If you find yourself up against a player who is considerably better than you are, you may want to consider a defensive 8 ball strategy to help improve your chances of winning. There are a few different defensive 8 ball techniques that we’ll focus on in this billiard tutorial, including winning the break, shot speed, choice of group, and pocket holding.
Winning the break is an essential part of a defensive 8 ball strategy. You must devote yourself to winning the break, and focus on never letting your opponent take the first break shot. When you are executing your break shot, focus on a medium-paced break shot, and avoid full-powered break shots. Concentrate on pocketing the two solid balls on the wide ends of the triangle. (wing balls) You’ll also want to try and leave the 8 ball entangled with several balls from the striped group.
If you have accomplished the above defensive 8 ball strategy successfully, you will note that the solid group of balls will always have the advantage. Strive to pocket a few more solid balls in the inning. When preparing to shoot, consider where the cue ball will end up after the shot plays out. Try to ensure that if you miss your shot, your opponent is snookered or does not have any easy plays and open shots.
To accelerate your defensive 8 ball strategy, try shooting with a lower level of power. This will help to ensure that if you miss your shot, the object ball will still hang out very close to the intended pocket. Not only will you be set up for an easy shot, but you’ll also be effectively blocking that pocket for your opponent. This is called holding the pocket.
Finally, when playing out the game, observe where most of your opponents balls are clustered, and implement a pocket holding strategy in that area if possible. Of course, you’ll want to delay pocketing those balls holding the pockets until absolutely necessary.
