The awesome nature of the \"stop shot\" can be used for pinpoint cue ball control and as a valuable tool for accurate carom shots. Stopping the cue ball \"on a dime\", so to speak, for any straight in shot requires hitting the right spot on the cue ball with the correct speed for a respective distance between the cue ball and the object ball. Rule of thumb -- for longer stop shots, one must hit the cue ball lower and / or increase the speed applicable to the shot. American, APA, Association, billiards, Cue, Dr., instruction, lesson, Poolplayers, Rossman, shot, stop, Tom