Date: January 26th, 2018 6:13 PM
Author: Wild Double Fault
If I'm playing someone better than me or someone for the first time, I'll work backwards and spend my first few shots breaking out my problem balls.
In the meantime my opponent is working from easiest to hardest (99.9% of players do this and are in complete denial about it) and will inevitably leave his last ball or the 8 ball somewhere I'm never going to allow them to get to it.
I have two basic rules when I shoot with rare exceptions:
1. I focus on shooting the balls on one half of the table before moving to the other half. Closest ball, closest pocket in other words.
2. Always keep one ball on each end of the table. I'm a good shotmaker now, so if I have one ball on each end, there is basically no way to defense me. I will be able to get a good shot on one of those balls regardless of where you leave the cue.
I have lots of little rules when it comes to shot selection, but those are my big two.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3868815&forum_id=2#35247850)