Billiards Digest — House Pro Tony Robles

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BD House Pro
Tony Robles

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 Championships.

Instruction Articles:

• September 2010
Through & Through

• August 2010
Along the Rail

• July 2010
The Small Stuff

• June 2010
Three in One

• May 2010
One Ball At a Time

• April 2010
Going Thin to Win

• March 2010
Know Your Game

• February 2010
14.1 For 8-Ballers

• January 2010
Setting It Straight

• December 2009
Hanging Out, Part II

• November 2009
Hanging Out

• October 2009
Control Your Speed

• September 2009
Busting Out of a Slump

• August 2009
Easy Errors, Part III

• July 2009
Easy Errors, Part II

• June 2009
Easy Errors, Part I

• May 2009
Body Language & Breaking

• April 2009
The Break: Body Language

• March 2009
Must-Reads from Robles

• February 2009
Position: Four Square

• January 2009
Romancing the Stance

• October 2008
Look Out for Boingy Rails

• September 2008
Build a Better Break

• August 2008
Q&A: Ask the Pro

• July 2008
‘Buzz’ Kill: Stay Down

• June 2008
Stop Shots Safeties III

• April 2008
STOP-SHOT Safeties

• March 2008
How to Keep Winning

• February 2008
The Dreaded Straight-In Shot

• January 2008
Trying the Soft Break

• December 2007
The Hard Way Makes It Easier

• November 2007
How to Sight the Cue

• October 2007
Win from Your Chair

Stop Shots Part II

May 2008

Building on the lesson from last month, let’s take another look at safeties made possible with an easy stop shot — and this time integrating a second goal as well.

The principle of these safeties is obvious: You want to stop the cue ball behind a blocker ball and send the object ball to an unattainable location. You can increase your facility with the shot by practicing the drill at right in Diagram 1. (Assume all 15 balls are lined up between the side pockets, and place the cue ball accordingly for corner-pocket shots. When you’ve mastered the shot from 12 inches away, move back another diamond.) Again, you typically want to stroke the cue ball so it’s sliding on impact and stops dead at the point of object-ball impact.

In Diagram 2, assume you have ball in hand. You can execute a stop shot that accomplishes a second goal: breaking up the 4-5 cluster on the head rail. Hit it fairly softly — in case you miss the cluster, your opponent will play right into your hands by breaking it open when he’s forced to kick at the 1 ball.

The situation in Diagram 3 comes up surprisingly often. Here, the 1 and 2 balls are frozen, and the 1 does not pass. You can use the opportunity to break up the cluster.

Next month, we’ll look at the advantages of slightly off-center stop shots.

Featured Video: Harriman's Drawing
(courtesy Accu-Stats)