Straight in Shots are Easy! Why did I miss?

When you get ball in hand your first instinct is to put the cue ball straight in line with the object ball. That’s because we want to make the easiest shot we can when we’re at the table. If a straight in shot is the easiest shot, why is it that we sometimes miss? Just like anything else there’s a few reasons. Before we get into those reasons it’s important to remember that a straight in shot is just as difficult as any other shot. You need to aim and then deliver your cue stick accurately to make the shot, no shot is ever a gimmee.

Stance

When your stance is off, your posture and your line up don’t equate to what you think they do. Your hips might be slightly turned to the side or your bridge can be a little off center. This will cause you to try to compensate unconsciously which is why you miss straight in shots you think you should make. Here’s a video from Ozone Billiards that does a great job explaining the set up for your stance and how it can affect your aim.

Unwanted English

As we know english complicates shots giving unexpected results if you’re not aware of what happens when you use it. This is one of the leading causes of missing shots even for more experienced players, but especially for beginners. As you perfect your stroke you become more accurate with the cue ball and accidentally apply left or right english less and less.

However, the reason that english is such a problem on straight in shots is because of throw, deflection, and swerve which all have to be compensated for when you aim your shot using english. So a shot that you may have hit accurately, by hitting the cue ball on the correct contact point will end up missing because the english on the cue ball will throw the object ball a little of the correct line causing you to miss.

One basic drill you can try is putting the cue ball on the headstring and and object ball about . Your goal is to hit that cushion right on the center diamond with cue ball coming straight back to your pool tip. If the cue ball comes back to the right or left of your cue tip then you hit with english and your stroke is a little off.

Stroke

Fundamentals are the most important part of the game. When you start out though, your fundamentals aren’t going to be great because you’re just a beginner. It’s the same for everyone and it takes practice. However, you should be aware of the current quality of your stroke because it can help you pinpoint bad habits causing you to miss. There’s no voodoo magic attached to playing pool so if you miss an easy straight in shot out of the blue its possible you don’t shoot as straight as you thought you did. To find out if this is the case try a few stroke drills to diagnose if this is the problem.

To develop a better stroke you can try this drill which works on your draw stroke. Put an object ball close to the rail 1 diamond away from the pocket and place the cue ball a diamond away from that ball to start. Try to pocket the object ball and draw the cue ball back at least 1 diamond. Each time you successfully do that, move the cue ball 1 diamond away until you can’t anymore. This is one great way to work on your draw stroke progressively.

Aim

This is not as common of an error as you might think, but it still comes up. Most beginners attribute their misses to their aiming, but oftentimes it’s more likely one of the factors above were an issue or even a combination of a couple of them. However, in some cases aim is certainly an issue, especially for long straight in shots which can be harder to sight. The best way to get over that aiming hump is to use an aiming system and practice using it until you feel comfortable.

Categorised in: Pool Fundamentals