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The first variation is with the object balls on the foot line and the cue ball in hand but one diamond from the foot rail. You should make the balls in the far corner pockets with stop shots. The first 7 or 8 balls go in the right corner and the remaining balls go in the left. The cue ball and object ball are close together, so you should be able to hit the cue ball exactly in the center and get a perfect stop. Remember to aim for the left side of the corner pocket, as any hit on the near cushion could cause a miss.

Even in this very simple drill there’s a lot to do, so bear down. Note where the cue ball is coming to rest. What’s that tell you about your stroke? On those balls that you miss (I assume you miss occasionally or you wouldn’t be reading this), are you missing mostly to the left or right, or is there no pattern. On your misses, are you missing very close, or are you missing by more than a ball’s width?

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Once you’re making 10 or more out of 15 with the stop shot, change to a follow shot and pocket the entire line of balls again into the two corners but this time follow a distance of 1 spot. Do your best to not only follow, but to get as near as you can to the cue ball target distance. Give yourself a zone of plus or minus 1/2 spot and if whitey stops outside that zone consider the shot a miss.

A lot of people shoot this shot with at least a full tip or more of follow and hit it easy in order to keep the cue ball from going too far. If you do this you’ll too often be the victim of bad table rolls. You might even get upset about the equipment, but it’ll really be your own fault. A much better way to shoot this is to hit the ball firmly (not hard) and just a little bit above center. That way the object ball is traveling fast enough to stay on a true course, the cue ball can still be controlled to stop where you want, and most importantly, you’ll be hitting most of your shots with the same stroke, so it’ll be easier to groove that stroke to perfection.

Though it certainly isn’t necessary, I’d strongly suggest keeping track of your results. Over time you’ll see yourself getting better, and the recordkeeping will also help you with the discipline to practice. Also, the gentle pressure you put on yourself to beat your past best, or to successfully run the whole string correctly will help you with the pressure you feel in your league and tournament matches or in any wagering you might do.

Continue doing the drill with one diamond follow until you can make at least 10 out of 15. Don’t forget, you can’t count it as in if the cue ball doesn’t stop in the target zone.

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When you’re proficient at one spot follow it’s time to move on to follow for 2 diamonds. Raise the contact spot on the cue ball a little in order to follow further, and shoot the balls in the holes. As before, don’t go on to the next variation until you’re making at least 10 of 15.

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Now that you’ve conquered 2 ball follow, increase your target distance to 3 spots down table. Remember, if you don’t land in the target zone it’s a miss, even if the ball dropped. These drills can be very annoying, because it becomes so obvious just how much we have to learn. Don’t get discouraged. You can’t fix problems you don’t know you have, and you won’t get better without effort.

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Congratulations, you’re making quite bit of progress. Aim a little higher on the cue ball and go for the target zone 4 spots away. Are you hitting the cue ball a lot harder? You shouldn’t be. The cue ball control is all in where you contact the cue ball. Get out of the habit of hitting it hard to make it go far.

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Though 5 spot follow is the last drill of this set, there no reason you can’t go for 6, 8 or even 10 spots, hitting the head rail and coming back. Before you do that though, I’d recommend you moving on to the next set, where you’ll be practicing draw.