My Draw Shot SUCKS.......Help & Suggestions appreciated.

Bruce S. de Lis said:

Been having problems Drawing STRAIGHT BACK more than 2-1/2 Diamonds. Think my problem is I am Dropping or Moving my Cue Butt Downward, thus not hitting the Cue Ball Low Enough. Any serious suggestion for improving my Draw Shot?

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would have to see you stroking............you're stroke probably needs some serious tuning if you can't draw.

VAP

Bruce S. de Lis said:

Been having problems Drawing STRAIGHT BACK more than 2-1/2 Diamonds. Think my problem is I am Dropping or Moving my Cue Butt Downward, thus not hitting the Cue Ball Low Enough. Any serious suggestion for improving my Draw Shot?

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I just finished a couple of years of poor draw shots. It ws driving me nuts. My cure? I took a lesson from Scott Lee and simply refined my fundamentals just a little.

My problem was miscueing too often. During my last weekend long tourney, I set a goal to not miscue or knock the cueball off the table. I succeeded in both.

I didn't consciously change much, but simply stuck to fundamentals that Scott could see and correct (I couldn't see them myself, so I didn't know what to change...hint hint) and the problem went away.

Jeff Livingston

Bruce S. de Lis said:

I use a Striped Ball for Practice, Check My Chalk Mark on the Ball, Plus see where Chalk appear to be Removed from my Q Tip. Problem is i am sure that I am not Stroking in a Straight line because I am dropping my Butt, thus Raising my Tip.....good Draw Shot is a powerful tool.....

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Check on your set-up, your forearm should be verticle when the cue tip is just at the cue ball. Next do not try to murder the cue ball smooth is better than brute force. If you try to really give it a hard hit there is a tendency to drop the elbow to soon. Exagerate the staying down on the shot as well as the follow through. If these don't help seek an instructor immediately, you don't want to give a flawed stroke, time to groove its self.

Tracy

Bruce S. de Lis said:

Been having problems Drawing STRAIGHT BACK more than 2-1/2 Diamonds. Think my problem is I am Dropping or Moving my Cue Butt Downward, thus not hitting the Cue Ball Low Enough. Any serious suggestion for improving my Draw Shot?

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- Try keeping you cue as level as possible.
- Keep your back hand loose, even though it might be a power shot, you do not need a death grip on the cue - actually the tighter you grip the cue the more it will aid you in killing the cue ball.
- Do not poke at the cue ball - follow thru full.
- Even if you cannot keep your cue perfectly level, whatever angle you have it at, make sure you stroke thru on that plane.

Hope this helps a bit.

Just guessing...

Like the other guy said we would have to see you stroke to diagnose the problem. However, when your draw sucks here are some things to consider.

1. Is your grip too tight. Tight grips kill draw.
2. Is your arm relaxed. Tense arm muscles also destroy draw action.
3. Are you following through all the way? Follow through is much more important than hitting the ball hard.
4. Is the tip of your cue properly shaped?
5. Are you using a closed bridge? Closed bridges help control the cue.
6. Are you chalking up everytime? Simple thing that many people do not do.

Hope this helps,
Marcus

I have problems drawing when I raise my head, of course when I raise my head I have problems with everything *lol*. Caught myself doing it the other night playing $50 dollar sets, not the best time to be doing that (at least for a poor guy like me).

Other thing that hurts my draw shots is poking the ball instead of stroking. Know both of these are really basic things, but thought I'd mention them anyway.

Raising your head, at least for me, is something that can be hard to catch. Its like my body doesn't want to let me in on the secret.

For me drawing is easier with a dime-shaped medium hard tip, loose grip and loose bridge and a cue with a heavy handle.

JoeyInCali said:

For me drawing is easier with a dime-shaped medium hard tip, loose grip and loose bridge and a cue with a heavy handle.

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You forgot to mention a Predator shaft. Anybody who reads the forum regularly knows that those who have switched to a Predator can immediately start drawing the ball 3 table lengths or more. It's magic........

drivermaker said:

You forgot to mention a Predator shaft. Anybody who reads the forum regularly knows that those who have switched to a Predator can immediately start drawing the ball 3 table lengths or more. It's magic........

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That goes without saying.
Wait until the new Smartshaft comes in the market.

Lot's of good advice from previous posters.


Here's one from me:
Make sure you have a well rounded,shaped, well chalked tip.If your tip isn't groomed up to snuff,you will be at a disadvantage right from the start.

Don "The Preacher " Feeney(on his instructional video) suggests at address to move your backhand forward up the butt of the cue.On most shots , your arm should be hanging down at 90 degrees on the cue.For the draw shot he suggests moving it a few inches forward of 90.

Try a stroke or two like this and you will find that by pre-cocking your grip like this that your cue tip will be touching the bed of the table after your follow through (imperitive for a good draw shot) providing you haven't gripped the cue too tightly or dropped your elbow to much.Your stroke comes in at a pendulium and the sweet spot is only a few inches. By pre-cocking your grip you can't help but come through the cue ball low.Also when addressing the ball initially try to bring the tip right up close to the cue ball.I see some players address the cue ball two inches away, which is not reccomended by the instructors.

