Slow arrival at the red: safe even if it missesWhite hits the yellow with a 3/8 ball fraction, a high hit and left spin, at speed 2. The yellow goes to the bottom short cushion, travels the length of the table and stops a little off the top short cushion. White takes the left long, right long and bottom short cushions, misses the red by a hair and stops right next to it. No point, but the yellow is at the top end, white and red at the bottom end: the opponent has to play a long path with a far ball 2. The yellow circle shows the area where the cue ball should stop if it misses, the green area the target for the yellow. Mistake: arriving fast at the red and dragging white to the middle of the table.
Scoring and defence together · Drill cards
Red first and thin, hard to the yellowIn this layout the scoring path goes red first. White hits the red with a 1/8 ball fraction, a low hit and left spin, at speed 2; the red goes to the left cushion and comes back to the middle of the table. White takes the right long, bottom short and left long cushions and hits the yellow full and lively: the yellow moves away as far as the top short cushion, and white stays at the point of contact. The red area is the zone the yellow must not enter, the green area the target for the yellow. Alternative: if the layout allows, yellow first (q1, q4). Mistake: arriving slowly at the yellow and leaving it next to white.
Mistake: full hit on the redIf the red is hit in the same layout with a 5/8 ball fraction, through the center and without spin, the red goes to the bottom short cushion, comes back up the table and stops right next to the yellow. White opens to the left off the red and stays next to the yellow without even reaching a cushion. No point and three balls together: the most comfortable layout for the opponent. The red circle is the easy zone left to the opponent. The right way: hit the red thin and arrive fast at the yellow (q2).
Bricole: make the yellow ball 2With no good direct angle on the yellow, white first goes to the bottom short cushion, then hits the yellow with a 1/2 ball fraction, a high hit and right spin (speed 2). After the cushion, white takes the right and left long cushions and arrives slowly at the red in the upper area. The yellow goes to the top short cushion and the left long cushion, comes back down the table and stops in the lower area. In this shot the cushion taken first counts toward the three-cushion requirement. Result: the yellow at the bottom end, white and red at the top end. The yellow circle shows the arrival area at the red, the green area the target for the yellow.