How to pot six balls in one stroke. Line up the balls in a straight line over the middle pocket with the triangle in front of them. Pot the yellow and screw back onto the triangle - if played with enough power the triangle will push all the balls into the pocket. Hint: Make sure it is a wooden triangle - a plastic triangle will flex too much and not give enough force to the balls. Cue ball contact - 6:00
	The Hankie Shots. Place a handkerchief on the table with a ball underneath it. You can either pot the ball by itself, or the ball and the hankie. In both shots, the point you need to aim for is the high point of the bulge created by the ball - this ensures straight contact to get the ball in the pocket. To pot the ball by itself, simply hit with stun or a little screw. The cue ball will stay on the hankie and hold it there while the object ball heads off to the pocket. To pot the ball and the hankie you need to tuck it under the back of the ball, which helps it gather around when the ball starts moving. Hit the top of the white ball, and if your cueing is true the white will follow the ball and the hankie into the pocket.
	Here is a very good exercise for developing the positional play required for break building. Start with the black on the spot and a single red a few inches below it along the centre line. Pot the red to leave position on the black, then pot the black. When you can do this successfully, add a second red - red, black, red, black. Start with the cue ball anywhere on the table, but once you play your first shot you must play from where it lies. Do not add another red until you have completed each level successfully, and always start from one red. If you can work your way up to potting four reds and four blacks in succession, you are well on the way to becoming a good player.
	This shot demonstrates the effect of using side against the nap. When playing with the nap - i.e. from the baulk end to the black end - if you put left hand side on the cue ball and hit softly, it will swerve to the left. When playing against the nap, the effect is reversed - playing with left hand side will make the cue ball swerve to the right. The faint line shows the straight path from white to pink - the curved line is the path the cue ball will take when hit with left hand side and just enough power to reach the pink. Note: This shot will be difficult to execute on tables with worn cloth where the nap effect is less pronounced. Cue ball contact - 9:00
	Whenever you are struggling with your game (which happens to all of us), it is a good idea to return to basics and iron out any bugs with your technique. The one-ball shot hitting 'up the spots' is the perfect drill to make sure you are cueing correctly. The idea is to hit the ball straight up the table, and it should return along the same line - if it doesn't, you are hitting with some unintentional side. Don't bother hitting the ball softly, because any side effect will wear off by the time it reaches the cushion - you must hit the ball quite firmly to get any benefit from the exercise. If you can get the ball to return within an inch or two of the starting point, you can be satisfied that your cueing is true. If it deviates either way then you are not striking through the centre of the ball - this can be caused by either incorrect sighting or a fault in the action preventing the cue from travelling on a straight line. Correct technique is not the be all and end all of the game - one look at Walter Lindrum's technique proves that point. If you are new to the game, then by all means seek assistance from a coach to set yourself on the right track - but if you have been playing for several years it may be too late to make major changes to your action, so you just need to find the aiming point on the cue ball which makes it come back straight for you...then consciously aim at that point every time until your brain registers it as the centre.

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