Another common tendency is to twist your wrist inward on the draw shot causing your elbow to fly out from your body.Keep your wrist straight.Don't think power, think smooth accurate hit and the rest will take care of itself.RJ

Try a slower stroke and be sure to follow through 6 inches past the cue ball. Placing you hand a little further back on the butt of the cue with a light grip might help. [Sort of a light "flick" rather than a "kill the ball" shot.]

Chalk well before each draw shot, especially around the sides of the tip. Inspect your tip under the light after chalking. Look for any dark spots around the edges and apply more chalk or resurface tip if needed.

Experiment with a striped ball only in place of the cue ball and no object ball. See how far you can shoot it down table so that it is still rotating backwards.

If you *really* want to experiment, try draw shots with a soft tip, then a very very hard phenolic tip (some jump cues have phenolic tips).

Then try a flat tip and then a dime shaped tip. Then leather -vs- pig skin (Moori).

Watch the following high speed draw shot video and see how the roundness of the tip keeps the tip in contact with the ball, and why it is so important to chalk well around the sides of the tip. Also notice how the tip "indents" or "compresses" when it hits the ball...
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/high_speed_videos/new/HSVA-38.htm

When I was trying to tune my stroke...I always reminded myself to "follow through". I stroke through the cb, chalked up and such but it wasn't until I felt how to perform a good, clean stoke that I knew what they were talking about all along.

Let me try to use more specific terms to help you better understand what I'm talking about:

When stroking through the cb, you almost have "accelerate" your cue. You want your tip to stay in contact with the cb until the end of your stroke. You'll find that it's not power that gives you more spin, its all in how much follow through you give it. I've seen people hit the cb with all their might trying to draw, only getting minimal results. Where I can hit it with not even half the power and draw over twice as far.

Just go off of all the great advice this forum has to offer, and get some table time for a little trial and error.

Hope this helps...good luck.

32-n-d said:

...I've seen people hit the cb with all their might trying to draw, only getting minimal results. Where I can hit it with not even half the power and draw over twice as far....

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Yes it is amazing how softly you can hit the ball and get quite a lot of draw. I don't know why this is? Maybe banging the heck out of the ball is doing something to mess up the draw?

Anyone know? Maybe the tip is not in contact with the ball as long or something? (Just guessing...)

Bruce S. de Lis said:

I am not using a Predator Shaft, and have no intention to changing to one.

To answer your questions in order:

1. Grip is kind of loose.

2. Arm is going to RELAX MORE.

3. Follow through needs to be worked upon.

4. Tips are in Near Perfect Condition.

5. Using a Closed Bridge 10-4

6. Always CHALK overtime I shoot.

Thanks for the pointers, it is appreciated. I am in a stage where I need to think everything out before I do it, each time i do it....

I hope someday for all this STUFF to Happen, like it was SECOND NATURE....

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I think you were correct in your opening statement...if you're doing everything right which has been suggested, you just suck. (I know...you said you're draw shot sucked but you know how I like to paraphrase)

Bruce S. de Lis said:

Been having problems Drawing STRAIGHT BACK more than 2-1/2 Diamonds. Think my problem is I am Dropping or Moving my Cue Butt Downward, thus not hitting the Cue Ball Low Enough. Any serious suggestion for improving my Draw Shot?

Click to expand...

Something I read or a video I watched recently may help you. I can't recall where I read it or what video but here is the summary of it.
If you think of a draw shot similair to a masse shot, a little elevation can help you get a little more action/spin on the cueball. But this can also caue you to put side spin on the cueball unintentionally. A level cue can help you to follow through and control the direction better(straight back). So since your problem seems to be direction, maybe your are elevating too much.

draw shot ...

Many have good recomendations ...

Another one is:

Get down on a shot ... ready to shoot a draw shot

Have a friend put a dime on your arm 2 inches above your elbow.

Stroke the cue ball.

Shoot the shot.

If the dime drops off, you have a stroke problem, which can include:

a) aiming your draw shot downwards (butt higher than tip quite a bit)
b) Your hit stroke is different than your warm up strokes. Grabbing the
butt tightly after making contact or moving your whole arn on your hit
stroke (I call it the hully gully stroke - Many young players thinks it
looks cool, I just think it makes them look not too smart).

Think about what a good draw stroke is before you shoot. Long straight in
shots, especially when the cue is in the jaws of a pocket, used to give me trouble a lot until I started concentrating, thinking about stroke, if it felt right and good, thinking about stroking the shot straight and smooth, a smooth stroke, and then following through with those thoughts. Needless to say, I started making a much higher percentage of them than before, and yes, I practiced them a great deal until I felt comfortable shooting them. Thinking about a nice level stroke and being a smooth stroke can help a great deal with a variety of shots where the slightest twitch in your stroke will throw off the shot.

There are a variety of studies that have proven that people learn an average of 30% faster (or more) when they actually think about what they are doing when they actually do it rather than just go through the motions. When athletes start having problems, don't you think they go back to the drawing board and study every mechanic of what they are doing and what they might be doing wrong or to think about what they should think about to have success. For example, a baseball player that drops in batting average. Don't you think that a batting coach will tell them what to think about when they swing, to visualize a nice even swing, what to do with their arms and legs, and to follow through with it ...

To wrap up - most people can not draw good because their butt is up where their brain is instead of being down level with the table, and they don't deliver a nice smooth stroke .... lol