is, there are going to be some details that are going to factor into your decision. Don't be took quick to look at 3-ball routes until you've closely examined the route the cueball will likely take on your NEXT shot. There might be some things that will require additional consideration.
 
First you need to learn what the cue ball will do after contacting the object ball depending on where you hit the cue ball.

With a straight in shot, basically the cue ball will proceed forwards with follow, stop (with a stun shot), or backwards with a draw shot.

You have more options with an angled shot: Cue ball will proceed forwards after the shot with follow, stun - cue ball will go 90 degrees to line with pocket, or cue ball will come backwards with draw.

Keep in mind that what goes forwards will contact a rail and come backwards! (To go backwards, you can go forwards with many shots.)

Then using english will alter the natural path the cue ball will take after it contacts a rail.

Once you master the above and can predict in advance exactly where the cue ball will go after contacting the object ball, then all you need is the correct speed to get the cue ball to travel the correct distance you need. This is hard because it will vary depending on how much of the object ball the cue ball hits...

Speed loss of Cue Ball

Full ball hit - 100% loss of speed
3/4 ball hit - 75%
1/2 ball hit - 50%
1/4 ball hit - 25%
Thin hit - 0-10%

Then each time the cue ball hits a rail, you are looking at about a 40% loss of speed.

With less speed, the cue ball will go "here". With more speed, the cue ball will hit a rail and then go "that" direction (angle in, angle out). With even more speed, the cue ball will hit a 3rd rail and go "yet another" direction. Alter the direction the cue ball comes off the rail by using english, and you can change all of the above!

Then when you master that, you can start to do things like sending the cue ball in a specific direction after shooting in a ball to break out a cluster. With this, keep in mind that if there are a lot of balls to be broken out, it requires a lot of speed to get the job done!

Then there are trouble balls on the table....

Some balls can only be shot in to one specific pocket and to shoot that ball into that pocket, the cue ball can only be located in one small zone; say a 1 ft. triangular area. So will you be able to shoot in another ball and then leave the cue ball in that exact location?

Other balls may be clustered and will not go into any pocket.

Some balls may be blocked from going into a pocket by your opponents balls if playing 8-ball. Can this be fixed?

Best to work on fixing these things from the get go. With 8-ball, your balls are "guards" blocking shots, blocking pockets, and blocking cue ball paths. Best to break out trouble balls when all those "guards" are still guarding your opponent from being able to run out.

Then once all the trouble balls have been fixed, it will then be possible to run out. Go for it!

Then it is just a matter of being able to leave the cue ball in a good spot after each shot to shoot in the next ball AND to be able to shoot in that shot so you can leave the cue ball in a good spot for the shot after that.

This is the hard part. Leaving the cue ball 6 inches too far a certain direction for a particular shot may be disaster. You will be on the "wrong side" of that ball and the cue ball will want to go the wrong direction after that shot!

So speed is all important. Being able to use the right speed so the cue ball stops in a good spot.

So with all that said, the things which helped me the most for learning this was...

-Jimmy Reid's "Art of 8-ball video". (Learned what I should be trying to do.)

-Dr Dave's "Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards" (Learned how to do it.)

-Three years of trying to figure out where exactly the cue ball would go after each shot - trying to predict this and seeing what actually happens. The once I learned the direction the ball would go, learning how much speed to use. (I think I'll spend the rest of my life trying to get the correct speed for certain shots down...)
 
I don't know if I necessarily think "3 ahead". That might be a throwback way of saying thinking ahead through the rack. I try to think not through balls, but through the rack (in 8 ball) when I break I just play to my strenghs, now the more strenghs you have the eaisier it is to run out. So like lets say you have a shot in the side pocket, and a shot thats out in the middle of the table that you can pocket in the corner, if you have hesitiation on one over the other, choose the one that your comfortable with. So in 8 ball I would suggest play position ahead to your strenghs, not what efren would do, but what you can do. In 9 ball the options go away in some sense, but the table is usually more open with less congestion. So in 9 ball I would say think ahead (again) to your problems (not a pros) and think to where you would have the most advantageous position to pocket the ball, based on your skill level.
 
Jude
What a professional does, especially when playing a rotation game like 9-ball is they attain position on a shot that is favorable for getting position on the next shot.
Click to expand...

Jude, your post and diagrams were very interesting and descriptive of the run out process but taken alone, the above quote might be taken incorrectly by some...so they need to carefully review your entire post.

