1. Build a stable stance

Everything starts with your feet. Line your body up with the shot, put one leg slightly back and bend your front knee a little. Lean your upper body down towards the cue so your eyes end up close to its line - the lower you get, the easier it is to see whether you are aiming correctly.

Try staying in your stance after the shot. If you lose your balance straight away, you are probably standing too narrow or too upright.

2. Choose the right bridge

The bridge is the hand that guides the cue. The open bridge - where the cue rests in a groove between your thumb and index finger - is the easiest to learn and works for most shots. The closed bridge, where your index finger forms a loop around the cue, gives more control on power shots.

Keep the bridge planted firmly on the table, roughly 15-20 cm from the cue ball. Too close and you get no length in the stroke; too far away and accuracy disappears.

3. Hold the cue lightly

The most common beginner mistake is squeezing the cue. A tight grip locks your wrist and pushes the cue off line. Hold your back hand loosely enough that the cue could almost slip out - the grip steers the direction, not the power.

4. Aim using the contact point

Picture where the cue ball has to strike the object ball to send it towards the pocket. Many players imagine a "ghost ball" - an invisible cue ball sitting directly behind the object ball, in line with the pocket. Aim to put the cue ball exactly there.

Decide your aim while standing up, then drop into your stance. Adjusting your aim once you are already down over the table almost always goes wrong.

5. Stroke straight through the ball

A good stroke is straight, smooth and finishes with the cue continuing past the point where the ball was. Do not stop at impact. Take a few calm practice strokes at the same tempo as the real one so your arm knows what is coming.

6. Learn to control the cue ball

Where you strike the cue ball decides where it goes afterwards. Hit it in the centre and it stops almost dead; above centre it rolls forward; below centre it draws back. Start by always aiming for the centre - control comes first, spin later.

7. Think one shot ahead

The difference between potting a ball and winning the rack is position play. Before you shoot, decide which ball you want next and where the cue ball needs to end up to make that shot easy. Sometimes the smartest shot is a gentle one that leaves a good position - not the hardest one on the table.

Practise like this next time

Put a ball straight in front of a pocket with the cue ball some distance behind it, on the same line. Pot it ten times in a row without the cue ball drifting sideways. It sounds simple - but that straight stroke is what everything else is built on.