Lesson notes
Straight-In Shot Drill — Free Online Pool Practice
Three points in a line — the foundation of every cut
Why the "easiest" shot comes first
A straight-in looks like nothing, so people skip it. It is also the only shot on the table where neither the aim nor the cue-ball result is ambiguous: at a 0° cut the OB must travel along the line of centres, and a centre-ball cue ball stops dead where it struck. Because nothing is ambiguous, a missed straight-in can only mean one thing — your cue did not go straight. It is the one shot that separates "am I aiming right" from "am I delivering straight", which is why it sits ahead of every cut.Three points in a line
The geometry has exactly one condition: pocket centre, OB centre and cue-ball centre on one straight line. Check it by dropping down to near table height and sighting from behind the cue ball until the three centres stack into one. Any offset at all and it is already a cut — the OB leaves along the line of centres at the moment of contact, not along the direction your cue is pointing. That rule holds in every lesson that follows; the straight-in is simply its cleanest special case.- 0° cut → OB runs down the line of centres, centre-ball cue ball stops dead
- Check by sighting low from behind the cue ball: do the three centres stack?
- Missed a straight-in? Suspect cue delivery before you suspect your aim
1.2 Straight-in shots
Cue, object, and pocket on one line. Aim at the OB center; power 30-40% is plenty. In snooker this is your bread-and-butter on the spotted ball.