An Aiming Ball (ABall) appears in many drills to guide how you should strike the cue ball. It tells you two things: how fast to hit the ball, and where on the ball to place the tip.

Speed Indicator

The speed indicator uses a scale from 0.25 to 6, where a value of 1 equals one full table length. To give you a feel for the scale:

• A speed of 2 matches a typical lag shot — down the table and back to the starting rail.
• A speed of 0.25 is a very soft touch shot.
• A speed of 6 is a hard power stroke.

The drills in the ICA/Speed Control folder are designed specifically to help you calibrate your stroke to this speed scale on your own table.

Tip Indicator

The tip indicator shows where to place the cue tip on the cue ball. Two display styles are available, and you can switch between them in the Settings screen:

• X/Y style (default) — the X value is the number of tips of left or right spin, and the Y value is the number of tips of follow or draw. For example, "X: 0.5, Y: 1.0" means half a tip of right English and one tip of follow.
• Clock style — shows the tip position as an O'Clock position on the cue ball face, along with the number of tips. Some players find this representation more intuitive.

Applying ABall Guidance

The ABall describes how the drill's author intended the shot to be executed. Keep in mind that different equipment and different stroke mechanics may produce slightly different results. Use the ABall as a starting reference and adjust based on what you observe on your specific table.