How do you know you've made it far enough to call yourself an “advanced” player? The first sign is that you are able to make well-planned sequential shots — in other words, if you can pocket consecutive object balls without a miss. If you've come this far, you now need to learn the psychology of the game — from strategy to problem solving, and more. What makes the game is your ability to see ahead, plan out your shots, know which object balls you want to hit, and work on your analytical skills to solve the tricky situations. Problem solving is ultimately what will keep you in the game.

As you continue to develop your skill, you may find that you are missing several of your most important shots. What you need is a routine in your thinking pattern. The more games you play, the more difficult situations you find yourself in, the easier it will be to figure out why you might have missed those shots.

Here are some ideas for problem solving:

• Be conscious of your weaknesses. You will already be confident in your strengths, but don't get too cocky because that's when you'll start to miss shots.

• Concentrate. Before every shot, be aware of what kinds of thoughts are in your head. Think back on those missed shots — what were you thinking right before you went into the backswing? Were you focused on that shot or were you thinking of the one you missed in that last inning? Become familiar with what happens in your head right before you miss a shot. Once you become familiar with your own patterns, you will be able to avoid making major errors.

• Practice. There's no way to emphasize this enough. Try challenging yourself by focusing on the shots you're not so good at.

• Find out what the pros are actually thinking. You can watch as many games as you want, but you can't tell just by watching what is in a player's head before she makes one of those shots that you can only imagine was divinely inspired. Go to a pool hall and get to know some of the players. See what strategies they might be using.

• Focus on your opponent. If you know your strengths and your opponent's weaknesses, you can use that to your advantage. If you know that you can't make your next shot — don't throw away any shots by hitting at just anything, but play a “safety” by hitting the balls in such a way that you take yourself out of a tight spot and put your opponent in one.