The past two weeks on The Clinic had to impact you in a positive way because Defense is 50% of your pool game.

Part 1.  The Clinic | How to practice Defense Control
Part 2.  The Clinic | When to play Defensive Shots

The two drills from week one are critical for sharpening both your cue ball and object ball speed control.

The two methods to know when it's time to be on defense are great for avoiding the pitfall of only thinking about playing defense when you don't seem to have a shot to play.

From racking the balls to physically responding at or away from the table is all part of your defensive game. How you control the table if half your defensive strategy. The other half is how you impact your opponent's mental game—state of mind. This is often overlooked by players.

If you don't have it already, 55 Safety Drills and 52 Advanced Shots Book & DVD provide great practice drills on Defense. Here is what Art had to say on The Clinic last Tuesday:

Art Lopez - "Speechless beyond belief, Dom's products are solid and everything you need to dominate on the felt... ordered 54 cue ball positions and control, first 3 drills humbled me to the point I called DOM expecting an answering machine, nope he answered second ring and gave me advice for 20 minutes, so many gold nuggets of info you can’t find anywhere else. Dom truly cares about his customers and I will forever be his student 👨‍🎓, Dom feels like your talking to your best friend, no pressure and he doesn’t judge your troubled areas in billiards.... thank you Dominic Esposito for everything you do for this wonderful game...."

Watch each Clinic more than once and don't miss gleaning the golden nuggets shared in between the shots. Your defensive game can make all the difference in your next league night or tournament. Many times your opponent will be caught off guard because they don't expect to be shut down.

In the meantime, Shoot Straight and God Bless!

Dominic & The Drill Instructor Team