Trouble drawing the ball?

Bryce1552 · May 17, 2019

Straightpool_99 said:
You look tall....How tall are you?

Here is what I see:

1. I don't like the way you line up the shot With Your cue. Your hand is so far in front of your hips, then you take huge steps forward With both legs and end up too close to the table.

RECOMENDED FIX:
I'd rather see you keep your cue hand on your hip. Walk towards the shot line and plant your right foot on the shot line, then step out and forward With Your left foot. Slightly wider than shoulder Width apart and With the heel of the left foot as far forward as the toes on your right. YOU MUST NOT MOVE YOUR RIGHT FOOT AFTER THIS! You may have to do this With the cuetip some distance away from the cue ball, otherwise you'll end up to close, like you do now. You''ll figure this distance out. You can still keep the cue tip on the line,

You then slide forward into the shot With Your bridge hand. It's important to slide the bridgehand into position, don't just put it Down. Give yourself every chance to get it on the shot line. Another way to achieve this is to put your cue in front of your face With the bridgehand on the cue and then go down, watching the cue and the shotline. Even if you don't do any of these Things, at least pay careful attention to the placement of the bridgehand.

The weight should be slightly forward when you're down. It's ok to bend both your legs, especially since you seem like a tall fellow, or if I'm mistaken in assuming you're tall, it still feels more comfortable for some to do that. In snooker we like to keep the right leg straight and braced, but the table bed is higher off the ground on these tables. You may want to look up 4 point contact. I recommend videos by Barry Stark.

2. Your cue hand is behind perpendicular to the ground at the moment you strike Your cueball. This is very bad. This will rob you of both Power and Precision. But this all stems from your error in stepping in. Once you get the distance to the table right, it should be easy to fix this. Even if you don't listen to anything else I say, at least make sure to adjust your stance a bit to make this happen. It's near impossible to play a good game With the hand behind perpendicular, and you'll especially struggle With Draw shots. Your cue will dip, causing you to scoop the ball.

3. What I like:
You take Your time, which is good.
You stay quite still on the shot, especially for a beginner.
You are smart not to put too much Power into the shot too soon. Please do not try to run before you can walk. The Power will come naturally, once you learn to relax your arm and let the cue do the work. That may seem abstract now, but you'll understand what I mean with time.

4. All in all, this isn't too bad, but the stance does need an urgent fix. If you don't believe me, find a competent instructor near you, I'm sure there is someone qualified. If there are none, or you don't have the money for it, watch the Barry stark lesson videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRD10tybtIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHBTw9K-qfI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj4LkJLVr6s&t=1230s

I'm 6'3 so slightly on the taller side, I really think you're on to something with your recommendations reguarding my stroke, is your recommendation that I take more of a straight on approach rather than an L with both feet facing parell to the shot line, I'm a little confused so im going to review the video's you linked.

The thing is initially I tried emulating mark williams approach he suggested in his book that had my rear leg locked with the tip of of my toe on the shot line and no more but it was causing some serious hamstring discomfort so I modified it to be a little more relaxed bending the knee but overall it just feels awkward to me and his suggestion on how to step into the line I just cant jive with it correctly I always end up wayyy to close to the table.

My stance is something I know is extremely important but It seems I can't get it how I want it and tons of sources encourage me to do whats comfortable while others want you to conform identically to a certain orthodox stance. It seems there is a lot of contradicting information in the pool world to sift through for a beginner.

But im determined to sift through it and this week im going to work my stance to get it right and try to achieve Tors 2000 balls drill to burn it in. Thank you for the recommendation.

Straightpool_99 · May 17, 2019

Bryce1552 said:
I'm 6'3 so slightly on the taller side, I really think you're on to something with your recommendations reguarding my stroke, is your recommendation that I take more of a straight on approach rather than an L with both feet facing parell to the shot line, I'm a little confused so im going to review the video's you linked.

The thing is initially I tried emulating mark williams approach he suggested in his book that had my rear leg locked with the tip of of my toe on the shot line and no more but it was causing some serious hamstring discomfort so I modified it to be a little more relaxed bending the knee but overall it just feels awkward to me and his suggestion on how to step into the line I just cant jive with it correctly I always end up wayyy to close to the table.

My stance is something I know is extremely important but It seems I can't get it how I want it and tons of sources encourage me to do whats comfortable while others want you to conform identically to a certain orthodox stance. It seems there is a lot of contradicting information in the pool world to sift through for a beginner.

But im determined to sift through it and this week im going to work my stance to get it right and try to achieve Tors 2000 balls drill to burn it in. Thank you for the recommendation.

Yes, personally I favour a more square on snooker style stance. You don't have to adopt that. Keep in mind that you can use the foot position and everything else, and still not go all the way down on the cue, if you so choose. Keeping your chin on the cue will give you a tremendous advantage, however. I DO, think that you should plant your right foot on the shot line and then don't move it. If you choose to step farther foward with the left foot like you do now, that's ok. Whatever you choose to do, it's imperative that you figure out how to make the cueing arm perpendicular to the ground. You'll make little progress without this being in Place. There are many recommendations and hard to sort through for a beginner. The snooker stance is making headway into the pool world, because it's a proven method for precision. Look at the videos and look how solid the girl looks, even though she's a beginner and misses shots. That solidness and with time, Precision is what the snooker stance will get you. Good Luck to you, whatever you choose to do.

Tony_in_MD · May 17, 2019

I have not read all the responses so it is likely that someone else suggested this.

