9-Ball Techniques

Break Shot

• Prior to breaking, rack the object balls in a diamond shape. Place the one ball at the top of the diamond and the nine ball in the center of the diamond. The remaining balls can be arranged in any order. When breaking, you must strike the one ball with the cue ball first. To continue your turn, either one object ball must be pocketed or four object balls must be driven to the rail.

English

• English, also referred to as side-spin, is an advanced technique used to avoid scratching, to set up your next play, or to pocket an object ball that is in an odd location in relation to the pocket. Using English involves hitting the cue ball on either its left or right side, typically with the cue stick situated level with the table. Usually used on cut shots, the objective is to cause the cue ball to spin, changing the point of contact with the object ball and the angle of the shot.

Bank Shots

• Bank shots, also referred to as doubles, use the rail during play. To perform a bank shot, the player hits the cue ball into the object ball, causing the object ball to hit against the rail before coming back across the table and being pocketed. Advanced nine ball players can combine a bank shot with English.

Avoid Penalties

• The objective of the game of nine ball is to get a higher score than the other players. Because penalties decrease your score by 250 points each, one way to ensure that you maintain the highest score is to avoid penalties. Penalties commonly occur by not hitting the lowest object ball on the table. To avoid this, take time before each play to carefully analyze the table and decide what is the best tactic for hitting the lowest object ball first.