Controlling the Draw
- Thread starter berlowmj
- Start date
Rod said:
Exactly what I was about to say! Your wrist will move by itself if you execute a relaxed stroke through the ball. It's nothing that you have to force! I consciously snap my wrist only on certain specialty shots (like nip draw, for example). Other than that, I just let my stroke go!
Rod said:
Yes, that's a good clarification of what I was trying to say. You shouldn't be consciously holding the wrist still, because that would mean tension. But you shouldn't be consciously snapping it either. Any movement should just be the natural result of a relaxed stroke like I described earlier.
-Andrew
Spindocktor wrote, “The best way I know to cure this is to do this exercise. use a 6" bridge, lay your hand flat on the table and lay the shaft on your thumb, that’s the distance off the table you want your cue, It looks like your going to miss cue, using a 6" bridge, place the object ball a diamond away.”
Question here. I wonder how many good players always place the cue tip in the same place on the CB for draw versus using multiple positions on the CB. I use center for stop, slightly below center for slight draw etc. It seems to make use of all available options using multiple places on the CB for control.
OTOH using the same spot and varying the amount of power could also have advantages by eliminating one more variable from the equation. What do others do and is there a specific recommendation from instructors for advanced play? Having the tip one finger width off the table on every draw shot has obvious advantages for consistency.
Question here. I wonder how many good players always place the cue tip in the same place on the CB for draw versus using multiple positions on the CB. I use center for stop, slightly below center for slight draw etc. It seems to make use of all available options using multiple places on the CB for control.
OTOH using the same spot and varying the amount of power could also have advantages by eliminating one more variable from the equation. What do others do and is there a specific recommendation from instructors for advanced play? Having the tip one finger width off the table on every draw shot has obvious advantages for consistency.
JoeW said:
Top players vary both tip position and power for draw. For a straight shot, hitting the ball hard with a little draw or soft with a lot of draw might produce the same distance of draw. However, take those same two strokes and apply them to a 30 degree cut shot. Hard with a little draw makes the CB take off very quickly along the tangent line and then bend back toward you. Soft with a lot of draw means the ball moves along the tangent line much slower, and comes back at a sharper angle with less lateral travel. You get totally different positional results, even though the two strokes would have the same results on a straight shot. Top players definitely know this and use it. They control (or try to control) every detail of CB travel, including how far along the tangent line the CB moves before the spin really changes the CB's direction.
-Andrew
The sweet spot for draw is halfway between the center of the cueball and the edge. Learning this helped me so much in controllining the amount of draw. That's the most important thing to drawing in general (with a level cue stick being the 2nd most important thing). Ideally, you would learn to hit this sweet spot for maximum draw every single time, then just learn to control the speed of your stroke carefully to get the desired draw distance.
In the real world, it might help use some little tricks. If I'm in situation where it'd be nice to draw 2 or 3 inches, but a dead stop shot would be acceptible, I hit soft in the sweet spot. Because it's the sweet spot, it should draw, but because I hit soft it can't possibly draw all that much, and it might end up being too soft and stopping (which I already decided was ok).
If I absolutely have to draw 2 or 3 inches, and just stopping would NOT be acceptible, but going too far would be fine, I aim a bit below center and hit firmly. It might draw too far this way, but it's definitely not gonna just stop.
If I have to hit a lot of draw and the cueball is quite far from the object ball, I never use any tricks, I just try very very hard to hit that halfway point, regardless of the power I'm trying to put into the cue. It actually is SOFTER than you think to hit those very long draw shots, and Occasionally I'll do it so well that instead of drawing back 6 feet I go 8... but I'll be damned if I ever go 2 feet again
Like KMrunout said, do a natural stroke, do not force or muscle it, especially if you know it's a long shot or needs a lot of draw. I'd also agree with those who say to not worry about 'wristiness'. There are a lot of superstitions players build up about stroke shots like good draw shots, these include jacking up the butt end of the cue, punching the cue ball with a half stroke and then quickly retracting it, snapping the wrist, dipping the tip of the stick downward at the last second, etc. All of these things are dirty lies and bad habits that will F-up your stroke and teach you bad habits and give you really flaky, unreliable draw. Just make a natural, smooth follow through with your cue as level as possible, and be aware of either hitting the sweet spot or slightly above it on all your draw shots.
In the real world, it might help use some little tricks. If I'm in situation where it'd be nice to draw 2 or 3 inches, but a dead stop shot would be acceptible, I hit soft in the sweet spot. Because it's the sweet spot, it should draw, but because I hit soft it can't possibly draw all that much, and it might end up being too soft and stopping (which I already decided was ok).
If I absolutely have to draw 2 or 3 inches, and just stopping would NOT be acceptible, but going too far would be fine, I aim a bit below center and hit firmly. It might draw too far this way, but it's definitely not gonna just stop.
If I have to hit a lot of draw and the cueball is quite far from the object ball, I never use any tricks, I just try very very hard to hit that halfway point, regardless of the power I'm trying to put into the cue. It actually is SOFTER than you think to hit those very long draw shots, and Occasionally I'll do it so well that instead of drawing back 6 feet I go 8... but I'll be damned if I ever go 2 feet again
Like KMrunout said, do a natural stroke, do not force or muscle it, especially if you know it's a long shot or needs a lot of draw. I'd also agree with those who say to not worry about 'wristiness'. There are a lot of superstitions players build up about stroke shots like good draw shots, these include jacking up the butt end of the cue, punching the cue ball with a half stroke and then quickly retracting it, snapping the wrist, dipping the tip of the stick downward at the last second, etc. All of these things are dirty lies and bad habits that will F-up your stroke and teach you bad habits and give you really flaky, unreliable draw. Just make a natural, smooth follow through with your cue as level as possible, and be aware of either hitting the sweet spot or slightly above it on all your draw shots.