Post 12 showed where to send the white. This post shows how good players choose the shot that gets it there: they read every tip and power for one pot like a map, set pace before spin, open the reds off the blue, pick the key ball before the last red, and plan the six colours as one chain. Every picture is a physics-model run, drawn with the balls and the cue only.

Series map. ★ Basics: 01 Cue action and elevation → 02 Aiming and potting → 03 Tip and power → 04 Where the white goes · ★★ Club: 05 Side spin → 06 Cut and side into pockets → 07 Cushions → 08 Doubles · ★★★ Advanced: 09 Escaping snookers → 10 Multi-ball shots → 11 Safety → 12 Position play · ★★★★ Hard: 13 Break-building → 14 Special shots · Reference: 15 Rules, tactics and practice · ★★★★★ Pro: 16 Cue-ball control (this post).

Learning Outcome

Read one pot as a map of where the white can finish.
Know which choices still pot the ball, and which leave it short.
Set the pace first, then the tip.
Pick the zone, then read the map backwards for the shot.
Open the reds off the blue, and choose the key ball before the last red.
Plan the six colours as one chain of short, easy moves.

Chapter 1 — Read the white's options

1 · The position map

One red, one pocket, one cut (30°). Only the tip and the power change. Each ring is where the white stops. Good players know this map for the pots they meet most, before they get down on the shot.

2 · Which choices pot the red

Not every choice works. The same map as a table (model):

Power	Tip	Red	White stops
2	screw	stops short ✗	–
2	stun	stops short ✗	–
2	roll	potted	22 cm from the black spot
2	follow	potted	6 cm from the black spot
3	screw	potted	15 cm off the bottom side cushion
3	stun	potted	27 cm below the black spot
3	roll	potted	38 cm from the pink spot
3	follow	potted	18 cm off the bottom cushion, near the middle pocket

Screw and stun need pace. Backspin slows the white before contact, so at power 2 the red does not reach the pocket.
Follow at power 2 runs onto the black spot. In a frame the black is there: the white would kiss it.
Follow at power 3 heads for the middle pocket. It stops 18 cm off the cushion here; a little more pace risks an in-off.

Watch out: a shot that leaves perfect position but does not pot is the worst shot on the map. The pot comes first.

3 · Pace first, then tip

Two top views of the same pot. Left, one tip (roll) at three powers: power 2 stops near the black spot, power 3 below the pink, power 4 runs off two cushions to the baulk end. Right, one power (3) with four tips: screw, stun, roll and follow end in a narrower spread at the black end

Change only the power, and the end points spread over 222 cm. Change only the tip at power 3, and they spread over 148 cm (model).

Roll, power	The white travels
2	117 cm
3	217 cm
4	358 cm

So pace is the bigger lever. Choose the pace that takes the white to the zone, then use the tip to bend the path. A pace you play every day is worth more than a big spin you play once a frame.

Trick: practise the same pot at three set paces until each one lands in its own ring. That is the map in your arm.

4 · Pick the zone, then read the map backwards

Start from the next ball, not from this one:

Next ball	Zone (section 1 map)	The shot
the black, into a top corner	near the black spot, a little off it	roll, power 2
the black, from below	27 cm below the black spot	stun, power 3
a red near the pink	below the pink	roll, power 3
a ball on the bottom side cushion	15 cm off it, level with the black	screw, power 3
the blue	towards the bottom middle pocket	follow, power 3, watch the in-off

The pro habit: zone → ring on the map → tip and power. If two choices reach the zone, take the one with the softer pace and the plainer tip.

Chapter 2 — The reds

5 · Into the reds off the blue

Early in a frame the reds are still in a bunch behind the pink. A good way in is off the blue (coaching advice): pot the blue and let the white carry on into the reds. Here the blue is a 55° cut into the top middle pocket. Two choices (model):

Choice	The white's next ball	Reds moved more than 30 cm
stun, power 3	the pink ✗	1
screw, power 4	a red ✓	2

Stun sends the white along the tangent line, straight into the pink: a kiss you cannot plan. Screw bends the path behind that line, and the extra pace carries the white into the side of the reds.

Watch out: opening the reds is not a pot. Plan where the white ends too: here it runs on to the top end, near the black.

6 · The key ball

Two full-table top views. The last red is gone and the white sits just above and right of the blue. Top, tick: the blue into the bottom middle pocket with stun at power 3; the white runs back to near the baulk cushion, with a short, easy line to the yellow. Bottom, cross: the pink into the bottom right corner with roll at power 2; the white ends at the top end, far from the yellow

The key ball is the colour you take with the last red, chosen so the white lands for the yellow (coaching advice). Here the last red is gone and the white sits just above the blue. What each colour leaves (model):

Key ball	Pots?	The white ends	The yellow next
blue, bottom middle, power 3 stun	yes	near the baulk cushion, 65 cm from the yellow	easy: 13° into the bottom middle ✓
pink	yes, 10 ways in the model	power 2 roll: at the top end, 268 cm away	not easy from any of the 10 ✗
black	no pocket at a cut of 45° or less	–	–

"Easy" here means: the white 25–120 cm from the yellow, a cut of 8–35°, the yellow within 150 cm of the pocket, and both lines clear.

