Definition of "force follow"

[Jal]

Obviously, it means many things to many people. This definition might be the most universal, though:

Basically it's any time that you use follow and hit relatively hard...

At typical distances separating the cueball and object ball, striking centerball with a soft or even medium speed stroke will, as we all know, result in the cueball acquiring a lot of topspin from cloth friction along the way to the object ball. In fact, it'll often be fully rolling by the time it reaches it. But with a hard stroke and resultant fast cueball speed, friction doesn't have that much time to act, and thus, not much topspin develops "naturally." Therefore, if significant topspin is desired, you have to 'force' the issue by hitting well above center.

The same applies when the cueball and object ball are close to each other, even with a relatively soft stroke, though I'm not sure many would refer to hitting above center as "force follow" in this case. But I think it should be considered equivalent, per Wille Hoppe's definition cited above.

Why the topspin is called for (i.e., what you're trying to accomplish), should probably not be a part of the definition since there are several applications, as has already been noted.

Jim

 

[asbani]

To me, this is a good example of what I've always considered force follow. Simply put, I've always thought force follow was a follow shot that first drifts further along the tangent than normally, before the follow takes. This can be done by either striking the CB a little harder to widen the line your CB takes, or..................what I consider to be more controllable.............by striking the CB either center with the idea of letting it pick up some top spin by the time it makes contact with the OB, or even striking the CB about a quarter to half tip above center.
I've diagramed a pretty common situation where I would use force follow. As you can see by the angle on the 8, a typical follow shot would put me on the short side of the 9, or even possible hitting the 9 as diagramed by position A. The cut on the 8 is a little too thick to simply stun it and drift along the tangent. So in this case, I'd strike the CB about a half tip above center and stroke it pretty firm to widen my line and land on the long side of the 9. A good friend of mine once described a force follow shot like the one diagramed here as "an intended stop shot that got away from you." In other words, you're trying to simulate those miss shots where you inadvertently hit the CB above center when you were meaning to hit a stop shot and watched helplessly as your CB eased forward and out of shape.
dave

CueTable Help

Sorry but in my book, Thats a some sort of stun-follow shot with a feel.