A longtime teaching pro at Amsterdam Billiard Club in New York City, Tony has dozens of regional and national titles to his name, including the 2004 BCA Open 9-Ball Championships. He's a 7-time Tri-State Player of the Year, and has run 267 balls in straight pool.

Here’s a drill from the archives of BD’s Dave Alciatore for shots with hardly any angle. Think you can’t move the cue around the table for your next shot? Think again. Here are options for stop, draw and follow shots that will give you plenty of wiggle room to set up the next shot. In Diagram 1, start at cue ball position 1, and execute the stop shot at A (see the cue-ball image at the center of the diagram for tip position and speed). Move on to the follow shots, trying to hit targets B, C and D (see cue-ball images, corresponding to color, for speed and tip placement). Then move to the draw shots in Diagram 2, trying to hit targets A, B, C and D. When you’ve mastered the shots from cue ball position 1, move on to positions 2 and 3, repeating for stop, draw and follow.