The San Francisco Billiard Academy

Presents:

A Nine Ball Clinic

Taught by Billiard Congress of America-Trained Instructors
Eric Harada
Bob Jewett
Joseph Mejia

Video and Technical Analysis

Tips and Insights
The Break Shot
Nine Ball Drills

SFBA B C A
“What a feeling to shoot better and consistently.
We’ll show you the way.”

C 1993, 2002, 2007, 2009 San Francisco Billiard Academy

 Nine Ball Techniques

WELCOME
Welcome to the San Francisco Billiard Academy’s Nine Ball Clinic. The
clinic was created by the Billiard Academy to give its students the tools and
knowledge to improve their game of nine ball and shoot consistently.

Each clinic is limited to four students per instructor to ensure that the SFBA
can provide a quality session and to keep the student-to-instructor ratio low.
Each student will be asked to complete an instructor evaluation sheet at the
end of the course.

Thank you for your participation. We hope that your participation in our clinic
will be a learning experience of a lifetime. Please feel free to call the instruc-
tors with any questions.

Instructors:
Eric Harada [email protected]
Bob Jewett [email protected]
Joseph Mejia [email protected]

Instruction is available at billiard rooms throughout the Bay Area and in pri-
vate facilities by arrangement.

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Clinic Outline
Introduction of Staff

Introduction of students and review of questionnaire

The Clinic is divided into four parts or “stations” which each cover one
aspect of nine ball. You will be in one group of up to four students who will
go through the clinic together. Each station takes about an hour including a
short break between stations.

Stations:

1. Video taping and analysis of fundamentals

2. Tips and insights

3. The break shot

4. Customized drills

Be sure to take notes on this handout, especially when things aren’t clear
and you may need to ask questions later. If you have trouble on a drill, write
down the problem for future work.

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Station 1: Video Analysis of Fundamentals

Goal: To check for any flaws in fundamentals and to plan improvement.

Technique: Each student will shoot several shots which will isolate different
aspects of form and stroke. After all students have been taped, we will
review each shot, looking for both good points and those that could be bet-
ter.

Shots: Long shot; follow shot to side; draw shot from side; frozen cue ball

Good fundamentals to watch for:

Forearm perpendicular at contact

Anchored bridge hand
Minimum elbow drop
Body still
Follow through details:

Straight
Long enough
Head over stick
See the rating checklist in Appendix 1.

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Station 2: Tips and Insights

Goal: To learn some tactics and strategies for use in nine ball.

Rollouts

Plan ahead with moves and counter moves.

Rollout to your strength (i.e., carom), and your opponent’s weak-
nesses.
Include plans to rollout to a kick, jump or mass?.
Safeties

Ideally, strive to leave your opponent both snookered and leave

the object ball in a difficult position.
Do not rush your safety options -- many games are lost to weak
safety attempts.
As in chess, strategy options should be mapped out in the mind.
Strive to execute aggresive safeties to your advantage.
If your probability of executing a safety is lower than shooting a
difficult shot,go for the shot!
What to do when you cannot hit the ball.
Maximum viciousness safety.
Strive to play position to improve safety execution.
To Run or Not to Run

What is your chance of running out?

Is there a safe way to ride the nine ball?
If there is no chance of a run out, what is the best safety?

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Station 2: Tips and Insights (continued)

Three Ball Positioning

Plan three ball sequences before shooting your first object ball.
Look for angles to help you link your three ball sequence. Often
this will mean working for a half-ball angle (30-degree cut) when
moving the cue ball a lot.
Allow for flexibility in planning your three ball positioning
sequence.
Each shot provides a new three ball sequence, until your last
three ballls (i.e., 7, 8 and 9 ball).

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Station 3: The Break Shot

Goal: Improve your chances of making a ball on the break and/or controlling
the start of the game..

Strategies

Run out -- pocket a ball and keep the cue ball centered
Nine ball -- read the rack and place cue ball accordingly
Safety -- firm break and take the cue ball to foot rail
Objectives

Pocketing balls -- the best way to keep control of the table. If noth-
ing is dropping, change something:
Is the rack right?
Location of cue ball
Speed of break
Scattering balls -- try to ensure a good chance at the run
Maximum power into the rack?
Cue ball location
Cue ball position
Cue ball to the center of the table increases the chance of a shot
on the one ball -- try to leave the cue ball between the two spots in
the middle four dismonds of the length of the table.
Centering the CB also decreases the chance of a scratch
A full hit on the one ball and a near stop shot is required to get the
cue ball to the center of the table. This also gets maximum power
into the rack.

