Basic principles of position playSetting up the next shot while you score

Cushion orderL→S→LDifficulty FREE🖨 Drill cards

ScalesReference linePath

Reference position

Spinside −0.5 · high

1/4

Ball fraction1/4

Speed3/5

The cue ball is near the left long cushion, the red just to its right, the yellow in the upper half of the table. Hit the red with a 1/4 ball fraction, slight left (running) spin and medium speed; the cue ball comes down to the yellow via the right long cushion, the top short cushion and the left long cushion. The thin hit sends the red to the bottom right corner, and the cue ball arrives softly at the yellow and stops next to it. Result: the cue ball near one ball, the other ball in the corner as a big target. Alternative: you can hit the same path fuller with more spin, but ball 2 then goes past the corner. Typical mistake: too much speed; the red comes out of the corner and back to the middle of the short cushion.

In three-cushion, runs come from leaving the balls in good places for the next shot while you make the point. Position play means adjusting the ball fraction on ball 2, the speed, and the speed at which the cue ball arrives at ball 3 — without spoiling the cue ball's path. The basic goal is simple: the cue ball should stop near one ball, and the other ball should wait in a corner as a big target.

When? When the point is easy or of medium difficulty and the small adjustment made for position does not noticeably lower your chance of scoring. On a difficult point, scoring comes first; position is secondary.

Tips

1Choose the path that makes the point first, then think about position. If changing the ball fraction or the speed for position makes the point clearly harder, give it up and play the simplest shot; a missed point is the worst position.
2Build the position first with ball 2 (the first ball the cue ball hits). It is the ball you control most easily: the ball fraction decides where it goes, the speed how far it travels.
3Send ball 2 to a corner and aim for it to stop about one ball off each cushion. The cue ball can reach a ball in the corner both off the long cushion and off the short cushion; the target is big and small angle errors are forgiven.
4Do not leave ball 2 in the middle of the short cushion: it is the hardest place to reach after three cushions. In the full, hard hit example, when the red is hit at 1/2 ball it comes back to exactly that spot, the middle of the bottom short cushion.
5Stop the cue ball near at least one ball. On the next shot you make that nearby ball ball 2 and hit it thin; the first contact is easy and the balls stay together.
6Arrive at ball 3 with just enough speed for the cue ball to reach it. That way ball 3 moves little and the cue ball stops right beside it; if you come in hard, you scatter both balls across the table.
7Do not leave balls frozen to the cushion; stop them about one ball off it. The cue ball can touch a frozen ball only from the table side; a ball that is off the cushion can also be reached from the cushion side, it is both easier to hit and a bigger target.
8To keep the balls together, hit ball 2 thin (1/4) and at medium speed. A full, hard hit sends ball 2 on a long journey and the balls scatter across the table; compare the 1/4 and 1/2 examples in the same layout.
9Think now about which system you will play the next shot with. If you leave the balls close to a reference position you know (a basic layout where you know how to play a system), you play the next point by calculation.

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Watch outIf the path of ball 2 crosses the path of the cue ball, there is a chance of a kiss; use speed and ball fraction so that ball 2 passes that point first.

Watch outThe paths in the diagrams are drawn with ideal reflection; arrival points shift depending on the cushions, the cloth and the condition of the balls.