Beyond PAC Hobby

The Joy, Equipment, and the Physics of Playing Pool

By Phil VanSant, PE, Dominion Energy, USA

Playing pool has been a passion of mine for many years. I enjoy playing pool in various forms from practicing by myself, playing with friends, or competing in high level tournaments.

Each form brings a different type of satisfaction and joy. As with anything in life, the level of performance you achieve depends greatly on the amount of time and effort you put into it.

I started playing pool when I was 10-12 years old. My dad had played some pool as a young adult and had his own pool cue. He would take me and my younger brother to a local bowling alley that had pool tables. 

Through my teenage years, I continued to play with my father and brother, and I developed a passion for the sport of billiards. Once I got to college, I was able to start competing in organized events and leagues which ignited my passion for playing pool even further. 

The student center at Virginia Tech has sixteen 9-foot pool table that hosts student leagues and competitions with other universities. The student center also had a deal where we could play from 12pm to 2pm on weekdays for $1. These opportunities allowed me to focus on improving my skills while playing a game that I enjoy.

The Equipment

As with most sports, there is terminology and lingo related to the equipment for pool. 

The Pool Table: A pocket billiard or pool table has 6 pockets and comes in standard lengths of 7, 8, and 9 feet long. The width of a regulation table is always half of the length. The foundation of any quality table is the 1-inch-thick slate. The cloth that covers the slate is equally important. Pool tablecloth comes in a variety of materials from a cheaper felt that you would most likely see in a bar to a high quality worsted wool cloth that is more typical at a nicer pool hall or a national tournament. A higher thread count wool cloth is thinner and smoother than felt and it will better withstand wear and tear. 

On top of the cloth, the rails are bolted to the table with rubber bumpers attached to the wooden rails. The pockets have a standard opening of 4.5 inches. There are a few locations on the table to mention. The head of the table is where the player breaks, and the foot of the table is where the balls are racked to start the game. The player will start the game or “break” by placing the cue ball anywhere behind the “head string” aka “the kitchen” area and striking the cue ball with the tip of the pool cue. The intent of the break is to strike the other balls with the cue ball and scatter or break them apart. The cue ball is solid white with the object balls having a variety of colors and being solid or striped in nature. The foot spot is where the front ball of the rack is placed. 

The Pool Cue: The pool cue or stick is a key part of any player’s game. There are a wide range of options with pool cues and many of them are chosen based on the player’s preferences. Most players that play regularly will have their own cue. Having your own cue allows you to understand its playing characteristics and perform more consistently. A standard pool cue is 58 inches long, weighs 18-21 ounces and breaks in half with a threaded joint to allow for easier transport. The shaft is the skinnier piece where the front hand is placed. The butt is the fatter piece where the back hand is placed. (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere) On the end of the shaft, there is a leather tip that attaches to the solid white piece called the ferrule. Leather is used for the tip due to its softer and resilient properties. It allows for more friction or grip with the cue ball during contact. The ferrule is a hard synthetic or ivory material and gives a hard, flat surface to glue the leather tip. 

There are three different kinds of pool cues. The regular cue is for normal play. These cues are typically more flexible and have a softer tip to have more control. A break cue is stiffer and has a harder tip to transfer more energy into the cue ball and therefore more energy into the rack of object balls. The third is a jump cue for, you guessed it, jumping the cue ball over an object ball. To jump the cue ball properly and legally over an object ball, one must strike down on the cue ball and bounce it off the slate of the table to get it airborne. Hitting under a cue ball or “scooping” under is an illegal stroke and can rip the cloth on the table with the tip of the cue stick.

General Rules of Pool

  • 8 ball:
    • Rack all 15 balls in the triangle with the front ball on the foot spot. 8-ball in the center with a solid and strip on the back corners. All other balls can be in any order
    • “A players group” is selected when they make a solid or strip after the break. The player must make all the balls of that group in any order before shooting the 8-ball
  • 9 ball:
    • Rack balls one through nine with the front ball on the foot spot. The 1-ball must be in front and the 9-ball in the center. All other balls can be in any order
    • After the break, balls must be pocketed in sequential order starting with the lowest number on the table before shooting the 9-ball
    • A player may also win with a combination shot of striking the lowest ball into the 9-ball. If the 9-ball is pocketed, the player wins the game

Technical Aspects of Pool

There are many technical aspects to the game of pool. Understanding all the technical aspects of the game will allow the player to unlock the potential of executing shots in unusual situations. There are actually a few books that go into detail on the physics of pocket billiards. Most of the content in these books are way too detailed with equations and theories to be a benefit to the average player. Many of the concepts can be learned over time with lots of practice and a mind to understand the results. 

To make an object ball go into a pocket, the center of the cue ball must strike the object ball precisely on the spot that is on the line from the pocket through the center of the object ball. This is true for any cue ball location as the aiming spot to the object ball is always the same. A player must do two things to make a ball in the pocket; identify the correct aiming point and then execute the shot to make the cue ball get to that point. The latter part is where it can be incredibly simple yet unbelievably complicated. 

The player’s form is part of the equation of hitting the cue ball to the aiming point. In a similar way to a good golf swing, the pool player’s stroke must be solid and repeatable. The form includes a few things like the stance, head stability, eye alignment over the stick, stable bridge hand, back hand position, and elbow movement.

