There are three main skills you will need to be a good pool player:
potting skills
The ability to pocket balls is vital when it comes to playing pool. (That’s all it is!). To spot the correct balls in a game of snooker, you need to know the angle you want the object ball to travel at, and then hit it directly into the opposite side of the ball with the cue ball. It sounds easy in theory, but when it comes to putting it into practice, it’s much more difficult than it sounds. You should always consider the power with which you hit the cue ball, because if you use too much power, the object ball can bounce out of the pocket. (Hits either side of the pocket and returns to the table.) However, if you don’t use enough power, the object ball may not reach the pocket.
cue ball control
One of the key skills needed to really play billiards well is control of the cue ball. In a game of snooker, you can’t just focus on pocketing a ball and hoping the cue ball lands in the perfect spot for your next shot. You have to plan ahead and learn to read the game. A good snooker player will be able to play a stop shot, a draw back and a follow on shot. A stop shot is played to stop the cue ball almost immediately after contact with the object ball. This can be a great way to place the cue ball, since you will know almost exactly where it will land. (This is because it must stop where the original object ball was.) To play a stop shot you usually have to hit the cue ball in the middle. However, this can vary depending on the distance between the object ball and the cue ball.
A kick is used to cause the cue ball to roll backwards after contact with the object ball. To play a draw back you have to hit the ball below the center point. Generally speaking, the lower you hit the ball, the more likely it is to go back. You can also make the ball roll further back by using more power when you take the shot. A follow through shot is used to cause the cue ball to roll forward after contact with the object ball. You can play a follow up shot by hitting the cue ball over the center point. As you can probably guess, the higher you hit the cue ball, the further it will roll after contact with the object ball. Playing a back shot or follow up shot will significantly increase your chances of missing your shot and this could lead to you missing the frame. Therefore, you need to practice these types of shots over and over again.
Security
All professional billiards players use the safety at some point in a match. Usually the first shot played in each frame is a safety shot. A safety shot is basically a shot that leaves your opponent in a tight spot. If there are no good chances of a pot on the table, a professional player will usually play a safety shot. This is because if one player loses a pot in a professional match, the other player will most likely take advantage of that opportunity. Missing a pot often leads to losing a frame, which is why we use safety.
One of the best types of safety shot is billiards. This is where you leave a player with no direct root from the cue ball to the object ball. This often means that they will have to use the cushions on the table to allow them to hit the object ball. This makes your shot very tricky and can often lead to a foul that will earn you points. (This foul occurs when the cue ball misses the object ball. Obviously, you will also need to learn how to take shots to get out of sticky situations like pool. This will involve learning to judge the bounce the cue ball will get off the ball. also at what angle the cue ball will need to hit the rail to reach the object ball.
If you have good potting skills and good cue ball control, you will be a confident pool player, but once you add confidence to your game, you are well on your way to success.