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

• May 2008
Stop Shots Part II

• April 2008
STOP-SHOT Safeties

• March 2008
How to Keep Winning

• February 2008
The Dreaded Straight-In Shot

• January 2008
Trying the Soft Break

• November 2007
How to Sight the Cue

• October 2007
Win from Your Chair

The Hard Way Makes It Easier

December 2007

Here’s a shot that received some discussion recently on the AZBilliards.com forum that allows you to make an important strategic decision. I want to focus on the position play — namely, why it’s better to go one rail instead of two.

The shaded area in Diagram 1 indicates the approximate area in which you’d prefer to leave the cue ball and the line for the next cut shot on the 8. You can try to take the cue ball two rails on the 7-ball shot — hitting with low-left English — and end up near center table if you have good speed. Of course, if you underhit the shot, you could be hooked behind the 9 or forced into a long, awkward cut; if you overhit, you could end up on the foot rail. Instead, you can use a half-tip of high-right English and simply bring the cue ball off the end rail (yellow path). Here, the cue ball will travel along the path of the preferred line, instead of against it. If you underhit (or even overhit, to a point), you’re still in decent shape.

Always be aware of your preferred landing area, and try to deliver the cue ball on line with your next shot, instead of crossing away from or against the line.

Some players will have trouble with the one-rail shot because they aren’t comfortable with using inside English. Steve Mizerak once told me, “Sometimes if you take the slightly tougher shot, it will make the runout easier.”

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