Star Wars comes to billiards with the new laser markers that make a lot of homemaker tasks easier. The laser beam is housed in a device that looks like a tape measure or a flat can-like container. Both project a perfectly straight line on any surface without leaving a mark.

They are handy for hanging pictures and laying tile, but wait until you see what you can do with one on a pool table!

Knowing you are hitting the exact center of the cue ball is imperative to a good stroke and accurately hitting your object ball. Even if you have to rely on English for a specific shot, you need to know you hit your exact target on the cue ball.

Most of us know that when we miss a shot and it bounces off the horn of the pocket, it is because we were off just slightly on the pinpoint we were targeting on the cue ball or the object ball.

This is the last spot you have control over to make the shot you are planning.

So how do you know you are aiming at a pinpoint and not a dime-sized spot on the cue ball?

Let the laser show you.

Set up the laser this time on the end rail so it points down table from diamond to diamond. You should probably use a stool to get your laser up to rail height without the potential of knocking it onto the floor because it was sitting on the rail. You will be shooting from the other end of the table towards the laser.

In either case you will have a thin red line that runs the length of the table.

That is your target line for a shot with the cue ball. Also notice the laser runs the line up to the top of your cue ball, When you line up the shot make sure your cue is aligned with the red line.

A double check on your aim is to quickly glance up from the spot on the cue ball. If your shooting eye is directly over your cue which is aligned along the target line, you will get a flash of red as it looks directly into the laser.

When you pull the trigger you should see the cue ball roll right down the red line, bounce off the end rail and return down the red line to hit the end of your cue.

Just because you have it redlined, doesn't mean you have to stroke the ball hard, just accurately.

Following the little red line also works well with cut shots and placing that laser behind a corner pocket can give you many practice opportunities.

To start with, set up the laser so it points straight out from the center of the pocket at a 45-degree angle and directly into the side pocket. Now, take a mirror you can stand in the side pocket and point it so the reflected laser line lines up with the original from the laser.

Center an object ball on that line.

The line will fade out beyond the object ball, but you can imagine the line's position on the target side of the ball. But with the mirror, the reflected line will go right up to your object ball and reflect the line up the contact side of the ball. Use that line to establish the contact point for your cut shot into the corner pocket.

This is where you need to use care. See the line in your mind. Its location is something you want to memorize. It is your contact point.

Now try a shot.

Once you get this down so you can consistently deliver the object ball into the center of the pocket, shift the laser and mirror to change the angle to 30 degrees.

The possibilities are endless; try as many angles as you can, move the ball along the line to change the distance. Try a full table length cut shot. Try the same shot angles with a side pocket.

Just follow the red line, you will be amazed at how good you can get.

Over time, you will find yourself looking for the pinpoint of your target and not just a general spot. If you set this drill up correctly, you will find center ball hits become a lot easier and you will resist over cutting or under cutting your cut shots.

Reg Hardy

If you want to learn to improve your billiards game, get to know Reg Hardy. He now has over 200 billiards articles on Billiards Crossing and several eBooks on the biliardtips-e-press site. Hardy picked up the moniker "The Monk's Apprentice as a student of The Monk, an iternationally known billiards instructor.