Too little speed: the yellow stays in the middleWhite hits the yellow with a 7/8 ball fraction, through the center and without spin, at speed 1. The yellow travels only about two diamonds and stops in the middle of the table. The opponent's ball is close to both white and red, and it has no cushion support: an easy start for the opponent. The yellow strip shows the uncertain middle zone, the green area the target.
Separating with speed control · Drill cards
Right speed: the yellow in front of the short cushionThe same shot is played at speed 2. The yellow goes up the length of the table and stops just in front of the top short cushion; white stays at the point of contact. There are about six diamonds between the yellow and the red. This is the result you are looking for in defence. A little more speed freezes the yellow to the cushion, a little less leaves it one diamond in front of the cushion; both are acceptable.
Too much speed: the yellow comes backIf the same shot is played at speed 4, the yellow takes the top short cushion and the left long cushion and comes back down to the lower half of the table. The opponent's ball is again near white and red, and the whole defence is wasted. The red area is the zone the yellow must not come back to.
Opposite direction: away from your own endThis time the balls are in the upper area. White hits the yellow with a 7/8 ball fraction, through the center and without spin, at speed 2; the yellow goes down the length of the table and stops in front of the bottom short cushion, and white stays near the red. The rule is the same: the opponent's ball at one end, the other two balls at the other end.
Do not spoil the layout: the smallest moveThe yellow is already frozen to the top short cushion, white and red are at the bottom end. If there is no scoring path, the thing to do is keep the layout: white touches the red with a 1/2 ball fraction, through the center, very slowly (speed 1). The red moves about half a diamond toward the lower right area, white slides toward the bottom cushion; the yellow does not move at all. The opponent again has to play the length of the table with a ball frozen to the cushion.