In 9-ball tournament play, you have the option to roll out after the break shot. This is the only time during the game that you have that option. Your opponent has a choice to shoot or pass the shot back to you.

     Sometimes I wonder about the reason for this rule. The push-out slows down the game. If you are shooting against a player who is not as good as you, it increases that advantage. However if I am playing, say, Buddy Hall or Kim Davenport, I may be at a disadvantage after rolling out, because I have just given them the power to shoot or make me shoot. But, if you practice hard shots, like jumps and banks, that your opponent might give back to you, you have a chance to execute your way out of a tough push-out.

     If I am coming to the table after Buddy or Kim has rolled out, I really hate to give the shot back to them, because their ability to execute is so good. Anytime they shoot, something good can happen for them. By the same token, when I am pushing out for them, I want to make it hard. And if I get it back, then maybe I made it too hard for myself, too.

     When I first started playing 9- ball, the tournaments were onefoul, but there weren’t many tournaments. Most of the competition revolved around headsup money games. Nobody liked to play one-foul in these games; instead they played two-shot push-out. Two-shot push-out was a much more offensive game. A player could push out on any shot, not just after the break, and if his opponent tried that shot and missed it, then it was the first player’s option whether to take it or have his opponent shoot again. You could be a lot more aggressive, because you didn’t need to fear getting snookered — if you did, you could always roll out. Also, you could gamble on spin shots, because if you missed the object ball, your opponent didn’t get ball in hand. He could only shoot from where the balls ended up or pass the shot back to you. You often felt like it was a free shot, so spin shots, bank shots and long tough shots were a must. Buddy Hall told me that when he started to play a match, the first thing he tried to establish in his opponent’s mind was that there was nowhere on the table he could push to where Buddy could not make the shot. That could be pretty intimidating.

     Enough for the history lesson. Let’s look at Diagram 1 and try to find a good pushout. There are eight balls on the table; the 5 ball went on the break. As the diagram shows, the 3 ball is blocking the 1 ball from the cue ball. Before making any decisions, let’s cover some of the general guidelines with regard to push-outs.

     First, push to a position that will give you a chance to get back to the table. You don’t want your opponent to pocket the 1 ball, get position on the 2, and run out.

     Second, don’t leave your opponent such a good safety that he can lock you up. You don’t want to return to the table with no chance to hit the 1 ball. Giving your opponent ball in hand usually results in a losing game for you.

     With those things in mind, where should you push to in Diagram 1? Picking a pushout is tough, because you can push out anywhere on the table. I like pushing to position C-2 in Diagram 2, where the cue ball ends up a couple inches off the rail. I have my opponent a long way from the 1 ball without any real possibility of pocketing it. This, I like. Should my opponent give me back the shot, then I would try to bank the 1 ball back downtable toward the 9 ball, maybe slightly right of the 9 ball, to end up close to where the cue ball started at C-2. Now the cue ball goes off the 1 ball, contacts the end rail, and goes over to the left by the rail at position C-3. I should be able to get my opponent snookered on the 1 ball as shown in Diagram 2. Not a sure win, but a good safe. At least before he kicks, I feel like a slight favorite to win. You might think I have a great chance, but I don’t feel that way. My opponent has an easy kick shot off rail B, and he does figure to contact the 1 ball. Anytime you contact a kick shot, something good can happen for you. Also, when there are so many balls on the table, I could easily find myself hooked after my opponent kicks.

     My opponent might decide to shoot the safety himself. If he does, I probably will end up kicking. But at least I have a chance to win either way. Regardless of whether my opponent shoots or passes, I will get back to the table and my opponent will not have me locked up.

     By choosing a good position to push to, you give yourself a chance to win. Make a bad push and your chances go way down. With a good push, it still might take a great kick shot or a little luck for you to win. But when you make a bad push-out, it seems all the luck goes your opponent’s way. Hopefully, you will start to consider your push-outs more carefully.