Think about their next shot, not yours
When you play safe, plan for your opponent's reply. The goal is to leave them as badly as possible, for example by hiding the ball they must hit behind a group of other balls.
The types of safety
Dr. Dave Alciatore's list of the ten most useful safety types includes:
- Stop and hide: stop the cue ball behind a blocker.
- Roll up and snuggle: roll the cue ball up onto the object ball to leave your opponent snookered.
- Equal-separation hide: a rolling cue ball with a hit slightly thinner than half-ball, so the balls separate equally and the cue ball stops behind blockers.
- Finesse fractional-ball hide: a soft, controlled partial hit.
- Separate and hide against a long rail.
- Come into the line of blockers.
- Thin-hit hide: a thin hit barely moves the object ball, so the cue ball's path is predictable.
- Send the ball down table and hide.
- Kick-and-stick: a cue ball rolling almost straight into a cushion comes back with stun.
For finesse safeties, Dr. Dave uses a very short bridge to keep the stroke short and soft.
The leave to avoid
Do not leave the object ball about one ball-width off a cushion. That creates a "big ball" target that many cue ball paths can hit.
Two-way shots
Instructor Tom Ross defines a two-way shot as one that leaves you in good shape whether you make it or miss, usually by keeping the cue ball where a miss leaves your opponent safe. His guidelines:
- Skip the two-way shot if a miss would leave a good shot, or a make would leave you no next shot.
- If the safety is as hard as the shot, take the shot.
- Do not pass up an easy bank for a difficult safety.
For game-specific defense, see one-pocket and the push out rule in nine-ball.