How To Play Snooker 8 Ball Pool

Today we're going to be doing something a little bit different. I've travelled all the way to Tiverton in Devon to meet Greg, a professional pool player who's going to show us all the tips and tricks you need to know in order to become world-class at the game of English 8-ball. Hi everybody, I'm Greg Batten, a pool professional, and today I'm going to be showing you some 8-ball. And as I don't know much about this sport, his advice is going to be incredibly valuable. So Greg, are we starting with the easy stuff or the hard stuff? I think we'll start with the easy stuff first. He decided we're starting with one of the most crucial shots, the break-off, something that's very different to the snooker equivalent that I'm used to. But you would think you just have to hit it as hard as you can. I tried this and maybe unsurprisingly nothing went down. So Greg decided to show me how it's done and also what I'm doing wrong. OK, so in order for us to make a successful break, here's a few things we need to get done correctly before we start. First thing, let's get every ball touching. The next thing we want to try and do is contact this front ball full in the face. Absolutely full. Absolutely flush. If we hit here, then a lot of the power is coming through and dissipating through the pack. If we get it flush, then we'll have maximum impact and hopefully make a ball. So I need to play a stun shot hitting the first ball absolutely full. But how much of a difference will this make? Quite a bit as it turns out. Greg then wanted to show me the ways in which the table and the balls play that he thought might catch me out. So here's a common mistake that most amateur players or beginners tend to make. Let's say we're just holding for this 8 ball. So just a sip. Yeah, just stun it in. And unfortunately what's happened there is most beginners don't realise that the cue ball is actually smaller than the object ball. So when you're aiming at what you think is centre, you're actually slightly below centre ball striking. And that's why you've got a bit of backspin. So what we need to do is aim a little bit higher and we'll be able to stun it correctly. You need to adapt to a smaller cue ball by striking the white slightly higher. But what other challenges does this bring? On a snooker table, this would be an easy shot for a professional to go round three cushions and get on the black. However, in pool, this particular shot, it throws really wide. Watch what I mean. About half ball. Watch what happens to the cue ball. On a snooker table, I'd have to allow for the cue ball to deflect to the right hand side on a shot like this. But because the cue ball's bigger, it doesn't deflect by as much as it would with a smaller pool cue ball. So in order to eliminate the throw, we need to aim a little bit higher on the cue ball. That way we get rotation and we land nicely on the 8 ball. Because the cue ball's smaller, you need to allow for more deflection when playing a shot with side spin. But also following Greg's advice, if you hit the cue ball higher up, it reduces the deflection, making it easier to allow for how much the cue ball throws wide. And because of that, I was able to get the shot. Well, you can't get much better than that. So unlike snooker tables, which tend to throw pretty wide off of the cushions, a pool table plays slightly differently. It plays really square. Here's what I mean. So instead of aiming here, you want to be aiming right below the cushion. Greg then watched me play for a bit to see if there were any more shots that I wasn't quite playing in an optimum way for the table. And he didn't have long to wait until we discovered this shot that I was playing in a sub-optimum way. OK, so we didn't quite get on the 8 ball. So here's what we should have done. It's a little bit better than my attempt. Let's see if I can actually do it then. On the first shot, Greg noticed I potted the yellow into the wrong side of the pocket. So he told me to play a little bit straighter. And that made a hell of a difference. Perfect. And as positional play is incredibly vital in this game, Greg wanted to show me a few more complex shots. So on this shot, we're going to be looking to get the cue ball right around the table and anywhere in this area for the red. This shot requires backspin and left-hand side. And it's a really precise judgment shot. You have to control the stun and the spin to get the white in the right place. Of course, I wasn't going to be able to play this as easily as Greg made it look because you need backspin and left-hand side, which, as we showed earlier, makes the cue ball throw a lot wider. And obviously, this meant I struggled with the line of the cue ball as well. I'll tell you what, this is looking pretty good. OK, so this next shot, we've got to screw back and get on the eight ball. And we haven't got much room. No, so we're going to need plenty of backspin. Just the right pace. Again, because of the size of the cue ball, this one was a little bit harder to cue straight. And I was slightly overscrewing it. So Greg advised me to back the speed off a little bit. But Greg had yet more advice for me. Yeah, it's a double. So we've set this shot up. What you've got to remember on a pool table is the cushions play a lot softer than a snooker table. So this particular shot, I'm going to play it quite softly. And it won't go in because of the cushions. It'll throw wide of the pocket. Exactly. Even though it looks like the yellow is going to hit around this area, just play it firm, straight, and watch what happens. Perfect. So once you get used to it. So this is what you do when your opponent thinks he's got you. Just like that. If you've seen my snooker recreations video, you'll know I'm pretty useless at this type of shot. So what's Greg's advice for me? Well, I would never have thought that, would I? If you think, if you imagine a cocked hat, you literally need to play the eight ball into that cushion with a little bit of bottom and left-hand side. It will swing round and it should go in. Greg showed me where to aim. And just to show how good his advice is. First time. There are also some unique rules to the game that he thought I needed to know. A lot of people that are just starting out in the game, what they don't realise is that you can actually play what's called a skill shot. So I'm reds in this position. So all I need to do is pop this red, pop the yellow at the same time and make sure that the red follows in as well. That's a perfectly legal shot. You just need to play it just below centre. As easy as that. Now you can also play what is really a deliberate foul. So you're in this position. You're yellows. You've got no shot. What you can do is play off the yellow, pop their red and they have to play from the position that you've left them. So as long as you play your ball first, you can do anything you want. Just like this. Well, you can't go up the table and pop the eight ball. You can't come through. So yeah, you're in a bit of trouble. If you want to learn more about the secrets of eight ball, then check out Greg's channel, which I'll link in the end. But Greg still has more to show us right now. So how are you going to get on the eight ball from here? I'm not sure I could try, I suppose, going around the angles a bit. Yeah, give that a go. It's not exactly, yeah. Not foolproof. No. So how would a pro play this? Just screw back. But that's going the wrong way. Watch this. So what just happened? I told you, just screw back. Fortunately, he said he'd show me how to make the cue ball screw back sideways. Hit lots of right-hand side on the white and aim almost directly into that side of the pocket. And then what will happen is the white will move this way, but the side will then react and get you back on the eight ball. And after a couple of attempts. Nearly, not too bad. Not bad at all. So Greg, do you think I've got what it takes to play with you guys on the pro tour? So it looks like we're sticking to snooker then, but a massive thank you to Greg for sorting all of that out for us, and it was great to get that kind of advice from a professional player. And if you want to see some videos from Greg's channel, click on the top video here. Or if you want to see more about snooker, then have a look at the bottom video. And remember, don't just watch play, and make the commitment to becoming a better player by subscribing to the channel and visit the website. See you later.