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Station 3: The Break Shot (continued)

Now we will practice the break shot keeping in mind the above principles.
This is set up as a scored exercise so you will be keeping track of how well
you meet the objectives. This drill will be done in pairs, with one student
racking and the other breaking in sets of five breaks. Help each other to
note any mistakes and record scores for each break on the following score
sheet.

Each student will break the rack 10 times, with each break scored for the fol-
lowing items with a maximum score of 6 points on each break:

CR = Checked the rack before breaking 1 point

CZ = Center zone 1 point
BP = Ball(s) pocketed 1 point
AS = Available shot on the lowest ball 1 point
SP = Not much side spin on cue ball 1 point
NR = The cue ball hits no rail 1 point
9B = 9 ball pocketed on the break 6 points

Notes:
For “CZ”, the center zone is between the two spots.
A foul results in a zero score.
“AS” is a point if you can directly hit either side of the lowest ball.
For “NR” check with your practice partner for what the cue ball
did.
Pocketing the nine ball gives the maximum score for the rack (6
points) regardless of the other items, unless you scratch.
Check on your log sheet for your weak areas, and develop a plan with the
instructor to work on those weaknesses.

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Break Shot Log Sheet

Name ________________________________ Date______________

Inn CR CZ BP AS SP NR 9B=6 Score Comment

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total (max of 60)

CR = check rack; CZ = center zone; BP = ball pocketed; AS = available

shot; SP = no side on cue ball; NR = no rail for cue ball; 9B = made 9 ball

Areas for improvement:

Ways to improve:

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Station 4: Custom Drills

For each of the following diagrams, place five balls on the table as shown.
Begin with cue ball in hand. The balls must be shot in order.

Try each diagram five times in a session. Add the total number of balls
pocketed for each diagram, one point for each ball. That is your score for
that diagram - A, B, C, D. When you have finished all four diagrams on a
sheet, add the total and enter it on the score sheet. A maximum score is
100.

Try to do this drill with a practice partner. If you’re having trouble getting
from one ball to another, discuss other possible ways of playing the
sequence.

You may find that you need practice on a particular kind of shot, such as a
stop shot. Make a note of the problem, then find one of the progressive
practice drills in the Appendix that will exercise that part of your game.

Hints and Strategy

Often you need to leave the cue ball on one "side" of the following shot.
That is if you leave a cut to the right, position play will be easy, while a cut to
the left will make it difficult to get position on the next shot.

With ball in hand, there is often a choice between a draw and follow shot, for
example in diagram 101C and 101D. In these cases follow shots will proba-
bly give more consistent results.

Some shots in a run require pin-point positioning. Learn to recognize these

critical shots so you can be extra careful with the cueball. Use a "position
dot" or any small piece of paper to mark the pin-point requirement (legal in
practice sessions).

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101A REJ

101B REJ

6 5

8 6

7 5 7

9 8

101C REJ

101D REJ

9 8

6 7

7 6

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102A REJ

102B REJ

9 7

8
5

9 5 6

102C REJ

102D REJ

6 5

8 7

9 9 5

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103A REJ

103B REJ

5 6 6
9

7
5
8

Stun shots,
no rails.
9

103C REJ

103D REJ

9
6 8

5 5
8
7

6 Three-rail position
on the 7 and 9.

9 7

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Custom Drill Score Sheet

Set Try 1 Try 2 Try 3 Try 4 Try 5 Total
101A
101B
101C
101D
Grand Total

Set Try 1 Try 2 Try 3 Try 4 Try 5 Total

102A
102B
102C
102D
Grand Total

Set Try 1 Try 2 Try 3 Try 4 Try 5 Total

103A
103B
103C
103D
Grand Total

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Wrap Up
Do you know what you need to work on?

What are you going to do differently from what you did before this clinic?

Any final questions?

Instructor/course evaluations.

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Appendix 1: Billiard Fundamentals Rating Sheet

Name: ___________________________ Date: ______________________

Area Item Comments

Grip __ Cue cradled by back hand

__ Hand relaxed
__ Wrist aligned with forearm
__ Forearm perpendicular at contact

Bridge __ Anchored bridge hand

__ Firm guidance for cue
__ Proper bridge length
__ Solid rail bridge
__ Over ball bridge
__ Open and closed bridges tight
__ Mechanical bridge technique

Stroke __ Elbow pendulum swing

__ Close approach
__ Complete practice strokes
__ Slow backswing, smooth acceleration
__ Correct extension
__ Straight follow through
__ Minimum body movement

Stance __ Feet placed consistently

__ Weight and balance even
__ Rear leg is straight
__ Major parts in a vertical plane
__ Appropriate head elevation

Aim __ Head directly over cue

__ Aiming with correct eye
__ Looks at object ball last

Other __ Chalks frequently and correctly

__ Consistent tempo
__ Realigns when unsure

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