A short clip on the Four Stages of Pocket Billiards.
I remembered giving advice to a young player that I would rather miss the shot playing for position than to make the shot and
leave me no shot on the next ball.

I decided to use my trust skills. I would trust myself to deliver the proper stroke. I leaned in, forgot about results, forgot about
everything except the stroke and speed I needed to use.

Two things were going to happen on the shot. One, I would miss it. Two, I would make it. I did not know which of the two things
would happen. I did know however, that I would look good shooting the shot.

I pulled it off and it looked easy. My opponent did not know that I was shocked about my new and favorable position to win the
match. He never know that I did not think I would make that shot but that I did think I would look good shooting it.

Trust skills are vital and we need to acquire the shooting skills so we can deliver the right stroke.

There are three different kinds of confidence.

1. False Confidence.  This is the player who brags himself up before a match or goes to great extent to put
other players down. He is trying to give himself strength where there is none.

2. The Moment Confidence. This guy gains his confidence when things are going well at the moment. IF he
is playing well, he is confident. In my game I have been known to be a risk taker. When I pull it off I am filled with
this momentary confidence and can finish strong. Sometimes I will chose to take a chance and go for the tough
shot just to shoot myself full of confidence. If I am able to make the shot, I seem to believe in myself to a greater
extent and can play at a high level for the rest of the game. Some players call this "shaking up the stroke". If my
opponent plays a safe and leaves me a tough bank shot, I will usually take the shot just to build my confidence.

3. Real Confidence. Real confidence comes when you have a perspective of yourself as goodness. If you ask
me how I am playing, I am free to respond with "very well". If I perform poorly in a match, it does not matter
because I am connected to my own goodness. This is why The Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards is so effective.
We turn in our numbers. If my numbers are at a high level, then it doesn't matter how I play. If I play poorly, it is
just one of those days. If I play great, I am humble because I know that that to can change. But over all, I am
confident and my confidence comes from my skill level. You need to develop the ability to handle the situations
that come up in a tough match on the spot because that is who you are if you are to meet me in the winners
circle where we both belong. I like to say, "let's take our rightful place in the winner's circle." You don't have to
make every shot to find your confidence. You are connected to your own goodness.

This article is an excerpt from Point the Way....
THE FINE ART OF SIGHTING
Here is a unique way to look at sighting and your approach to shot making. There are a few elements that must
be in place if we are to succeed with the shot at hand. The feet must be in proper alignment to the target. Your
brain will not allow you to deliver a committed stroke if you are not lined up to the shot and the most important
part of the alignment is your feet. For right handed players, your inside right leg must connect to the line you
intend the cue ball to follow towards the target. Once you go down in your stance, we should be able to draw a
line from the inner right part of your right leg to the spot on the object ball you want to hit. This part of the set up
can be done through the intellectual part of our brain. In other words, we can do this just about every time we go
down in our stance.

Without proper feet alignment we are forced to over ride the brain and shoot the shot on our own. This can be
done and often is however you will wear out before the tournament is over and fall by the wayside exhausted
and overcome with fatigue.  

Now you need to move from the intellectual side into the instinctual side. This is where most players come up
short. They try to shoot the shot with the intellectual side of the brain and this does not work in the game of
pocket billiards.

We shoot the shot with another eye. We see several things when we are in our stance if we have contact with
this other eye, the minds eye. Here is the sequence a master goes through when he is shooting a shot.  

First he sees the line from the pocket to the object ball. This line goes into the head part of the object ball and
out through the back part. We want to hit that back part of the object ball so we can send it along the path to the
pocket. The line that you see comes through the object all at a proper angle to the pocket. This same line angle
is then drawn through the cue ball. The front part of that line is what makes contact with the back part of the line
through the object ball. As you go down in your stance, your well trained instinctual eye sees the line through
the object ball and the line through the cue ball. The eye sees the front part of the object ball and the front part
of the cue ball. You line up the front part of the cue ball to the back part of the object ball.

This is done through your well trained instinctual abilities. You must be well trained in this art if you are to
become a real fine player. In your training, make it a point to go through this sequence.

