Drag Shot Aim

A

Ak147

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How do you (or do you) compensate aim for drag shot? (without any side spin)

e.g. object ball is at 2nd diamond from pocket a width away from long cushion and cue ball on the spot.

I used to miss it on thin side so i adjusted my aim thicker but I never understood the rationale behind it.

Thanks
 
Hmm usually when I shoot a drag shot I put some low outside so I can hit the object ball thicker thus allowing me to kill the CB after impact.

can you post a picture of the layout? and what position are you trying to achieve for the CB after the shot

I maybe wrong but the way I understand the layout you described, the cue ball and object ball cut angle would be about 90 degrees? if so, I dont think you can really gain much from doing a drag shot here except to increase the difficulty level of the shot.
 
Thanks for responding. My question was in general any aiming adjustment required for drag shots over a distance - say for 1/2 ball to 3/4 ball shots.

I am not really sure how to create a layout and post ot here.
 
Assuming you are shooting the cue ball where you aim, there is no change for a drag shot compared to a slow roller that arrives at the same speed. This assumes the cue ball has started to roll before it arrives.

If the drag gets you a "stun" shot so the cue ball has no follow or draw when it arrives, you will have to aim a little thinner as there will be a little more throw than for a spinning cue ball.

It would be madness to be thinking about this stuff when you are actually playing so you have to solve your problems in practice. Try a perfectly straight drag shot to see if your arm is coming off-line when you play drag. If not, you don't have that problem to fix and you just need to get used to the angle.
 
Oops, my bad. I mixed up drag shot with kill shot. Thanks Bob for the info

Ive used drag shot a few times in the past but I am still skeptical on just how useful it is in a game situation. Since we are on the topic, can anyone give an example layout where a drag shot would be preferred as opposed to a simpler soft shot?

Thanks in advance and sorry for Hijacking the thread

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
I've used a drag shot many times. I find the final speed of the cueball much easier to control than a slow roller. It's best used for me on a long shot where one can use a moderate stroke which may take out some table roll too. Soft stroking for a distance can be really tricky. Just IMHO. Mitch
 
One thing I've seen (from Bob and Dr. Dave I believe) is that any accidental deviation from center ball will exaggerate the extent to which the ball curves off line. Accurate cueing is important on that shot.

And the majority of shots are drag shots, I would guess. Virtually all stop shots and draw shots are drag shots.
 
Cross said:
...can anyone give an example layout where a drag shot would be preferred as opposed to a simpler soft shot?
Click to expand...
I think it's most useful to avoid shooting so softly that table rolls will get you. This is a double edged sword, though, because unintentional swerve is a danger, especially at slower speeds.

A less common use is to enhance the effect of side spin - draw wears off speed more than side spin, so you can get more spin-to-speed that way than with a normal side spin hit.

pj
chgo
 
BRussell said:
One thing I've seen (from Bob and Dr. Dave I believe) is that any accidental deviation from center ball will exaggerate the extent to which the ball curves off line. Accurate cueing is important on that shot.

And the majority of shots are drag shots, I would guess. Virtually all stop shots and draw shots are drag shots.
Click to expand...
"Drag" is usually used to mean backspin that wears off to some extent (often completely) before contact. Here's an illustration of the common terminology.

pj
chgo

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Thanks everyone! Ok if no aiming adjustments are required, Then it seems i might be putting unintentional spin on drag shots. Something i need to work on during my next practice session. Recenlty soft roll cost me couple of frames (ended up missing the ball instead of thin contact) as i was not confident of executing drag shot when attempting safety.

Cross - this short video explains couple of situations where drag might be useful

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LvJP0Xld8u4
 
You would think that one of the most common applications of a drag shot would be where a ball is hanging in the jaws and the goal is to pocket the ball and leave the cue ball very near the pocket. This is a standard one pocket shot to get rid of an opponent's hanging ball. I think that the slow roller option is actually far more common than a drag shot in this situation but I haven't done an actual count.
 
If I am shooting a shot with low to kill the cue ball , on thin cuts , I have to hit the object ball a little thicker than normal or I over cut it every time.
 
Ak147 said:
Thanks everyone! Ok if no aiming adjustments are required, Then it seems i might be putting unintentional spin on drag shots. Something i need to work on during my next practice session. Recenlty soft roll cost me couple of frames (ended up missing the ball instead of thin contact) as i was not confident of executing drag shot when attempting safety.

Cross - this short video explains couple of situations where drag might be useful

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LvJP0Xld8u4
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video.

I agree that on some (very few) shots, drag shot would be the correct way to play it. Although for the shots that he demonstrated in the video I would shoot with soft shots, Stop shots, stun follow ( medium speed).

In response to your question about aiming thicker, My guess is the draw you apply on the CB throws the OB off the correct line. Too many variables on this shot, I wouldnt shoot it unless the OB and CB are not that far from each other.

Thanks for posting your question AK and thanks ( other guys) for the info
 
Cross said:
In response to your question about aiming thicker, My guess is the draw you apply on the CB throws the OB off the correct line.
Click to expand...
Draw should reduce throw, not increase it. On a very thin shot throw should be minimal either way.

I think you must be hitting a different contact point when you use draw.

pj
chgo
 
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