Trick: choose the key ball before you pot the last red, then play the last red to land on it.

Chapter 3 — The colours as one chain

7 · Plan all six first

Full table top view with the white just right of the yellow and the six colours on their spots. Six dashed white tracks, numbered 1 to 6, show where the white stops after each colour: 1 near the baulk cushion for the green, 2 above the green for the brown, 3 below the blue for the blue, 4 near the top side cushion for the pink, 5 near the bottom side for the black, 6 at the top end

After the last red, the colours go yellow to black and stay down. Before the yellow, good players walk the whole chain in their head: each pot sends the white to an easy angle on the next colour. Here is one chain the model found, from the white just right of the yellow:

#	Ball	Pocket	Power	Tip	The white moves	Next ball, cut
1	yellow	bottom left	3	roll	75 cm	green, 17°
2	green	top middle	3	roll	72 cm	brown, 22°
3	brown	bottom left	3	stun	121 cm	blue, 26°
4	blue	top middle	2	follow	193 cm	pink, 17°
5	pink	bottom middle	3	roll	111 cm	black, 21°
6	black	top right	2	roll	82 cm	–

8 · Shot by shot

Six top views, one per colour. Each shows the pot as a yellow dashed line to the pocket, the white's path as a white dashed arrow, a green ring where it stops, and a thin line to the next colour. 1 yellow, power 3 roll, green next. 2 green, power 3 roll, brown next. 3 brown, power 3 stun, blue next. 4 blue, power 2 follow, pink next. 5 pink, power 3 roll, black next. 6 black, power 2 roll

Look at what the chain does not use: no power 4 or 5, no hard screw, no side. Every next cut is between 17° and 26°: an angle to work with, never straight and never thin.

Trick: an angle of about 15–30° on the next ball is what lets the next shot move the white (post 12, section 3).

9 · The long move: the blue

The biggest move in the chain is 193 cm, off the blue (shot 4). It is still a power 2 shot: follow does the work and the white runs with the natural angle up the table. The long move is played with the softest pace that gets there, so the error stays small.

Common pitfall: hitting the blue hard "to get up the table". The extra pace spreads the stopping point (section 3), and the pink cut becomes a guess.

10 · When position goes wrong

Even good players miss the zone. Then (coaching advice):

You are left with	Do this
a pot, but no shot onto the next ball	look for another pocket for this ball first
a long or thin pot	play the pot with a safety in mind: pace that leaves the white safe if it misses (post 11)
no fair pot	play the safety now, not the gamble
a ball the plan skipped	re-plan from here: three balls ahead again

11 · The pro checklist

Before each shot in a break:

Ask	Section
Which zone for the next ball, and the one after?	4, 7
Which ring on the map lands there?	1
Does that choice still pot the ball?	2
Can I get there with less pace?	3
Is the path clear of other balls and pockets?	2 (kiss, in-off)
Before the last red: which key ball?	6
If I miss the zone, what is the next-best shot?	10

Try it at the table

Drill	Set-up	Look for
The map	the section 1 red and white; play the six potting choices	each white stops in its own ring
Short at power 2	the same red, power 2 screw	the red stops short: feel it, then add pace
Pace ladder	the same red, roll, power 2, 3, 4	three clearly different stopping places
Zone first	a friend names a zone; you choose tip and power	land in it three times out of five
Off the blue	the section 5 set-up	the white reaches the reds after the blue
The chain	the colours on their spots, the white just right of the yellow	clear all six with power 2–3 only

Cheat-sheet


Map	for one pot: every tip and power, and where the white stops
Pot first	power 2 screw or stun can leave the red short
Pace first	pace spreads the ending more than the tip (222 cm vs 148 cm here)
Backwards	next zone → ring on the map → tip and power
Reds	open them off the blue, with screw and pace
Key ball	choose the colour with the last red that leaves the yellow
Colours	short moves, power 2–3, a 17–26° angle on each next ball
Gone wrong	another pocket, a pot with safety in mind, or the safety

Planned future extensions

The series ends here for now. It is numbered so later lessons can slot in without retitling the posts above.

Possible post	What it would add
17 · Reading the pack	how reds split by where and how hard the white hits the pack
18 · Long potting	the long red and long blue in detail, with the cue action checks
19 · Doubles and plants, harder	two-cushion doubles, a plant off a cushion
20 · Match play	the first frames, playing a faster or slower opponent, keeping calm
21 · Equipment	tips, chalk, cue weight and length, and how they change a shot
22 · Six-red and other formats	the Six Reds rules and how the tactics change

What's next

This is the last lesson for now. Go back to 12 · Position play and 13 · Break-building with the map in mind: each picture there is one ring on a map like section 1.

References

WPBSA, Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards (2024-25): the colours after the last red, and re-spotting. https://www.wpbsa.com/rules/
Dr. Dave Alciatore, cue ball control, natural angles and position zones. https://billiards.colostate.edu/
The map, the pace spread, the pack shots and the colour chain come from the physics model used in this series; your table and your pace will differ. The key ball, the 15–30° angle and the "when it goes wrong" choices are coaching advice.