To the OP:
In the beginning you might want to start off with an ideal breakshot (large cut angle) to scatter the balls well, to get a feeling for running the balls. Later you will have to work with situations where the break is sub-obtimal and you have only a couple of balls away from the stack, but that as I said, is for later.
There are some principles on how to run the balls. I was taught these guidelines by possibly the best straight pool player in my country, I've added some stuff to it over the years and this is my take on what he said:
1. After the breakshot you look the table over carefully. With a classic Mosconi breakshot you will often have a lot of balls scattered in the rack area and lower part of the table. Identify balls that lie in the way, blocking several other balls from going. Remove these balls first.
2. If the balls are well scattered you can wait a little bit with your secondary breakshots (breaking up clusters). If there are lots of balls around the cluster you risk forming a new cluster with the broken up balls. Try to make a plan for how to do it. Identify balls that you can break the balls with, and try to always keep a safety ball to shoot if you stick to the cluster. (In the beginning of learning the game I personally feel it's beneficial to be overly aggressive, if you see a way to break up a cluster, just go for it. You will learn how to do it more methodically later, especially since you haven't gotten through a rack yet).
3. Cleaning up phase, the balls are open: Remove balls that are frozen on the rail. There are some exceptions to this rule, but following it strictly at first is a good idea. These balls are problematic because you are limited in your position options. If the ball is just a fraction off the rail, it is not really a problem. Try your best not to leave frozen balls as key balls, as you need to get absolutely perfect on them. There are very few exceptions, that come up quite rarely.
4. Lone balls up table. These need to go away before your end pattern. In some rare cases you can use them for key balls, but if they are far away from the pockets, this is not usually a good idea. If you wait too long, you will have a limited number of balls to get position on and a small position zone with long cue ball travel=not good.
This was advice he gave me personally on running the balls, but I think it might help you as well: In the beginning there are lots of available shots, but also many chances to snooker yourself. For beginners it's easy to take it for granted and get out of position. Try to make sure to play the cueball into safe areas, to avoid accidentally snookering yourself after brushing a ball or missing position. Be very aware of angles, and make sure you don't end up in the "position of death", straight in, with the cueball on the rail. Ending up like that often causes a chain reaction of getting more and more out of line, and ending your run, or trying to force an angle and miss. You may also have to shoot away your key/breakballs etc to recover. He emphasized this with me, because I tried to get straight in on everything.
Do not bump balls unless necessary. If the ball goes, don't move it, or at least make sure you move it into an open area.
Be an opportunist: Sometimes you will accidentally end up with a perfect angle to solve some problem or other. Don't be stubborn, change your plan to take advantage. Look carefully at each shot. It doesn't take a lot of time, a couple of seconds does the trick, look around quickly and then go down. Don't take forever. You won't be able to follow your plan 100% anyway, nobody is that good, no matter what they tell you.
In the beginning you might want to start off with an ideal breakshot (large cut angle) to scatter the balls well, to get a feeling for running the balls. Later you will have to work with situations where the break is sub-obtimal and you have only a couple of balls away from the stack, but that as I said, is for later.
There are some principles on how to run the balls. I was taught these guidelines by possibly the best straight pool player in my country, I've added some stuff to it over the years and this is my take on what he said:
1. After the breakshot you look the table over carefully. With a classic Mosconi breakshot you will often have a lot of balls scattered in the rack area and lower part of the table. Identify balls that lie in the way, blocking several other balls from going. Remove these balls first.
2. If the balls are well scattered you can wait a little bit with your secondary breakshots (breaking up clusters). If there are lots of balls around the cluster you risk forming a new cluster with the broken up balls. Try to make a plan for how to do it. Identify balls that you can break the balls with, and try to always keep a safety ball to shoot if you stick to the cluster. (In the beginning of learning the game I personally feel it's beneficial to be overly aggressive, if you see a way to break up a cluster, just go for it. You will learn how to do it more methodically later, especially since you haven't gotten through a rack yet).
3. Cleaning up phase, the balls are open: Remove balls that are frozen on the rail. There are some exceptions to this rule, but following it strictly at first is a good idea. These balls are problematic because you are limited in your position options. If the ball is just a fraction off the rail, it is not really a problem. Try your best not to leave frozen balls as key balls, as you need to get absolutely perfect on them. There are very few exceptions, that come up quite rarely.
4. Lone balls up table. These need to go away before your end pattern. In some rare cases you can use them for key balls, but if they are far away from the pockets, this is not usually a good idea. If you wait too long, you will have a limited number of balls to get position on and a small position zone with long cue ball travel=not good.
This was advice he gave me personally on running the balls, but I think it might help you as well: In the beginning there are lots of available shots, but also many chances to snooker yourself. For beginners it's easy to take it for granted and get out of position. Try to make sure to play the cueball into safe areas, to avoid accidentally snookering yourself after brushing a ball or missing position. Be very aware of angles, and make sure you don't end up in the "position of death", straight in, with the cueball on the rail. Ending up like that often causes a chain reaction of getting more and more out of line, and ending your run, or trying to force an angle and miss. You may also have to shoot away your key/breakballs etc to recover. He emphasized this with me, because I tried to get straight in on everything.
Do not bump balls unless necessary. If the ball goes, don't move it, or at least make sure you move it into an open area.
Be an opportunist: Sometimes you will accidentally end up with a perfect angle to solve some problem or other. Don't be stubborn, change your plan to take advantage. Look carefully at each shot. It doesn't take a lot of time, a couple of seconds does the trick, look around quickly and then go down. Don't take forever. You won't be able to follow your plan 100% anyway, nobody is that good, no matter what they tell you.
Last edited:
