Trust. it is one of the key elements of being successful at the table. You have to trust your mechanics and your approach to the table. You have to trust the decisions you make in shot selection. When you lack trust in those parts of your game, it is virtually impossible to succeed. Second-guessing yourself almost always results in a miss. You tend to change your aim after you are down on a shot. You jump up on the shot because you are not certain of your decisions.
Of course, trust doesn’t come without putting in the work. If you hope to trust your fundamentals and trust your stroke, you have to work on those aspects of your game.
Trust is put to the test most when you are faced with shots or situations that are unfamiliar or don’t come up very often. One of those situations is when the cue ball is frozen to the rail. Few amateur players actually practice shots on which the cue ball is frozen to the rail, but I don’t know why that is the case. It is amazing how often, during the course of a game, you will be faced with a shot and the cue ball is leaning right up against the rail.
First of all, remember that the height of the rail is higher than the midpoint of the cue ball, so you are always going to be cuing above center. Also, the rail itself prevents you from keeping your cue completely level, so you are forced to hit the cue ball at an angle. Because this doesn’t feel natural, players have a tendency to bring the cue back at one angle and stroke forward at another. You need to be conscious of that.
Additionally, getting a good hit on the cue ball when it is frozen to the rail is tough enough to start with. Do not be tempted to use English. Keep your hit to the cue ball’s vertical axis.
Don’t be afraid to spend time practicing shots on the rail. Again, it is about increasing your comfort level and gaining trust on the shot. One drill for practicing is to place the cue ball against the long rail, one diamond up from the corner pocket. Place an object ball approximately a foot away, directly in line with the opposite corner pocket. Forget trying to play for a next shot. Simply work on making this one shot, as if it was the final 9 ball. Shoot this until you feel that the shot is impossible to miss.
To add a degree of difficulty, set up the same shot, but place the object ball at a slight angle so that you have to cut the ball to the corner pocket. Not a severe cut, just a few degrees. Once you have mastered those shots, add some distance by aiming the shot at one of the side pockets or the corner pockets at the top of the table.
Trust me, practice this drill and pretty soon you will be able to go months without missing a shot when the cue ball is frozen to the rail.