Another money ball drill to harden your nerve in clutch moments.

As I’ve said numerous times, the hardest part of the game is getting over the line. That holds true for all players, from beginner to pro. That’s why many of my recent drills have been “money ball” drills. The idea is to continually be faced with the money ball so that it becomes second nature to treat it like nothing more than the next shot.

Drills like this will help you stay composed in those crunch situations by getting over the end game nerves. This is also a great pattern drill and will improve cue ball control and cue ball speed. Also, by thinking three balls ahead, you’ll always know which side of the next object ball you want to be on.

You can play different levels of this drill, intermediate and pro level. In both versions, you start with cue ball in hand and run the balls in rotation, shooting the 9 ball after each shot. So, 1-9, 2-9, 3-9, and so on. You can shoot the 9 into any pocket and don’t have to hit a rail after contact.

For the pro level, you must contact at least one rail, and the cue ball must hit the short rail after making each 9 ball. Also, all 9s must be made into a side pocket.



Again, this is a great drill because repeating it over and over will pay huge dividends, not only in your position play, but your ability to stay composed when the money shot does come up.

Using the pro version, I started by using top left on the 1 ball. For the 9, I hit the cue ball with a soft punch/draw and a half tip of right English to go between the 4 ball and the 8 ball.

For the next few shots, I used high ball, alternating between a touch of right and a touch of left. Remember, in the pro version the cue ball must hit the short rail from the 9 ball, so early on you’re playing between two balls on the short rail.

Also, don’t forget on the final 9 ball the cue ball still must strike a short rail, so play for an angle even on the last money ball.