Making a run: thin and soft hitsA four-shot run in which every point sets up the next

Cushion orderL→L→SDifficulty FREE🖨 Drill cards

ScalesReference linePath

Reference position

Spinside −2.5 · high

1/8

Ball fraction1/8

Speed2/5

The cue ball is in the lower right area, the red near the left long cushion, the yellow in the upper area. Hit the right half of the red with a 1/8 ball fraction, two and a half tips of left (reverse) spin and soft speed; the cue ball comes back to the yellow via the left long cushion, the right long cushion and the top short cushion. The red slides only a little and stays in the lower left area. The cue ball stops next to the yellow. For the next shot: the near ball is the yellow, the far ball is the red.

A run comes from every shot setting up the next one. In this lesson four shots are played in a row: the final layout of each example is the starting layout of the next. The common rule is simple: make the ball next to the cue ball ball 2, hit it thin and soft, slide ball 2 to a corner or a long cushion; after three cushions the cue ball should arrive at the far ball 3 with just enough speed to reach it and stop next to it.

When? When the balls are not spread and the cue ball is near a ball. In that case hitting the nearby ball thin both makes the point easier and keeps the balls together.

Tips

1In a run keep the speed low, and never play a shot harder than the one before. All four shots in the example are at soft or medium speed; the harder you hit, the less you can judge where the balls will stop, and the run breaks down.
2Hit ball 2 thin (1/8–3/8). On a thin hit ball 2 travels little and you can see the next layout in advance; on the first shot the red is hit at 1/8 and moves only a little.
3Stop the cue ball beside ball 3 on every shot. On the next shot this nearby ball becomes the new ball 2 and you can again hit it thin and soft; this rule repeats in all four shots.
4Leave the far ball in a corner or near a long cushion; it is ball 3 of the next shot and becomes a big target. On the third shot the red is sent to the bottom-right corner for this purpose.
5If the cue ball is left very close to the cushion, make your bridge on the rail and reduce the spin. In this stance it is hard to place the cue squarely on the ball; little spin keeps the cue ball from sliding off the aiming line.
6When the balls start to spread, do not hit harder. Play the simplest point and gather the balls together again by hitting ball 2 thin; the run starts again.
7Practise these four shots in order from the same starting layout. After each shot compare where the balls stopped with the drawing; wherever the difference begins, correct the ball fraction or the speed of that shot.

Voice coach

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Watch outOn a thin hit a ball fraction error causes a big deviation; on very thin (1/8) hits send the cue ball with precise aim.

Watch outOn a real table the balls stop a little differently from the diagrams; reassess the run on every shot.