Cue Ball Control and Shape Drill

To execute this billiard drill, find a 4.5 x 9 diamond or gold crown table and make fifteen balls consecutively without touching or hitting another ball or hitting a rail. This is a powerful cue ball control and shape exercise that I try to do at least once a week. If you can do it once out of ten tries, you are doing excellently.

Making the first five to ten balls is deceptively simple. I'll tell you right now it takes your full concentration and many efforts to succeed the first time. With this drill you'll get frustrated and want to give up, but i guarantee that if you will force yourself to it and concentrate you will succeed. After that you will want to try it again and again.

This exercise will give you great command of your short cue ball control; It will make you start thinking two and three balls ahead, sometimes four and five ahead; you're pattern play will improve; and finally, you will demonstrate to yourself whether your game is mediocre or far better than average. I recommend this for someone who has been playing at least a year, can run a rack of nine balls from the break, and/or run a couple of racks of eight ball.

You can begin the drill like so: Space out all fifteen balls on the table in any placement you want. keep any ball at least a full ball width from the rail and to make this somewhat easy keep all balls at least a ball width away from each other. I typically just throw them all out there and adjust the few that are near a rail to about two inches away. Next, with cue ball in hand, start shooting. If you hit another ball or a rail you throw out what you made already and start over. My name is Gerald Millione and I have over 40 years experience in tournament and road play.

PS: this was shown to me originally by a bar box player who did it routinely on a 3.5 x 7 valley table.