How to Play A Safety In Nine Ball

As with most competitive sporting games, defense in nine ball is as important as offense. Safety play is the bane of many a bar pool player's existence, as he may be taunted for taking the coward's way out. Yet smart pool players understand that a well played safety may win a tournament. This exercise will show you the importance of safety play and some simple shots to practice safety play in nine ball.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pool table
• Pool cue

Practicing For Safety Play In Nine Ball

1. Do your regular routine prior to a practice session. If you don't have a routine yet I would strongly suggest adopting one. Remember to stretch before practicing or playing pool for any length of time.

2. Break a rack of nine ball just hard enough to get an even spread on the table.

3. 

   Find the next object ball on the pool table, but do not look at putting it in a pocket. Instead, look at ways of hitting the object ball to hide either it or the cue ball. If neither ball can be sufficiently hidden from the other, find the best spot to leave the cue ball for a scratch shot by your opponent.

4. 

   Practice looking for hiding spots for the cue ball.

5. For cue ball placement practice, put a quarter on the pool table and practice getting the cue ball as close to the quarter as possible.

Playing A Safety In a Nine Ball Tournament

6. Look ahead. To find the best safety shot available, a player may need to make some balls before playing the best safety. If nothing else, remember shots that made the opponent uncomfortable. Sometimes the easiest safeties are learned from knowing an opponent's game.

7. Decide to play a safety. A player must be as committed to playing a safety as they are to making a shot and setting up for the next ball.

8. Take the shot, and treat it as though you are making a ball.

9. Deal with the consequences of the safety; they don't always work. The pool balls may not have rolled the way you thought, the rail bumper may be dead, or the opponent may have gotten lucky and made an incredible shot from a great safety. You may sink the cue ball after a great safety play. No matter what happens, be gracious in accepting the outcome.

10. If the safety play was successful, decide nine ball strategy for this game. If you can force two more consecutive ball-in-hand cue ball fouls, you win the game without making the nine ball. With cue ball in hand it should be even easier to chose another safety shot, and again receive (hopefully) another ball in hand for the next winning shot.

Tips & Warnings

• Many nine ball tournaments have a three consecutive foul rule. If a player commits three consecutive ball in hand fouls, that player loses the game. This rule makes safety play essential. This rule can even the playing field for a lesser shot maker against a table-running player.
• Pay no attention to a lesser player's grumblings about safety play, as the more experienced billiard players will take note of your skills and fear them.
• A poorly executed safety can cost the shooter the game, so practice is always recommended.