Any advice for shooting short follow?
- Thread starter Samiel
- Start date
Samiel said:
The most controlled way is the stun-through. Powering the ball in with pure stun will stop the cue ball dead. Hitting a tiny fraction above or below pure centre allows for very fine control of forward or backward motion after impact, especially with long distance between the balls. You vary how much to travel through by how hard you hit it. It takes practice to master but it's how we do it in snooker. Playing slow rolls is asking for trouble.
If pace on the object ball is an issue then the next option is the drag shot - much more difficult to play well, and probably what you are referring too in number 2.
Boro Nut
Nice description. To go along with it, one helpful aspect of stun-through (or stun-back) is that a fixed fraction (5/14'ths) of the cueball's topspin (or backspin) is removed upon collision with the object ball. This has the added benefit of making it immune to skid/cling, unlike with slow rolling. Since the distance the cueball travels is proportional to the square of its spin rate, having a fixed and reliable after-collision value is important.Boro Nut said:
Jim
I too had trouble with this shot, where it was a rather long (4-5') straight-in shot, and there was an obstructing ball if I stopped it, or I would be on the wrong side of my next ball if I stopped it, and it was critical to roll a couple inches only forward.
I asked Glenn Atwell and he shared a nice secret. I would always cue low on the ball and let up on the 'stop' shot, but it invariably rolled a little too far or just stopped. He told me to cue a tip ABOVE center and on the followthrough, clench the grip hand, which in effect makes the cue stop and the cueball rolls forward a tiny bit. It works! You're not really popping it like a stop shot, but it's not a wimpy stroke either, just firm.
You do have to work on thinking about the shot in front of you, though, so you don't miss because you are thinking about your back hand when you let go.
I asked Glenn Atwell and he shared a nice secret. I would always cue low on the ball and let up on the 'stop' shot, but it invariably rolled a little too far or just stopped. He told me to cue a tip ABOVE center and on the followthrough, clench the grip hand, which in effect makes the cue stop and the cueball rolls forward a tiny bit. It works! You're not really popping it like a stop shot, but it's not a wimpy stroke either, just firm.
You do have to work on thinking about the shot in front of you, though, so you don't miss because you are thinking about your back hand when you let go.
rackmsuckr said:I too had trouble with this shot, where it was a rather long (4-5') straight-in shot, and there was an obstructing ball if I stopped it, or I would be on the wrong side of my next ball if I stopped it, and it was critical to roll a couple inches only forward.
I asked Glenn Atwell and he shared a nice secret. I would always cue low on the ball and let up on the 'stop' shot, but it invariably rolled a little too far or just stopped. He told me to cue a tip ABOVE center and on the followthrough, clench the grip hand, which in effect makes the cue stop and the cueball rolls forward a tiny bit. It works! You're not really popping it like a stop shot, but it's not a wimpy stroke either, just firm.
You do have to work on thinking about the shot in front of you, though, so you don't miss because you are thinking about your back hand when you let go.
Hi Linda,
The suggestion you got from Glen Atwell will definitely help, but if I can offer a humble suggestion, what may work even better is to hit the cueball just about a quarter tip or so above center and use your regular stroke. It produces the same results, and you don't have to vary your stroke or worry about clenching your grip hand. It may take a little more practice, but I believe that it will prove to be more reliable, particularly for those of us (like myself), that don't have Glen's enormous talent.
P.S.--I'm a big fan of repeatable strokes and of using the interior of the cue ball, and one of the things that I always notice about Buddy is that on follow or draw shots, he controls the rolling distance with cue tip placement instead of stroke speed wherever possible--it's just much more dog-proof!
P.P.S.--I'm an even bigger fan of dog-proofing!
Peace,
Your boy in St. Thomas
Samiel said:
Good for you, bro! Keep practicing, and save those drag-draw shots for when you've got an angle.