Here's a pro secret you can apply to any billiards shot-zoned concentration at the "check off point". Consider Nick "The Kentucky Colonel" Varner, rightly named in 1992 to the BCA Hall of Fame. Nick holds eight World Championships including 1989, the year he also won the US Open in 9-Ball and a total of 11 of 22 pro tour events he entered!

In Straight Pool, Nick has run over 330 balls in one inning, over three hours at the table without a miss, requiring peak, sustained concentration.

In competition, Nick exhibits nervous excitement like the rest of us but his stroke is both relaxed and keenly focused.

When I asked him, Nick told me his key stroke thought, "My hand knows what to do, so I try to let it shoot on its own." Distractions can impair performance, including conscious thought. Nick commits to his target, speed and spin, then he watches the results as his body takes over.

Pro concentration revolves around the check off point, the transition between the end of shot planning and the beginning of body performance, after the last practice stroke to initiate the final stroke. There is keen awareness yet the mind is calm.

Yesterday I practiced stroking a cue stick away from the table. I could not say whether I pulled, pushed or tossed the stick through its arc. It was a good stroke on its own, as natural to me as walking or breathing. When your check off point has that high a trust level, jerked and mishit shots vanish.

How do you know when you are checked off and ready to shoot?

Listen to your body. Let it lead and you might be surprised as your body shoots while your mind is still planning the shot yet the balls sink in the pockets.

Please let me be more specific. A lot of shots are missed because most players aim slightly incorrectly on their angled shots, and then swerve at the last minute towards correct aim. An excellent way to correct aim is to pause, dead still, at the check off point, and then commit to shooting straight forward as you are aimed now. Go for it and THEN if you miss consistently you will confirm and begin to self-correct aim.

At the check off point, past negative experience creates distracting self-talk when ideally there are no conscious instructions given, negative or positive. In the zone you might tune out for an entire rack let alone one check off point.

You can check off shots the pro way, and here's how. Break a rack of balls open then shoot watching your body play as if your mind is a casual observer. Do not consciously assume your stance, plan your stroke, or call to yourself angles, direction, speed, etc. Just play pool and silence both negative and positive self-talk.

That exercise is just the warm up, however. After a few "mindless" shots up to perhaps a full rack, return to your usual (good) routine. Consciously plan speed, stroke and shape before you bend to shoot. Assume the stance and take practice strokes as normal.

Relax your eyes on the target point for the cue ball, trusting that your hand and body might perhaps do something different from the billiards shot you've consciously planned. If you still don't start the final stroke, you might say to yourself, "Hand, do your thing!" Stroke then watch for results without judging them as good or bad.

The more you trust this process, the more amazing your billiards strategy and tactics become without conscious effort. Your body might adjust to change your grip or even your choice of english or spin. If you really let go on a conscious level at the check off point, you might even sink bank shots-when you weren't planning bank shots!

This isn't about chanting "Ohm" or burning incense. The pool mind and experience that make even slop fall when you play strong can be honed to create strong play more often. Thus the famous pool expression, "The more I practice (the pro check off point) the luckier I get!"

Next time-discover what quality vocal music, firefighting and basketball have in common with great pool.

Matt "Quick Draw" Sherman has appeared many times internationally in print and on television promoting billiards and entertainment. He has taught hundreds of students and directed pool tournaments, leagues, fundraisers and adult ed courses.