As in all sports, the game of pocket billiards begins with the stance. This foundation must be both comfortable and fundamentally sound in order to give the player the proper platform from which to shoot. Let’s go through this one step at a time. First, we must remember the goal that we have in mind. That goal is to be comfortable and positioned to properly stroke the shot.

Every new player needs to know about ‘alignment’. Your body must line up with the shot in a manner that allows your eye and arm to execute the shot. Beginners will sometimes stand too far from the line of the shot, or perhaps crowd it too much, and wind up attempting to lean into alignment when they stroke. This puts them off-balance and really hurts their chances of making any shot. You need to be well balanced and positioned so that your mind can concern itself with the shot rather than being distracted by matters concerning balance and gravity.

As with all basic elements of the game, developing the proper stance makes it easier to play and makes it easier to develop properly the other aspects of shooting. A good stroke must have a solid stance beneath it in order to maintain the plane of the shot. It is simply much easier to play correctly than it is to play incorrectly. Correcting for basic errors is work, and it is a job that no one needs. Learn the right way the first time!

Step One: Line up the shot. Using your cue stick as a guide, stand behind the object ball and line the object ball up with the pocket. Then walk to the spot behind the cue ball where your rear foot will remain for the shot and use the cue stick again to line up with the contact point on the object ball

Step Two: Now that you are standing in-line with the shot, take a step forward with the left foot (if you shoot right-handed) and point the rear foot out ward about 45°.

Step Three: Now just let the knees relax a little, and bend over the cuestick so that your eyes flow down the cuestick, over the cue ball and onto the aiming point of the object ball.

You should now feel comfortable and stable and your body should be in-line with the shot with no leaning or wavering. Your shooting arm should be able to swing freely without interference and without disturbing your balance.

This is the stance that has been most widely used in America. Other cuesports have their own stance formulas that are now being adapted to the game of pocket billiards. Snooker, in particular, has a different stance that still satisfies all the requirements of comfort and forming a solid base, and some mighty impressive names have had a lot of success adapting the stance to 9-ball. Allison Fisher, Karen Corr and Steve Davis, all snooker champions, use this stance to play both disciplines. The difference is in the position of the feet. Whereas in the standard pool stance the leg opposite the shooting arm is placed forward of the other foot, in the snooker stance they are much more square. Many players feel that this stance opens up their arm to the table better and feel that they improve their accuracy standing in this manner. Give it a shot and again, do what feels best for your own game.

Some of the pros, including 6-time world Champion Earl Strickland, mix the snooker and standard pool stances according to the situation. Earl feels that the two stances are in no way exclusionary to one another and that each should be used where they are most comfortable and provide the best advantage. Earl uses the snooker stance for shots that require him to be more square to the table and the standard pool stance when he is at an angle.

Remember that the goal is to adopt a shooting stance that allows you to be most comfortable and secure while shooting. Some players, like Hall of Fame player Jim Rempe shoot with legs spread very wide. No instructor would suggest that anyone stand this way, but it worked well enough for Jim to get him to the top of the sport.