The other part of the equation of getting the cue ball to hit the aiming point is all the variables that can impact how the cue ball travels to its destination. We will start with the friction between the cue tip and the cue ball. Cue chalk is applied to the tip to help it grip the cue ball, so it does not slide off due to an off-center hit. Most players will chalk tip after each shot to ensure consistent performance. The other kind of friction is between cue ball and the table. This includes the table being level, cleanliness of the cloth and balls, and humidity of the room. All these items can impact the speed and path of the cue ball. The last part of the equation is how the cue tip strikes the cue ball on the horizontal axis. When the tip strikes in the center of the cue ball, the cue ball will go straight. If the tip strikes the cue ball to the left or right of center, there will be a deflection off the intended path. 

Playing the Game

To play pool well, you really need to think at least 3 shots ahead. You need to make the ball you are shooting, position or “leave” the cue ball in a spot that allows you to make the second ball and leave it on the correct side of the second ball to allow you to get position on the third ball. If you can do this every time you shoot a ball, there is a good chance that you will win the game. 

Making an object ball in a pocket is one thing but knowing where the cue ball will go after it contacts the object ball requires another level of knowledge and skill. The player will need to understand the tangent line from the path of the object ball, speed of the cue ball, cue ball spin, speed and cleanliness of the cloth, and the bounciness of the side rails to make a determination of where the cue ball may end up on the table. Cue ball spin comes in two forms; side (left and right) spin aka “English” and rolling spin. There are 3 states that cue ball can be when striking the object ball; rolling forward aka “follow”, sliding with no roll, and rolling backwards aka backspin or “draw”.

The Mental Game

Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra once said “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” This quote sums up the mental and physical aspects of playing pool as well. While the player’s physical form is important, the mental game is critical. A player must take all that they know about the game, the current conditions, and the situation in the game and determine what kind of shot to play. At that point, they must turn off the analytical part of their brain and execute the physical shot. A player that is undecided or second guessing their shot selection will increase the chances of missing the shot. Sports psychology has taught us that staying positive will increase the chances for success. Being negative or saying “I knew I was going to miss it” is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am able to beat a lot of opponents because I remain positive and ready to perform even when I am losing a match. There have been many times when my opponent has needed one more game to win the match and I needed 2, 3, 4, or 5 more games to win the match and I have come back to win. Staying positive and mentally ready frees me to perform well when the pressure is on. This leads me to my next point about pressure. Many players can play well when they are relaxed and having a good time. However, when the stakes are high and the pressure of the situation is being felt, many players do not perform their best. Their physical form, pre-shot routine, and attitude can change in pressure situations without the right mental preparation. 

The Joy of the Game

As you may be able to tell, there is a lot that goes into the seemingly simple game of pool. I have barely scratched the surface of some complexities of the game like banking a ball off a single rail into a pocket. The difficulty increases when you increase that to 2, 3, or more rails of banking the ball. I enjoy the complexity and simplicity of the game. I liken it to solving a puzzle or Rubik’s cube. Every game is different however as I have played over the years, I have cataloged many shots in my mental database that I can use in various situations. 

My approach to the game is that of a dedicated student. I am always learning and practicing my craft. Many people say, “practice makes perfect.”  However, I put a twist on that by saying “perfect practice makes perfect.”  I actually love to practice. It is relaxing for me to play a few games by myself after a long day. I also love practicing in a serious way to prepare for competition. To master the game, a player must practice with total mental focus on the task at hand. If you do not practice perfection, you will not be able to replicate it during competition. I will identify shots that I have struggled with or missed recently and work on them repeatedly. It is not enough to make a shot once or twice and say “I got this.” I will shoot the same shot until I have made 10 or 20 in a row to ensure that it has been stored in muscle memory. 

I also practice something that very few serious players and even professionals practice and that is the break shot. At higher levels of play, the break shot can be the most important shot of the game. If the break goes well, a good player can “run the table” by making all the balls in consecutive shots until the game is over without their opponent getting a chance to play. Executing a good break shot is all about form and hand speed. A typical practice routine for me involves doing nothing but break shots for an hour at a time. It allows me to become proficient in delivering a good break shot and giving me a better chance of making a ball on the break. This will give me the opportunity to run the table and keep my opponent in their chair. 

When it comes to competition, I love nothing more than keeping my opponent in their chair. That means that I am performing at a high level and putting more pressure on them as my score increases. I love competing in pool because it is a test of my abilities. I want to continue improving so I crave more challenging opponents. There are lessons to be learned in winning and losing. I have learned more from losing than I ever have from winning. There are some losing moments that I will never forget. I still remember missing a 6-ball from 20 years ago that ended up costing me the match. While losing stings, it is best to learn something from the occasion and improve for the next time. 

As with anything we do in life, there will be success and failure. It is critical that we learn from the failures and not get hung up on them. If we live in the past, we cannot enjoy the present or move forward to the future,

Biography:

Phil VanSant – Manager – System Protection Field Operations. Phil has 18 years of utility industry experience in Transmission System Operations, System Protection, and Engineering Standards. After 5 years with American Electric Power, Phil started working with Dominion Energy Virginia and has been part of several major efforts including DER interconnections, facility rating verifications, and developing a new digital substation design that uses IEC 61850 and a drop-in control enclosure combination. He has a BSEE from Virginia Tech and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Virginia. Philip has a hobby and passion for playing billiards.