Your libre experience remains useful. You do not need to replace a sound stroke or abandon positioning. The new task is to complete the carom only after the cue ball has met the three-cushion condition.
Change the scoring question
Free game does not require a minimum cushion count, although regulated corner zones apply. Three-cushion requires at least three cue-ball cushion contacts before the second object ball. Contacts before the first object ball can count. A direct two-ball carom is therefore not automatically a three-cushion point, however well controlled.
Keep thickness and pace as separate variables
Choose an open layout rather than a tight nursing position. Name the first object ball, intended cushion order and arrival side of the second. Repeat with the same thickness and spin while changing pace; then restore pace and vary thickness. Record whether the first-cushion contact changed or only the later arrival. This separates an initial-direction problem from a route that ran too short or long.
Use two measures in one session
Our suggested practice sheet has columns for legal contact sequence and final contact. A shot can follow the intended three cushions yet miss the last ball; another can hit both balls with too few cushions. Write the actual outcome rather than counting both as “nearly good.” Repeat a manageable set from the same layout and compare your next session under similar conditions.
Avoid a false conversion scale
There is no universal multiplier from libre average to three-cushion average, nor a verified month-by-month progression for every player. Do not force side spin onto every shot or learn several numbered systems at once. Use a stable reference route first; keep averages separate and judge improvement by your own recorded errors. This practice sequence is an editorial suggestion, not a federation syllabus or evidence of guaranteed training gains.
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