Is it a foul to touch a ball in pool?
A · Advanced · Fouls · 2 of 8Touching any object ball with anything but other balls during a shot is a foul, as is touching the cue ball except by the tip in a normal stroke or while it is in hand. The cue may strike the cue ball only once, and must not stay on it longer than normal. Playing towards a touching ball is allowed.
How it works
- Object balls: touching, moving or changing their path except by ball-to-ball contact is a foul.
- The cue ball: may be touched only in a normal forward stroke or while in hand.
- What counts: chalk, bridges, clothing, hair, any part of the body and the cue ball in hand are the shooter's responsibility.
- Accidental or deliberate: an accident is a standard foul; deliberate contact is unsportsmanlike conduct.
- Double hit: the cue touching the cue ball more than once is a foul.
- Close balls: if the tip is still on the cue ball when it meets a nearby object ball, it is a foul, unless the object ball is only grazed.
- Touching balls: if the cue ball is frozen to an object ball, shooting towards it is legal, and moving it counts as hitting it.
- Declaring: the cue ball is assumed not to be touching unless the referee or the opponent says so.
- Push shot: keeping the tip on the cue ball longer than in a normal stroke.
The glossary has the frozen ball, the standard fouls, the ball in hand, the scratch, the jump shot and the safety.
Tricky cases
The cue ball is frozen to the 5-ball. Can the player shoot straight through it?
Yes, if the 5 is a legal target. Moving it counts as hitting it.
The cue ball sits a millimetre from the object ball. Is any shot a double hit?
Not if the object ball is only grazed. A fuller hit with the tip still on the ball is a foul.
A player's chalk falls and moves a ball. Foul?
Yes. Chalk is equipment under the shooter's control.
Does playing away from a frozen ball count as hitting it?
Not unless the game's rules say so. At blackball it does, if the ball is on.
Why the rule exists
Only the tip and the balls themselves should decide how the balls move. The double-hit rule stops a player from steering the cue ball by staying on it.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Touched ball | Standard foul if accidental | WPA 3.6 |
| Double hit and frozen balls | Foul, with exceptions for touching balls | WPA 3.7 |
| Blackball | Must not play towards a touching ball; playing away counts as a hit | WPA 8.9 |
| Snooker | Play away from a touching ball without moving it | WPBSA Snooker 3.8 |
From the rule book
World Pool-Billiard Association, Rules of Play (effective 15 September 2025), Fouls 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: the WPA Rules of Play, revised from time to time.