I was asked a few years ago simply, how to get better at pool. My response is copied here. I’m hoping there are some insights that allow you to allow the bigger picture of the game to emerge.
"First, learn the basic theoretical concepts of stance, sighting and the bridge. Then forget them. The cue and the tip are extentions of your hand. A straight path through the ball vertical center axis down the target line sends the ball down that line. Once you can do that consistently then you can trust the feedback you get from hitting an object ball at different angles.
Learn how to make balls by starting at the hole. Make balls from various angles while the object ball is close. Work with another player to increase the numbers of balls you can pocket in a session. Start with the ball close then move the cue ball further and further away. When you miss, move back closer. You want an extensive library of successful execution. Now move the object ball away further from the hole and shoot it in from various angles and then add distance. Always move closer after a miss. This is mastery learning.
For those who are technique phobic you need to understand its peril. Focusing on technique rather than achieving a result is where paralysis by analysis starts. The other issue is that player positioning needs to vary based on the current state of the shooter. For example, you can learn about the concept of dominant eye. With both eyes open point at a target at least 20 feet away. Once you are aligned, close either eye. Did the image shift? If so, how much. Now start over, do the process again but this time close the other eye. The idea is that the eyes are like two cameras and we must make a composite image. The question is which eye provides sight line location. Sounds logical. The problem is that the dominant eye is tested at a particular time and place. Tiring eyes may switch the image. A rigid disciplined player who makes sure all parts are in the same place shot after shot with the idea that consistency is about doing things the same way time after time, will experience inconsistent results in longer matches or on days he is tired. Rather than using the relationship of the head to other body parts, orient yourself to your current perception.
You will have your head/eyes properly positioned when you feel that you are directly over both the cue and the target line and sighting directly along them. The other parts, the bridge and stance must keep you there as the cue moves down the path. Imagine the end of the stroke with the bridge and stance in place and the cue tip coming to its logical location at the end of the stroke, where you have stopped. Once you reach that calm spot, you need to be absolutely still so you can get a clear accurate picture of the cue and ball action. Without that steady position you can't get accurate feedback. If you are moving and the ball is moving, it is like trying to read the license plate on a moving vehicle, possible but hard. Getting better is about getting maximum information from your experience. Being still and focused on the actual details is the biggest shortcut to learning. Prepare yourself to do that and you will rocket past others of the same current skill level. There is no good or bad, only feedback. Read "The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey, if you want a better sense of the mindset.
Many players, in target sports, once they have contacted their initial contact point, fail to follow through. They hit at something rather than through it. Feedback starts with your physical extension. The cue was meant to go through unwavering without deflection and the first piece of feedback is to notice any deviation from that straight path. If it was a fork, did it nick the lip? Look at how small the contact point is between two touching balls. If contact is off just a fraction at the cue end imagine how much further off it becomes as distance increases. Become one with the cue especially the last foot or two.
Principle 1 was that the cue was an extension of the arm/hand and you should always be aware of it and the relationship of the end parts of the cue. It must truly become an extension.
Principle 2 is about making sure you are always positioned so that you feel you are sighting directly down the cue along the target line. This allows you to know, with exacting precision, where the cue is and the path it is traveling on. It is necessary for accurate feedback.
One and two are inextricably linked.
The second principle teaches us that our mental representation is a cognitive construction. I used to keep a journal of my practice. Rereading my entries I found two that changed my game. One was about how, on a bad day, I described my adventure on a snooker table as "like chasing a pea around on the freeway." On a very good day I wrote about how "the balls appeared huge and the pockets like pails." The insight I got was that the size of things was constant. The difference was me. I had created both perceptions. The question was how can I reproduce the large perception consistently. The answer is found in how we compare things. What is my reference? If I am comparing a pea to the freeway, it will appear small. If I compare a pea to a grain of salt it will appear huge. The table has fine details. Look along the ball paths. Is there any lint to throw the shot off line. Look at the ball surface. Are there any nicks or scratches near the contact point. If so have the ball cleaned. It will always be reset in a different spot. The point is to create a beneficial perspective that helps. Notice how large the last foot or so of the cue and tip appear now.
Start from where you know.
If even with your huge base of ball angles you don't sense the correct angle with certainty, don't worry. Think about an angle you are certain about that goes in the vicinity. Now choose another that would miss on the other side of the pocket. Now fine tune. Use fine distinctions away from known angles to sense new angles with certainty. Find the target line this way. Adjust speed the same. Imagine a contact and sense a known stopping point along the deflection line. Imagine another spot beyond your desired resting point and imagine fine tuning the pace to get there. The saying "aim small to miss small" seems relevant here.
Strategy
Always think at least two shots ahead of the current one. In 9 ball and 8 ball I always think out the game and positioning in reverse. I map a desired path from the 8 ball to the 9. Then the 7 to the desired position on the 8. Then from the 6 to 7 and so on. Of course, already pocketed balls change the description somewhat but not the idea.
Strive to improve
Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Learn where you are at and aim just a little higher. Keep track of how many balls you make in each run. Learn which ball is a sticking point. The one you tend to miss. For average players in snooker, they can make three then screw up on the fourth, either the pot or the shape. Know your game. Play within it and strive to expand it.
Coping
This is another issue like the dominant eye. The central issue is choosing the right shot then executing. Orient yourself to the ball and cue. Make sure it feels like an extension of your hand/arm. Once the size comes into perspective make sure you feel like everything is aligned and over and down the line of the shot. If you are doing all this there is little need to be in your head thinking about anything else. You do it all the time. Shutting out distractions so you can focus on getting something done. Are the ball paths clean? How big can you make the balls? Is everything from the mind to the body aligned on target? Once you are focused in on the line you can switch to the feel of the right pace. The feel is in the hand and arm with awareness right to the end of the cue. A fork is an extension of your hand and you wield it without poking your nose or eye. The more the extension becomes automatic the more precision you experience.
Get books to explain the effects of side spin, throw, backspin and topspin. But learn the stop/stun shot first. Take a striped ball. Strike it below center. Observe how it first skids, then starts to rotate backwards, then as the friction stops the backward spin the ball goes through a stage where it's rotation slows to a stop then starts to roll naturally on its circumference. During that phase where the ball has neither forward nor backward roll if the ball hits another dead on it will simply stop dead. Without momentum along the circumference it loses all momentum. If the same ball strikes the target ball at an angle, the lack of rotational momentum causes the cue ball to travel at ~90 degrees to the target ball path. Applying either topspin or backspin alters the cue ball path ahead of or behind that line. That needs to be the starting point to start to learn cue ball control. Controlling the distance at which the ball travels before reaching the stop location is a learned art. Practice it first with straight shots to learn the feel. There are multiple methods to arrive at the stop position. How hard the cue ball is struck and how much backspin is initially supplied create near infinite variations. A deeply struck ball with extreme backspin can be hit quite softly as the extreme backspin will take more time to evaporate before changing direction of roll. A skidding ball with backwards rotation will not roll off line, but loses pace quickly. This allows you to hit a ball firmly but by time of contact the actual contact can be quite soft. A hard struck ball with little spin can skid almost all the way to the target ball. This is a game of feel and without the connection of the cue being an extension, progress will be very limited.
I am an advocate of the pause. As the cue pendulums from the elbow, it reaches the back of the stroke. In order to change directions it must stop. Just as the cue ball in the stop shot almost experiences a hesitation before rolling forward, the cue and arm must come to a stop before reversing direction. I use that point to initiate a positive unhurried controlled stroke.
These basics should serve as a firm foundation on which to start building a reliable game."
