Watch: Cue-ball control · Snooker lesson

Cue-ball control

Stun, screw (draw) and top spin on demand, plus a first look at side.

Where you hit the white

Hitting the white at different heights gives it different spin. Spin changes what the white does after it meets the object ball. The object ball barely notices.

A white struck in the centre starts by sliding, and the cloth soon turns that slide into natural forward roll. What the white does at contact depends on whether it is still sliding or already rolling when it arrives.

Stun: a little below centre, so the white is still sliding with no spin when it reaches the object ball.
Screw (draw): well below centre, so the white is still spinning backwards at contact.
Top (follow): above centre, so the white is rolling forward at contact.

Stun: stop the white dead

On a straight pot, a sliding white with no spin gives all of its speed to the object ball and stops on the spot. This stop shot is the most useful shot in the game. It is how you stay in position on the black.

The further the white has to travel, the lower you must hit it, or the harder, so that the backspin survives just long enough to wear off at contact.

Stun: struck a little below centre, the white arrives with no spin and stops where the red was.

Screw: bring the white back

Strike low, half a ball's radius below centre, with a smooth, accelerating cue and a full follow-through. The white is still spinning backwards when it hits the object ball. It stops for an instant, then the backspin grips the cloth and pulls it back toward you.

Keep the cue as level as you can and do not jab: screw comes from a clean low contact and cue speed, not from force.

Screw: struck low, the white comes back about 30 cm after potting the red.

Top: let the white follow

Strike above centre and the white rolls forward from the start. After contact it pauses, then its forward spin carries it on after the object ball. A soft top-spin shot follows a short distance. Hit harder and it can follow into the pocket for an in-off, so watch the pace.

Top: struck above centre, the white follows on after the red toward the pocket.

The 90° rule

On a cut, a stunned white leaves the object ball at a right angle to the object ball's path, along the tangent line. This holds at any cut angle and is the starting point for predicting where the white will go.

A rolling white bends forward off that tangent line. Around a half-ball contact it leaves at about 30° to its original line. Screw bends it back behind the tangent line.

A stun cut. The predicted paths show the white leaving at 90° to the red's line, then running off the cushion.

A first look at side

Side (left or right of centre) changes the angle at which the white comes off a cushion. Running side widens it, and check side narrows it. But side also pushes the white off your line of aim (squirt) and makes it curve slightly on the cloth (swerve), so it makes the pot harder.

Leave side alone until stun, screw and top feel reliable. When you do use it, use as little as you need.

Watch next

At the table

Play a straight blue into the middle pocket 10 times each with stun, top and screw. Avoid side until stun, top and screw feel reliable.

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