I agree entirely with your comment that 3 ball position is not a strategy unto itself but merely a portion of a greater strategy in which the player MUST first review the entire rack...as all pros do.

You just can't decide which side of the 8 ball to fall on if you haven't looked at the 9 Ball and that reality proceeds backward all the way to the first ball in the run.

Just like 14.1, where the player decides on the break ball, then finds the key ball and then proceeds backwards from there to the initial shot...the same holds true in 9 Ball.

It may be that where some balls lay, it makes no difference where you fall on it because you can sometimes get "next ball" shape several different ways. BUT, you need to know that in advance and that requires analysis of the entire layout up front.

There is a debate on the BD forum about this where one person demands that 3 ball thinking is all that is necessary but of course, that is wrong.

In truth, by deciding on the initial 3 ball pattern and then just adding a new ball as one is pocketed can end up painting you into a corner on the last couple of balls.

In addition, playing for cluster breaks...follow instead of draw position and safeties when you know you're not going to get out (etc.) requires taking the entire layout into consideration up front.

3 ball pattern play...in and of itself...is a concept to get beginner and intermediate players off to the right start but soon must be expanded to "entire route" analysis as ALL pros do routinely.

LONG ago, I asked Buddy Hall how many balls ahead he plans (at the Windy City Open many years ago) and he smiled and said "However many there are on the table."

Regards,
Jim
 
its easy to think 3 balls ahead or more, you just have to be sure of what side of the OB you need to be on to get to the next etc. etc.etc. then back track that logic to the shot your shooting, being on the correct side of the ball is big, this is assuming that the balls are open, it there are clusters etc then it gets more complicated.

being on the good side of the ball is what Buddy Hall does so good, for example if your shooting a ball into the side pocket and your on the good side you can just roll over to the next shot, if your on the wrong side you might have to go 2 or 3 rails around the table to get shape on the next shot. When pool looks easy then its being played right, if you see alot of trick shots and long 3 rail shots to get shape then the player isnt getting on the correct side of the ball, so befor you shoot you have to look to see where you would want BIH on the next shot and the next and how would you get there from the previous shot, it sounds more complicated than it is but if your planning on running out you have to approach it like this, even in 1p or 8ball you might play position for a saftey on the next shot, to play good pool you have to think ahead, pocketing the OB isnt what pool is about its what you do with the CB, thus looking as far ahead as possible is the only way to play good pool, making the shot is assumed shape for the next shot is what were all looking for-unless your a banger and thats cool if your having fun.
 
av84fun said:
Jude

Jude, your post and diagrams were very interesting and descriptive of the run out process but taken alone, the above quote might be taken incorrectly by some...so they need to carefully review your entire post.

I agree entirely with your comment that 3 ball position is not a strategy unto itself but merely a portion of a greater strategy in which the player MUST first review the entire rack...as all pros do.

You just can't decide which side of the 8 ball to fall on if you haven't looked at the 9 Ball and that reality proceeds backward all the way to the first ball in the run.

Just like 14.1, where the player decides on the break ball, then finds the key ball and then proceeds backwards from there to the initial shot...the same holds true in 9 Ball.

It may be that where some balls lay, it makes no difference where you fall on it because you can sometimes get "next ball" shape several different ways. BUT, you need to know that in advance and that requires analysis of the entire layout up front.

There is a debate on the BD forum about this where one person demands that 3 ball thinking is all that is necessary but of course, that is wrong.

In truth, by deciding on the initial 3 ball pattern and then just adding a new ball as one is pocketed can end up painting you into a corner on the last couple of balls.

In addition, playing for cluster breaks...follow instead of draw position and safeties when you know you're not going to get out (etc.) requires taking the entire layout into consideration up front.

3 ball pattern play...in and of itself...is a concept to get beginner and intermediate players off to the right start but soon must be expanded to "entire route" analysis as ALL pros do routinely.

LONG ago, I asked Buddy Hall how many balls ahead he plans (at the Windy City Open many years ago) and he smiled and said "However many there are on the table."

Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...

Well, the "three balls ahead" concept is correct but the thing is, there's more than one way to cook a chicken and that's basically what I'm saying. Oftentimes, there are multiple routes available which would work if there were only three balls left but since there are often more than three, you have to plan accordingly. Sometimes routes are closed or lower percentage and the real amazement in watching professional play has to do with their ability to come up with routes that are either difficult or not often seen.
 
