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CUEING ACADEMY · PRACTICE SHEET

Tangent-Line Position Zone

Position play · Intermediate · 20 min
Zone1

Cut the 1-ball into the corner. With stun, the cue ball leaves along the tangent line toward the zone.

Cue ballObject

Objective: Use a stun stroke to send the cue ball along the tangent line into a defined position zone.

Setup: Place the object ball near the bottom long rail, about two diamonds from the bottom-right corner pocket. Place the cue ball on the same horizontal line, about 1.5 diamonds farther up-table, giving a moderate cut into the corner. Mark a position zone roughly one diamond square, centred on the tangent line about two diamonds after contact.

Scoring: 2 points for pot + cue ball in zone, 1 point for pot only, 0 for a miss. Ten attempts per set (max 20).

Success standard: 14 or more points in a set.

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Category
Position play
Difficulty
Intermediate
Duration
20 min

Tangent-Line Position Zone

With a stun hit, the cue ball leaves contact roughly 90 degrees from the object ball's path. Learning to predict and control that line is the base of most position play.

Zone1

Cut the 1-ball into the corner. With stun, the cue ball leaves along the tangent line toward the zone.

Cue ballObject

Setup

  1. Place the object ball near the bottom long rail, about two diamonds from the bottom-right corner pocket.
  2. Place the cue ball on the same horizontal line, about 1.5 diamonds farther up-table, giving a moderate cut into the corner.
  3. Mark a position zone roughly one diamond square, centred on the tangent line about two diamonds after contact.

Execution

  1. Before shooting, point your cue along the tangent line to visualise where the cue ball will travel.
  2. Pot the object ball with a firm stun stroke (slightly below centre, enough to remove roll at contact).
  3. Note where the cue ball stops relative to the zone.
  4. Reset and repeat. Adjust speed rather than spin to land in the zone.

Scoring

2 points for pot + cue ball in zone, 1 point for pot only, 0 for a miss. Ten attempts per set (max 20).

Common mistakes

  • Rolling the cue ball into contact, which bends its path forward past the tangent line.
  • Over-drawing, which pulls the path backward.
  • Hitting too hard and overshooting the zone off the top rail.

Progression

Move the zone farther along the tangent line, then require two-rail position to a second zone.

Terms this drill trains

Easier variation

Use a gentler cut angle and a larger zone.

Harder variation

Shrink the zone to half a diamond and alternate between stun (tangent line) and slight follow (forward of it).

Drill objectives describe what the exercise trains. Results depend on the player, the table and the quality of practice; no drill guarantees a specific improvement.

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