Top 10 Secrets of a Good Draw Shot

dr_dave

Instructional Author
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The length was perfect. It was like a woman's skirt - short enough to be interesting, long enough to cover the subject.
For some reason, as I read this, I envisioned Dr Dave playing pool in a skirt! What do you say Dave? Might increase your video views! Lol.
Thank you for the suggestion, but I think I pass. I don’t want to have to shave my hairy legs. :grin-square:

Regards,
Dave
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
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Silver Member
In all seriousness though, in #6, you say to increase your bridge length to get cue lower. It has another advantage...at least for me. It increases your sight radius. I seem to be more accurate with a longer bridge and gripping to the back of the cue. Downside is a longer bridge also exacerbates a poor stroke and therefore cue tip delivery.
Good points. I should have mentioned this in the video.

Thanks,
Dave
 

dr_dave

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Hi Dave, very good Vid and will help a lot of people! Some advice i usually give to players that are not getting the most out of their draw stroke is to visualize the object ball just beyond where the ball actually is. If you do this you will immediately see what i mean. St.
Makes sense. As does visualizing the CB beyond where it actually is.

Thanks,
Dave
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Another good video, Dave.

I always favored this little draw challenge:

Place a ball on the foot spot and place the cb about 8 inches away, lined up to shoot the ball straight into one of the nearest corner pockets. Draw the cb back about 6 to 8 inches and leave the cb where it stops, then spot another ball and shoot it the same way, drawing the cb back and shooting the next shot again from wherever the cb ends up. See how many shots you can make before getting so far out of line that the cb ends up hitting a rail.

This helps with develop a consistent short draw, but also helps develop aiming accuracy.
Another version of this drill is to spot the OB on the table's center spot (between the side pockets) and shoot it straight into a side pocket. It's surprising how quickly you can get too far out of line.

Version 3 (C?) is to allow follow shots...

pj
chgo
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
This may be covered in the video - it's something I've recently realized about my own draw stroke:

If you find yourself miscuing more than you'd expect on hard draw shots, try moving your grip hand a little farther back to keep the tip from dipping too quickly. If the tip is moving downward rather than level, not only are you hitting lower on the CB, but the miscue limit is also actually higher on the CB.

Think of using a striped ball as the CB with the stripe horizontal - the miscue limit for draw (our target contact point for maximum draw) is the bottom edge of the stripe. Since our sticks are always elevated at least a little (so the butt clears the rail), the stripe must be tilted a little to be parallel with the direction the tip is moving so the edge of the stripe isn't below the miscue limit.

The tip's downward movement as it dips at the end of a stroke has the same effect - if the tip dips too early because the grip is a little too far forward, more miscues can result.

pj
chgo
 

Shuddy

Diamond Dave’s babysitter
Silver Member
Makes sense. As does visualizing the CB beyond where it actually is.

Thanks,
Dave

I don’t disagree, but why do you think visualizing the CB beyond it’s actual position is beneficial?
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
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Silver Member
This may be covered in the video - it's something I've recently realized about my own draw stroke:

If you find yourself miscuing more than you'd expect on hard draw shots, try moving your grip hand a little farther back to keep the tip from dipping too quickly. If the tip is moving downward rather than level, not only are you hitting lower on the CB, but the miscue limit is also actually higher on the CB.
I think this is more related to cue elevation (as covered in the video), rather than any tip dipping, as described and illustrated in the video and on the draw cue-elevation-effects resource page.

...if the tip dips too early because the grip is a little too far forward, more miscues can result.
I agree that this can be a factor; although, if one has the tip close during their "set" position, this is not much of an issue. Also, even with a typical pendulum stroke, the cue tip's path is surprisingly straight over a much larger distance than one might think, per TP B.18 – Pendulum Stroke Cue Tip Trajectory.

Regards,
Dave
 

dr_dave

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Some advice i usually give to players that are not getting the most out of their draw stroke is to visualize the object ball just beyond where the ball actually is.
As does visualizing the CB beyond where it actually is.
I don’t disagree, but why do you think visualizing the CB beyond it’s actual position is beneficial?
Stroke through the ball.
Agreed. Visulizing the CB ahead of its actual position encourages some people to accelerate into the ball and finish their stroke better.

Regards,
Dave
 

kaznj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As usual great material from Dr Dave. Thanks for your many contributions to this game.

One observation about Sam's stroke. In part three the camera is in front of Sam. It appears as if Sam is not stroking straight. On the back stroke Sam is pulling the cue closer to her body. This causes the tip to the right. This in turn causes the cue ball to deflect to the left. This is further verified when the cue ball draws back to the left.
 

smashmouth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
agreed with all points except the level cue

true power draws require a decent amount of elevation
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
true power draws require a decent amount of elevation
I don't believe this is true, except maybe for tightening the draw angle on relatively close shots. For most draw shots, especially those with no cut angle, I think the best action is achieved with a level-as-possible cue.

pj
chgo
 

wigglybridge

14.1 straight pool!
Silver Member
the sweep in Samm's stroke that Kaz mentions also jumped out at me.

amidst the focus on the subject matter, did either of you notice it, Dr. Dave?
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
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Silver Member
As usual great material from Dr Dave. Thanks for your many contributions to this game.
Thank you ... and you're welcome.

One observation about Sam's stroke. In part three the camera is in front of Sam. It appears as if Sam is not stroking straight. On the back stroke Sam is pulling the cue closer to her body. This causes the tip to the right. This in turn causes the cue ball to deflect to the left. This is further verified when the cue ball draws back to the left.
FYI, here is a pertinent NOTE from the YouTube video description:

"When I watched this shot in person, I was standing right behind the camera and I don't remember her stroke being crooked. I think I would have noticed if it was, and I would have asked her to do it again with a straighter stroke. I think it looks crooked in the video due to perspective issues with the camera angle and pendulum swing. I have seen this effect is other videos also. Samm's aim might have been slightly off and she might have hit the CB slightly off center, but I think the stroke was straight. Again camera perspective can create optical illusions since the vertical angle of the cue (up and down) is changing during the pendulum stroke. When I can find some time, I will post a follow-up video that clearly illustrates this effect."

I will try to post the follow-up video some time this coming week if I can find the time.

Regards,
Dave
 

dr_dave

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Silver Member
agreed with all points except the level cue

true power draws require a decent amount of elevation

I don't believe this is true, except maybe for tightening the draw angle on relatively close shots. For most draw shots, especially those with no cut angle, I think the best action is achieved with a level-as-possible cue.
I agree with Pat. Cue elevation is required on some shots (e.g., if bridging close to a rail, or if the bridge length is not very long), and it might help some people get more draw action (due to explainable factors), and it can certainly help with quick draw, but there is no advantage to adding elevation on a straight-back draw shot.

For those interested, this topic is covered in detail here:

draw shot cue elevation effects

Enjoy,
Dave
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I didn’t watch the video yet... but can you use your teaching techniques to duplicates Corey’s frozen to the rail Mosconi cup draw stroke that was the hot thread a few days ago?:)
 
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