Move your backhand up until it is perpendicular with the floor. Your back hand is too far back on the cue and it is robbing you of power, and it is constraining the motion of your cue.

Set your cuetip at address lower on the cueball. You are really not hitting very far below center of the cueball. Start your stroke process by grounding your tip on the table about 1/2 inch behind the cueball, and then raising the tip up about an 8th of an inch. That is where you should strive to hit on the cueball with this draw stroke practice.

Get with an instructor, that uses video feedback.

Work hard and good rolls.

AJM

Patrick Johnson · May 17, 2019

couldnthinkof01 said:
Slide the hand that swings the cue forward about two inches.

I’d say slide it forward six inches or so. Your forearm should be perpendicular to your cue (vertical with a level cue) when your tip is at the cue ball. That’s the part of the stroke with maximum power and where the cue moves most level.

Using the striped “cue ball” is great - don’t forget to look at the chalk mark on the cue ball to see how close you’re coming to hitting the edge of the stripe.

pj
chgo

bbb · May 17, 2019

Bryce1552 said:
Thank you everyone who has chimed in so far, I appreciate all the feedback and I finally got a chance to upload some video's excuse the quality I C-clamped my phone to a pool cue but I tried to provide good angles for evaluating my stroke.

I was shocked to see how different what I thought I was doing to what I was doing when I looked at it from an outside perspective was. one thing I notice for sure is I need to STAY DOWN after taking the shot and follow through definitely comes up short at times.

There's a LOT to work on and a mountain of information it feels at times but I'm only a few baby steps into my learning experience so I'm open to any and all feedback. I was unable to get my footwork into the shot unfortunately and I made some pretty dumb miss or two and some miscues where it almost seemed like my stroke scooped the ball.

The first video im just shooting balls into the far pockets as per tor lowrys drill and just trying to focus on the feel of my stroke/stance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08g-QX7dqoY

The second video is me practicing my draw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmrea4qoA04

The third is me from a second angle attempting more draw shots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L64PsGnOeLc

I'm reaching out during my early stages in hopes to avoid what everyone seems to reference in my reading so far that starting off with bad habits can cost you thousands of hours down the road. I enjoy learning and I enjoy improving my intentions are just to be a good student of the game and improve over time nothing more than that.

Any feedback is welcome on ANYTHING you see in the video and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated for drills or other practice techniques

i have not read all the replies
but
i agree with jcrtheake......focus on fundamentals
second i watched quickly your draw videos
seems to me your power level changes on your shots
you have the cue ball about 2 diamonds from the object ball
on one shot you hit it soft and the backspin was just about lost by the time it got to the object ball
on another you hit it harder
although not accurate for the hit but you had reasonable draw on the ball
i would put the cue ball 1 diamond from the object ball for now
this way with maximum tip position you are trying you should get reasonable draw over various power levels
one last idea ......try to get used to hitting the majority of your shots with a constant speed this way you can massage where the cue ball goes more easily by tip placemant
last
find an instructor to work with you over many lessons
good luck with your game

dr_dave · May 17, 2019

Bryce1552 said:
I'm 6'3 so slightly on the taller side, I really think you're on to something with your recommendations reguarding my stroke, is your recommendation that I take more of a straight on approach rather than an L with both feet facing parell to the shot line, I'm a little confused so im going to review the video's you linked.

The thing is initially I tried emulating mark williams approach he suggested in his book that had my rear leg locked with the tip of of my toe on the shot line and no more but it was causing some serious hamstring discomfort so I modified it to be a little more relaxed bending the knee but overall it just feels awkward to me and his suggestion on how to step into the line I just cant jive with it correctly I always end up wayyy to close to the table.

You need to watch the following video that addresses all of these questions and concerns in detail:

NV J.21 – How to Find the Perfect Pool/Snooker/Billiards Stance

I hope it helps,
Dave

ChrisinNC · May 17, 2019

Bryce1552 said:
I'm new to pool I just started playing about two weeks back and as I work through Dr.Dave's pool workout/test and another recommended by Cuedrills.com I notice my biggest weakness is drawing the ball. Any further than 2 1/2 diamonds away I cant seem to draw. I've been reading "play great pool" and I have focused a lot on getting a good sturdy stance and developing a pendulum swing with a loose grip but for whatever reason it seems I can't seem draw much or stop shot from full table length.

I think I've developed a preference for a soft shot and don't seem to have much power in my shots? I seem to have good control I can shoot full table length and have the ball return to the same spot my tip 8/10 times but I really don't seem to be able to develop the power/speed required for a strong draw.

Additionally the table im playing on has worsted felt similar to simonis it seems to have loosened slightly since installation a few weeks back if I place my have for a bridge, press down with weight and slide my bridge forward I can feel some movement in the cloth but it doesn't seem dramatically loose and I don't want to go blaming the table for my potentially flawed form.

I'm unsure how to proceed because I'm really trying to develop my fundamentals before proceeding to more complex practices/playing the ghost so I've been focusing on draw for my entire 1 1/2 hour practice time each day for the past week with nearly no progress and it only feels right to practice what I'm having the most trouble with rather than leaving it undeveloped.

So you've been playing pool all of 2 weeks and can't hit a table length draw shot yet? Good advice has been given here which I'm guessing has already helped you. Having a little patience would be my advice. Good luck!

Trouble drawing the ball?

Bryce1552

Registered

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls

Tony_in_MD

You want some of this?

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day

bbb

AzB Gold Member

dr_dave

Instructional Author

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member