Shelly Barnes is the House Pro at Corner Pocket in Albuquerque, NM, a BCA-Certified Instructor, and a WPBA Touring Professional. Shelly's past columns are archived here. Visit Shelly's Website at http://www.flash.net/~shelly5/
	BODY ENGLISH By Shelly Barnes Have you every seen a player point to the ceiling after shooting a ball? What about chase around the table and try to wave the object ball into the pocket? Ever seen anyone tap the chalk on the edge of the table trying to somehow send a message to the cue ball to slow down? Once the cue ball leaves the cue tip, it is out of your control. When a player leans, jumps, side-steps, or points their cue stick at the other side of the room, it does not help the object ball fall into the pocket. Neither will begging the object ball to fall in or pleading with the cue ball to snooker your opponent. In a professional match, I saw a woman nearly hit the player at the next table while swinging her cue 180 degrees in order to try to "body english" the object ball into the pocket. The audience (and your peers) may enjoy this comedic entertainment but it is detrimental to your game (and looks rather silly). It also tells your opponent that you are not confident in your ability to shoot the ball into the hole and are just hoping it will fall in. In order to strike the ball where desired, the shooter must follow through to ensure a clean hit. If you are pointing at the ceiling or the ear of the player on the next table, you obviously didn't execute the shot to completion (linearly through the cue ball to a "finish" position). The logical follow-up question: "If once the cue ball leaves the cue tip and it is out of my control, why follow through?" The human body thinks faster than it acts so if we know we don't have to follow through, we stop before we hit the cue ball accurately. So keep your eye on the ball until you get to your "finish" position. Your game will improve, the players next to you will feel safer, and the audience doesn't think you are pointing out a flying saucer. Keep shooting and have fun!   All copyrights are owned by Shelly Barnes. No duplication is allowed without her permission.