Amateurs do not look at the front line of the object ball.  They do not look at the front line of the cue ball. They
only look at the back lines and are hoping that they get it right when they deliver the stroke.

The art of sighting is found in the instinctual side of our nature therefore it is difficult to teach. During these
classes we actually train in seeing the shot with our instincts. It takes a little time and a lot of trust. I have only
given this lesson a few times because many students are not ready to turn their intellect over to their
awareness nature. During this transition they fail and then revert back to their old ways. Sometimes you have to
fail before you can succeed. Take one step back so you can take two steps forward.

I once played a guy for three hours and he did not win one game. He asked me how I could be so cruel as to play
like that. I did not know what he meant by that question.  Now it is on to page two
This game becomes pure joy when you reach dead stroke and know you will make most shots reality is, dead stroke is stingy
with its visits.

Dead stroke is about trust. When you know the shot you want to shoot and can trust yourself to deliver the stroke, you will visit
the land of dead stroke.

Here are five things that must happen for you to reach this wonderful land.

1. You must have command of the Four Strokes of Pool.
2. You must have command of Cue Ball Speed.
3. You must have command of "Self".
4. You must have command of your trust skills.
5. You must be free of preoccupation with results.

I was faced with a tough shot to win a tournament. It was tough because I had to deliver a power stroke to move the cue ball the
length of the table for the winning shot. There was no other way to pull this off. I thought about cinching the shot and then
banking the money ball. But in my mind, I knew what the right shot was and still I did not think I had the skills to pull it off. I
needed all of my trust skills.....   
You will not be able to move to the next level if you are not sure where you want to go in this game. You must have a purpose
for training. Why do you train? Let us examine this in view of the Purpose being the hub of a wheel. Without the hub, you are
not going to roll on to your destiny. Let's examine this model as if you declared you wanted to be a top tournament player.
I will become the Art of
Pocket Billiards Excellence
in all that I do.
Practice each
one of the Four
Stages of Pool.
I will play
tournaments so I can
develope strong skills.
Every time I go to the
practice table I think of
my goal to make it on
the Cave Wall of Fame.
I will  practice for a
specific event. One, to
reach the Cave Dwellers
goals and to win a
tournament
I train to build concentration
skills by piling rocks I will pile
rocks until I get my one
hundred ball run.
I have become the Cave Dweller. I
think about the level of skill I
will develop all the time.
I never bang balls
around. I train as if I am
playing a tournament.
I  play matches so I can desplay
the same stroke I turn in
during my training sessions.  
As a Cave Dweller
I do  not waste time
in meaningless
matches.
When I attempt a 100
ball run, I always
focus on the shot I
have in front of me. .
Take action,
measure progress
make adjustments
Your training must be specific and deliberate. When you go to the practice table make sure you are doing what the hub of your
wheel suggest. Make sure your actions reflect your purpose. You will need to master the four stages of pool. When you pull your
cue out of the case work on Shot Making, or work on The Four Strokes of Pool, or work on Cue Ball Speed or work on
Mastering self.  Tournament players DO NOT BANG BALLS AROUND. You are always working on your spokes to make a
strong wheel.

One of the best tournament players I ever knew was my girlfriend. She won over seventy five per cent of the events she
entered. One night I told her that a couple was coming over to play scotch doubles with us. She said it was nice and asked who
my partner was going to be. I replied that she would be my partner and we would have fun.
"I don't play scotch doubles" She said, somewhat in a shocked voice.
"I know sweetie pie but they are coming over and they expect to play us." I said in a soft voice.
"I play tournaments. I don't play scotch doubles"
She knew her purpose and that is why she was player of the year in 1995 and the BCA Nationals Eight Ball Champion in 1995.
Know Your Purpose
Run 100 Balls
Win a tournament
Win a tournament
Run 100 Balls
Make it on the Cave
Wall of Fame.
Post a 14 or above
in the Mid Term.
The reason we pursue this purpose is because we want to experience the excellence that is who we are.
Master the Four Strokes.
Shoot the four ball exercise five times without a miss
Shoot Monk Kata twice