Dragon Billiards Instruction

09/15/2026

How do you define focus? How good is your focus? How consistent is your ability to focus?

Visually. What do your eye patterns look like? It takes your eyes a moment to adjust from near to far, just like from light to dark. Do your eyes flutter back and forth from the cue ball to the object ball repeatedly or do you pause them on the object ball, staring with the intent to ensure you are lined up properly or recognizing the opportunity to abort the mission because you're aimed to miss? Or do you ignore the object ball all together and just look at the cue ball when you shoot? How's your focus? What are you focused on?

Mentally. How good are you at ignoring distractions? What about those distractions inside your own head? If you're going to have a conversation with yourself, you might as well make it positive. How often do you talk yourself out of a shot? Are you your biggest cheerleader or your toughest heckler? What about that annoying thing your opponents doing? They shoot so slow, they stand too close to the table, they're in your line of sight. They, they, they. What about you? How's your focus? What are you focused on?

Physically. Do you know why you miss when you do? Did you miss because you aimed wrong or because you delivered wrong? What specifically if it was the delivery? Did you steer, poke, pop-up? You stay down long enough after the shot to be your own coach and evaluate your performance or are you results driven, popping up with every miss or make and ditching the opportunity to evaluate and change the process that earned the result in the first place? How tight is your grip? That nasty elbow drop... Did you feel it? When you stayed down after the shot, did you notice your tip go in the air because of it? How's your focus? What are you focused on?

In practice. How's your focus? What are you focused on?

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09/09/2026

Remember, unless you're trying to make the object ball jump, you don't need to land on it. Focus on getting the air needed to clear the obstacle and roll to the object ball if you can.

Also, if you're consistently sending the CB right or left of your aiming point, and/or putting unintentional spin on it, you're probably misaligned to your vision center when elevated.

Try this: instead of coming into the shot elevated...start level, and imagine there is a chain connecting your cue to your chin. As you transition to the elevated position, maintain that chin/cue position. Don't break the chain!

We can help you with jumping and all other billiard techniques with both in person and online instruction. No need to take an expensive flight to NY to work with the 2025 PBIA Instructor of the Year. Just a Zoom call is all we need to help you achieve your goals, regardless of your current ability or challenges. Call for a free consultation to learn more about how The Dragon can help you wherever in the world you are. 607-743-2055

Thank you to our sponsors
Cue Sports Media
McDermott Cues

🐉 Train Better. Do Better. Shop Better. 🐉
🐉 www.DragonBilliardsInstruction.com 🐉

09/07/2026

Humbled and honored that so many players on this list have chosen us to be a part of their journeys.

09/07/2026

Please use our tournament locator to find pool tournaments in your area. You may also submit additional tournaments to our database, by using the form below. 

09/07/2026

Good stuff 👏

The Biggest Mistakes Players Make Before Competition

A lot of matches are lost before the first ball is ever broken.

Players spend hours worrying about their stroke, aiming, patterns, and cue ball control—but what you do in the 24 hours before competition can have a huge impact on how you perform.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see players make:

1. Practicing too hard the night before.
The night before a tournament isn’t the time for a 5-hour grind session. You’re not going to rebuild your game overnight. Get some quality reps, build confidence, and get off the table while you still feel good.
2. Trying to fix their stroke right before playing.
This is a big one. Competition day is not experimentation day. If you start changing your grip, stance, bridge, backswing, or aiming system right before a match, you’re putting yourself into mechanical-thinking mode. Trust the stroke you brought with you.
3. Not getting enough sleep.
Pool requires concentration, patience, decision-making, and emotional control. Being exhausted affects every one of those. Treat sleep like part of your preparation.
4. Showing up at the last minute.
Walking through the door stressed, rushing to unpack your cue, and immediately jumping into a match is a terrible way to start. Arrive early enough to settle in mentally and physically.
5. Warming up by trying to impress people.
Your warm-up isn’t a performance. You don’t need to fire in difficult shots or show everyone how good you’re playing. Start with simple shots. Find center ball. Find your speed. Find your rhythm.
6. Judging themselves during warm-up.
You miss three balls and immediately think, “Oh man, I don’t have it today.” Stop. Warm-up is about getting comfortable—not determining how you’re going to play for the next eight hours.
7. Watching the competition too much.
You see somebody running racks on the table next to you and suddenly you’re worried about drawing them. Who cares? You can’t control the bracket. Prepare for the table, not the player.
8. Putting too much pressure on themselves.
“I have to win this tournament.”
“I can’t lose to this guy.”
“Everybody expects me to play well.”

You’re creating pressure that doesn’t need to exist. Your job isn’t to win the entire tournament before it starts. Your job is to play the shot in front of you.

9. Going into competition without a mental plan.
Everybody has a plan when they’re playing well. What happens after you miss an easy ball? Get a bad roll? Fall behind? Lose a set you should’ve won? That’s when you need your routine the most.
10. Forgetting why they prepared in the first place.
You practiced. You put in the hours. You worked on your game. At some point, preparation has to turn into trust.

When competition starts, stop trying to find your game.

Bring the game you have.

Prepare before the tournament.
Trust yourself during the tournament.
Compete one shot at a time.

The players who perform their best aren’t always the players who prepared the hardest the night before.

They’re usually the players who show up rested, prepared, confident, and ready to trust what they’ve already built.

Have you made any of these mistakes? Let us know in the comments or if I missed anything please let me know down below.