Get your pool distance accurate. Fix it now and you're billiards will improve more than you've dreamt possible. It's been a while since I've given out such excellent advice on this site without charging hundreds of dollars for a private lesson... take heed to my words!

I've been hesitant to put this on the site about accurate pool distance because it requires you get a few details precise to be successful.

Pay attention, Mr. Bond!

A fellow billiards teacher whom I respect very much recently wrote to ask for clarification about advice I'd given to get one's body the right distance from an upcoming shot.

His question and my response are instructive for most readers of this About.com GuideSite. When I say "most," I mean that if you follow this advice already, you are likely a skilled pool shooter and others say you have a natural "touch" for the game. Here's where that touch comes from. My friend wrote to me that:

"I think putting the tip down and then trying to walk into position without moving the stick is a bad idea. I know one Master Instructor who teaches this (and I've helped several of his players recover). I have not seen anyone who could really do this accurately and consistently. They lose their sight line and wiggle the stick.

I won't say you're wrong here, as it's not a physically impossible claim. I just don't agree, assuming I understand what you're suggesting. I could understand suggesting they use their tip to help them find the right distance at which to land their stance, but I would not leave it there while I enter my stance.

Do you mean to write that you have your students place their cue tip at the cue ball and then wrap their stance around the cue stick?"

Yes indeed, sir! I do agree with you, and did mean "place your cue tip the correct pool distance to the cue ball before bending to shoot." Beginners and intermediates almost always wiggle their final cue tip distance into place and alter all their angles, as you know.

I have my students measure their body to the stance and the upcoming shot by getting the tip right on the cue ball before they get settled into place.

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Use your cue stick, reader, like a ruler. If you use a personal cue, your cue length never changes. You may therefore take advantage of its length, using it as a ruler to get the exact distance and body setup for the upcoming stroke.

You can further use both hands to super-accurately measure your body to the next shot for a stroke that is likely to perfect and pro-like in its execution if your grip is right, like a pro's. Here's how to do so:

1) Place your shooting hand halfway along the butt half of the cue running from joint to bumper cap.

2) Hold the cue near level to the floor with your shooting hand at a specific spot alongside your hip. Resting atop pocket of your slacks or jeans is usually the correct spot. (When my students are inconsistent here I make them hook a thumb of their hand into their pocket until they build consistency.)

3) Holding the cue with this one hand only, set it at rest behind the cue ball the "magic distance" for your game WITHOUT moving it forward from the pocket--use your FEET if you're not close enough to the ball. (My personal distance, with the cue I shoot with most often, is about 8" behind the cue ball. I'll explain more about this later.)

4)Now get into your stance comfortably without folding or crumpling your body around a rigidly held stick. Since your shooting side foot (left foot for a lefty, right foot for a right handed player) is the precise distance it needs to be from the ball to keep your angles accurate, pick up the cue stick, again with the shooting hand still near the middle of the butt, and place your bridge hand halfway along the shaft end of the cue stick. It's easy to remember "half and half" to get your grips right on both hands and again use the cue to tell us where to be to get down to the stance.

5) Bend to the full, "secret stance" I describe on this pool and billiards website. DO NOT wiggle the cue tip into its final position using your shooting hand. DO bring the tip closer as needed by moving your bridge hand forward along the cue stick--the stick will "magically" float forward to the correct pool distance from the cue ball without disturbing those all important shooting hand and arm angles.

Read Part II Of Get Your Pool Distance Precise