Get in "dead stroke" today with this set of aim and stance tips taken from a recent conversation with an About.com Pool & Billiards GuideSite reader.

Naji writes:

"Hello,

Saw some articles of yours about pool stroke and getting into dead stroke to play your best. Not sure why everyone's talking about stroke, the only reason you miss in pool is because you are not going down at the right aim pin point.

I have been shooting pool for almost 35 years, and I tried everything and finally realized this truth.

Try it, make sure to focus 100% on the object ball and you'll find that pinpoint before you go down, now go down looking at it, and shoot, try this with the worst stroke you have, even left you head up, and do crazy stuff, the ball will go. Or try the regular normal way, go down, and find that pin point and shoot anyway you want, it will go in the pocket.

Stroke will only help to get cue ball where you need it only, not for making balls.

Naji"

Billiards Guide writes:

Very interesting - I teach both correct stroke and correct aim to find your personal zone to get into dead stroke. The reason stroke tends to be emphasized is geometry can be taught on paper while it is harder to teach a non-swerving stroke. A swerving stroke, like a misaligned stroke (and most players either are aimed differently than they think or stroke differently than they think as discussed on this site in instructional articles) causes unintended effects that can take the cue ball and other balls off-path, ruining shots.

And as you wrote, you can make a properly aimed shot with a funny stroke taken errantly and far from dead strokeville. I demonstrate how a near-level cue and a correct stroke can strike the ball off center and it will still sink the object ball with a wildly spinning cue ball!

My question for you is what aim method did you use for many years before going to a pinpoint aim method? And were you using a "ghost ball" method before converting to a contact point method as I suggest on this site?

Thank you.

Naji writes:

All along, my aim was "point aiming" with my chin touching the cue, but I was missing long balls, finally realized I was aiming at large target, of course we are talking long shots here, more than half table length where any aim error is amplified, and with a really bad stroke the object ball will be missed by more than a diamond's length.

A warm up routine with a long bridge like Francisco Bustamante's is critical, and one must focus on the OB until a sweet point is found, then shoot. A critical issue, I find, one must line the tip to the CB and almost touch the CB before final delivery, if after lining up the tip to CB find it is off center, must get up and look the shot again, then go down, if you just shift tip to center while down most likely will miss. Just like hitting a nail.

Billiards Guide writes:

Exactly as I teach on this site goes with your instructions about a close in tip and a precise aim point for the next shot. The tip for many pros is barely a razor's width away from the surface of the cue ball before the final trigger is pulled on the stroke.

Not to understand me wrong here, my point is I want people learning the game to focus on pin point aim and it is more critical than stroke. The ability to focus and take the time to do it "all the time and all situations, and under pressure" is in my opinion what make one person better shooter than other.

Naji writes:

If you watched the Derby City Classic last week, Brumback was unbeaten in Bank Pool, until it got so late at night he was exhausted, and missing easy banks caused him to lose, whereas his younger opponent was missing but not as often.

It goes without saying that to be a great player you have to have the nice smooth stroke, and only the weight of cue pushing balls so the CB's speed is well controlled, which is an advanced technique in my opinion.

English, "throw," where to aim exactly for each shot, is a different subject.

Billiards Guide writes:

Again right on, Naji. The main point I'd love my readers to take away from the discussion? That consistent stance and stroke lead to beautifully consistent pool shots, most of them sinking in the pockets as they ought, and ever and almost always in the land of "dead stroke" where it feels like you can't miss.