First learn where the ball wants to go, then learn how to make it go where you want it to". I see so many players force the ball all over the place for no reason. I think this is part of Judes "cooking a chicken" statement too. When natural routes become blocked or closed off, you are forced to use other routes but as the number of balls on the table decreases the chances of being blocked decrease. As traffic decreases position options increase. Its ironic that as position options increase the need to consider many of them are eliminated because natural lanes are open.
 
Ralph Kramden said:
It seems the pro players can gain almost perfect shape every time when they are planning shots 3 balls ahead. It's not hard to do when there are only 3 balls left, but they seem to be able to do it when there is a lot of traffic on the table. When they have any decent shot it seems that they can make the cueball end up just about anywhere they want it.

I use a practice drill that some may find fairly easy to do but it still takes some planning ahead to run out. I rack 9 balls... 6 striped balls and also the 1,2 and 3 are randomly placed in a diamond shape. After the break all balls spot so that all 9 balls remain on the table.

I start out with BIH to pocket any striped ball. I pick a striped ball that will break up a cluster or a ball that may be blocking the 1 from a pocket. I then pocket a second striped ball to get shape on the 1 ball.

You must pocket 2 striped balls and then pocket the 1 ball. Then you must pocket any 2 of the other striped balls followed by the 2 ball. Finally you must pocket the last 2 remaining striped balls and then the 3 ball. You don't get penalized for not getting perfect shape on the striped ball you were planning to shoot next. You can pocket any striped balls, but the 1,2 and 3 must each pocket in rotation after any 2 striped balls pocket.

Sounds like it's not difficult to pocket 9 balls this way but it takes a lot of concentration to do it and you have to think ahead. You can write down how many times you pocket the 1,2 and 3 for each 9 ball rack to keep track of how well you played position. A miss is the end of your run for that particular set.

I have been using this as a position drill but would be interested if you have any other position drills to share. How do you practice 3 balls ahead for position?

EDIT: If the 1,2 or 3 ball pocket on the break, they spot 1 ball distance away from any other ball spotted. This eliminates clusters with the solid balls.
Click to expand...
Edited this post... Solid balls spotted on the break are placed the distance of at least one ball away from any other spotted balls. This eliminates starting the run with an extra cluster that needs to be broken.
You can choose to pocket any striped ball but then must pocket the correct striped ball to get shape on the solid balls that are pocketed in numerical order.
 
Many good points here. I think of it as 'levels':

Level 1: Whole table. Consider full run options, pick a shot.
Level 2: 3 Balls ahead. Knowing your shot, what next (and next)?
Level 3: Execute. Everything's been considered, do the preshot and fire.

When I can play in this mode, it works pretty well. Now if I could just stay there...

-s
 
Jude
"Oftentimes, there are multiple routes available which would work if there were only three balls left but since there are often more than three, you have to plan accordingly."
Click to expand...

Exactly. All I'm saying is that when some talk about the 3 ball shape technique they think in terms of walking up to the table...finding the lowest 3 balls...plan a route for those 3...and then add 1 ball to the series for each ball pocketed.

That is GREAT for beginners but if you add the 4th ball without regard to where the 5th ball is, then you have given no consideration to which side of the 5th ball shape you need to be on and can end up bassakwards for the balance of the run.

What I am saying is that top players survey the entire layout...see the correct route...and adjust as necessary.

I am not at all disagreeing with anything you stated in your excellent post...just amplifying.

Regards,
Jim
 
av84fun said:
Jude

Exactly. All I'm saying is that when some talk about the 3 ball shape technique they think in terms of walking up to the table...finding the lowest 3 balls...plan a route for those 3...and then add 1 ball to the series for each ball pocketed.

That is GREAT for beginners but if you add the 4th ball without regard to where the 5th ball is, then you have given no consideration to which side of the 5th ball shape you need to be on and can end up bassakwards for the balance of the run.

What I am saying is that top players survey the entire layout...see the correct route...and adjust as necessary.

I am not at all disagreeing with anything you stated in your excellent post...just amplifying.

Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...


Yeah, I realize. I was just also clarifying because people like to dismiss the 3-ball concept and it actually breaks things down neatly for people. It's not an all encompassing concept but a concept within a greater ideology. It IS what professionals do however, professionals also, as you stated, have the scope of the entire layout in mind when they make these decisions.
 
the tricky part would be trying to break off some clustered high numbered balls ahead and still landing a good position for the other sequenced lowest numbered ball. what's truly remarkable if how these guys make another attempt to break those clusters if they missed the first attempt. that's just pure CB control and table knowledge.
 
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