Can someone explain the physics of force follow?

Magyar19

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Why does the cueball kick out to the side as opposed to staying straighter? I've always wondered this and have asked people but they either don't know or don't know what I'm talking about.
 
LOL that actually helped me make sense of it. Thanks!

If that helped you, then you still don't understand :)

The cueball ALWAYS follows the tangent line immediately after impact with the object ball. The only time it won't go sideways first is if it hits the OB dead square.
So, the more speed the CB carries as it hits the OB, the farther along the tangent line it will travel before curving either forward or backward (depending if it has top spin or backspin when it hits the OB) If the CB is sliding without top or back spin, it will follow right along the tangent line until it either hits something else, or stops.

Bob Byrne (RIP) has a great explanation of this in his 2nd Standard Video of Pool
 
If that helped you, then you still don't understand :)

The cueball ALWAYS follows the tangent line immediately after impact with the object ball. The only time it won't go sideways first is if it hits the OB dead square.
So, the more speed the CB carries as it hits the OB, the farther along the tangent line it will travel before curving either forward or backward (depending if it has top spin or backspin when it hits the OB) If the CB is sliding without top or back spin, it will follow right along the tangent line until it either hits something else, or stops.

Bob Byrne (RIP) has a great explanation of this in his 2nd Standard Video of Pool

Yeah I understand the tangent line but my confusion comes from why the cueball reacts differently to force follow than to simple follow. Why does the force follow kick it more to the side, almost like a stun shot?
 
Yeah I understand the tangent line but my confusion comes from why the cueball reacts differently to force follow than to simple follow. Why does the force follow kick it more to the side, almost like a stun shot?

You nailed it with "like a stun shot". That is exactly what is happening. Think about a stun shot. The harder you hit it, the further the cue ball moves to the side. Same thing with a force follow. The harder you hit it, the further the cue ball moves to the side, then the follow kicks in and the cue ball takes off in the forward direction.
 
You nailed it with "like a stun shot". That is exactly what is happening. Think about a stun shot. The harder you hit it, the further the cue ball moves to the side. Same thing with a force follow. The harder you hit it, the further the cue ball moves to the side, then the follow kicks in and the cue ball takes off in the forward direction.

Ahh ok it all makes sense now! Thanks a lot for your replies everyone!
 
Ahh ok it all makes sense now! Thanks a lot for your replies everyone!

To add to this force follow can be in really small increments. Stun the Cue Ball with 1/2 tip of Top Spin and watch the cue ball slowly drift forward 2 diamonds.
1/4 tip above with stun 1 diamond. Its a great One Pocket tool.
 
Why does the cueball kick out to the side as opposed to staying straighter? I've always wondered this and have asked people but they either don't know or don't know what I'm talking about.
If you hit a force-follow shot straight, it will follow straight; but it is more difficult to maintain accuracy when faster speed is used. And with any amount of cut angle (even very small) at fast speed, the CB moves along the tangent line (more with more speed) before curving forward (see CB path speed effects).

Regards,
Dave
 
If you hit a force-follow shot straight, it will follow straight; but it is more difficult to maintain accuracy when faster speed is used. And with any amount of cut angle (even very small) at fast speed, the CB moves along the tangent line (more with more speed) before curving forward (see CB path speed effects).



Regards,

Dave



Exactly the higher the speed the less accurate our stroke can be generally speaking.

The kick out on f.f is due to a less than accurate hit, I.e. Not full/square.


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I always thought force follow involved a rail.

FOLLOW means the cueball has some forward spin when it strikes an object ball, and there a certain effects that are always there with follow.

FORCE FOLLOW is not something different. People generally use the term just to mean those follow effects are prominent and clearly visible, and that happens with fast cueballs hitting an object ball pretty full.
 
If I am not mistaken, Dr. DAve has a video showing you can't put more top spin (follow) than natural roll.
 
FOLLOW means the cueball has some forward spin when it strikes an object ball, and there a certain effects that are always there with follow.

FORCE FOLLOW is not something different. People generally use the term just to mean those follow effects are prominent and clearly visible, and that happens with fast cueballs hitting an object ball pretty full.

This is why I thought the term "force follow" usually referred to shots where the cueball sticks to or crawls down the rail.
 
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This is why I thought the term "force follow" usually referred to shots where the cueball sticks to or crawls down the rail.



It just the quantity of follow necessary to override rebound which can also be a vector change like sticking to the rail as you mentioned.....peels out before either stopping or continuing to roll forward (at least to the naked eye)

I wonder tho if the truth that the Cb can’t forced to forward rotate faster than natural roll on cloth, is also true for Fuzzy horse blankets where you see some things in this area magnified.

Like when the force follows struck it will pop then stay in place peeling out then suddenly it lurches.....generally dying soon after. As if the cb is on ice.....It does happen on typical cloth but not nearly to the same degree.

What say you dr. Dave on that end?

-greyghost


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It just the quantity of follow necessary to override rebound which can also be a vector change like sticking to the rail as you mentioned.....peels out before either stopping or continuing to roll forward (at least to the naked eye)

I wonder tho if the truth that the Cb can’t forced to forward rotate faster than natural roll on cloth, is also true for Fuzzy horse blankets where you see some things in this area magnified.

Like when the force follows struck it will pop then stay in place peeling out then suddenly it lurches.....generally dying soon after. As if the cb is on ice.....It does happen on typical cloth but not nearly to the same degree.

What say you dr. Dave on that end?
The CB "peels out" with overspin on every follow shot on every cloth. The action is just more visible and impressive on fast and slick cloth with a nearly straight, fast-speed force follow shot. A good example is shown in HSV B.26 - Overspin with a follow shot (in regular speed at the :10 point and in slow motion at the 1:11 point).

Again, it is easy to get overspin when the CB hits an OB. It is just very difficult to get it straight off the tip (on any cloth). For more info and related videos, see the natural roll, maximum offset, and overspin resource page.

Regards,
Dave
 
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