Safety

Thin Safety to Baulk Drill

This is the most common safety shot in snooker: a thin contact on a red that sends the cue ball off the top cushion and back down into baulk. Done well, it leaves your opponent long and awkward. Done badly, it leaves the red loose or the cue ball in the middle of the table.

Snooker table top viewTop-down view of a full-size snooker table at 1mm = 1px scale.100 mmFull-size snooker table · 3569 × 1778 mm · 1 px = 1 mm
Table layout for the Thin safety to baulk drill

Setup

  1. Place a red near the top of the table, as if it were the top of the pack (see the diagram).
  2. Take the cue ball in hand in the D for each attempt.

Rules

  1. Play a thin contact on the red so the cue ball goes off the top cushion and back down the table.
  2. The safety is successful if the cue ball finishes behind the baulk line and the red does not move towards the baulk end of the table.
  3. Reset after every attempt.
  4. Play 10 attempts. Your score is the number of successful safeties.

Targets by level

Beginner
3–5 out of 10
Club player
6–8 out of 10
Advanced
9–10 out of 10, with the cue ball tight to the baulk cushion

Tips

  • Pick a specific landing spot near the baulk cushion before you play.
  • Use a little side to help the cue ball come off the cushions towards baulk.
  • Pace matters more than the exact contact. Practise until the pace is automatic.

Common mistakes

  • Hitting the red too full, so it rolls down the table.
  • Over-hitting, so the cue ball bounces off the baulk cushion back into the open.
  • Under-hitting, so the cue ball stops in the middle of the table.

More drills

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