By Edward Charlton
Professional Player
(now retired)

Introduction
I’ve been asked on many occasions to give some tips on how to become a better player of the cue sports. I was lucky when growing up as I could tap into one of the best players in the world of cue sports. My father, Eddie Charlton AM, was without doubt Australia’s greatest all-round player, achieving the highest level of any player in all codes of the cue sports in our country. His list of achievements at both National and International level is only a dream but to a few players world wide.
I can let you know that as the sport is solely an individual sport, it is up to the individual to achieve to whichever level they wish to. As my father did for me and I can for you, is to pass on an encyclopaedia worth of information, it will always be up to you to put the dedicated work in to advance yourself in ability.
I can certainly attest to this, as much as I wanted to become a top notch player, I just was not dedicated enough to work continuously on my game. To be fair on my self I did make a conscious choice to try and run my family business at the same time. This decision proved to be detrimental to my playing career. To become a high achiever at the cue sport games you have to be tunnel visioned and spend as much time as you can practicing and then playing the different games. I would like you to understand that practice and playing the games are two different things. They do work hand in hand, but they are separate.
Like in many sports, out of the thousands that start playing a sport and think they can become a top player only a very small percentage actually make it, but you can improve your ability and enjoy the various games played on a billiards table.
So my first tip would be to obtain a good education. ‘Dedication and Discipline’ can start with achieving at school.
To assist you in sport, as in life, you need to set goals and achieve them. Never, though, set goals that are unreachable. Also don’t set time-frames, because if you don’t reach the goal in the time you set yourself it becomes frustrating and eventually if you keep missing the targeted goal and time, you will more than likely just give up.
I will mention these couple of points a few times during our time together. I hope I can be of help to you. I will be starting at the basic level and will reference my father’s book as well as from my own experiences.
I have previously written about billiard tables, cue selection, chalk and tips for your perusal and help. All can be found on billiards.com.au
Keep your eye out for Lesson 1, coming soon!
Regards
Edward Charlton


Coming next time: The Stance