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I've had so many people over the years ask me things like, "Why do you draw the ball so much?" Or, "Why are you always cuing up low on the ball?" Until now, I've never really had an answer that I could explain. I would just say that it feels better to me or that I feel like I have more control that way. Point being...it was a feel thing and I had no other answer. Then I watched this...
https://youtu.be/q3jLNN6PGek
I'm so thankful that Nic Barrow makes so much of his coaching public. The way he explains the drag shot to his student was really an eye-opener, particularly where he makes the statement, "The rule is, play as low as possible to get your top spin." This statement made all kinds of light bulbs go off in my head and made me realize that my whole approach to, and application of, the drag shot was wrong. Now I understand the why, how to apply it much more effectively, and explain it to others.
The beginning of the vid is very rudimentary, but if you can suffer through the first 5 or 6 minutes he builds on that and gets on to the point of the lesson. I know there are those on this forum who already know this stuff, but I hope others who don't know this yet find it as informative as I have. :thumbup:
I disagree with two points here. First, unintentional side will have a larger effect with draw than with follow, usually. Second, no one plays with a "dead level" cue because knuckles and rails prevent the cue from being level on nearly all shots. In my opinion if you have a problem with adding unintentional side a stop-gap partial fix is to avoid drag shots and play most shots that allow it with follow.Well part of the reason it helps to stay lower even when you need follow is because when you hit in the upper half of the CB and your cue is not as level as possible, even a millimeter of accidental side will make your CB want to curve slightly. If you have the gift to cue dead level and without ANY unintentional side you can be just as accurate rolling it high ball which has its uses. ...
I think that in a beginner it would be important to fix this. I think it is much better to hit the cue ball where you address it. I think that especially when your are learning to play and to spin the ball, you need to make a solid connection between where you hit the cue ball and what it does.... I do it constantly. You can watch my cue during my warm up strokes and see that it's touching my chin and chest, then drops an inch or so down on my final stroke almost every time I hit any higher than about a tip below center.
I think this is really bad advice."Walk up the ladder" for follow. Aim at center or below center and strike above center (or at center) with an upward angle cue stick - adjust on the final forward stroke, like backhand english. Ensures you strike using the bottom half of the tip. Enhanced control of speed, less miscues/mis-english than with "follow". Try it!
I think that in a beginner it would be important to fix this. I think it is much better to hit the cue ball where you address it. I think that especially when your are learning to play and to spin the ball, you need to make a solid connection between where you hit the cue ball and what it does.
For someone who has been playing a long time, such stroke defects are very difficult to fix. If you want to try, I think you have to address the cue ball closely and as high as you are going to hit it. Dropping the elbow will then be punished by a miscue.
About 8:10 in the video.
If you have good enough speed control on follow and draw shots, then I suppose it is not important. Also, I assume you don't miscue too often when following, which would be another reason to work on it. For the follow control, judge by shots where the cue ball is close to the object ball so that it is not the table that is giving you the follow.Do you think it's something worth correcting in my case, Mr Jewett? I mean, I've worked at fixing it and it's not as extreme as it used to be. It really doesn't bother me. I do it naturally so I end up thinking more about not doing it than playing. I guess what I'm asking is, for someone who has been doing it as long as I have, would the benefit of correcting the flaw be worth all of the time I'll spend in a slump until it's fixed?
I think this is really bad advice.
"Walk up the ladder" for follow. Aim at center or below center and strike above center (or at center) with an upward angle cue stick - adjust on the final forward stroke, like backhand english. Ensures you strike using the bottom half of the tip. Enhanced control of speed, less miscues/mis-english than with "follow". Try it!
"Walk up the ladder" for follow. Aim at center or below center and strike above center (or at center) with an upward angle cue stick - adjust on the final forward stroke, like backhand english. Ensures you strike using the bottom half of the tip. Enhanced control of speed, less miscues/mis-english than with "follow". Try it!
Nice post Matt. That's exactly what happens. I have seen SVB and Efren use this many times.
Your thought should be "just roll the QB". Works real well. The stroke is like pitching a softball underhanded on the final stroke.
Thanks for the reminder.
John
CJ uses to say the same thing. Please explain just how one goes about hitting the cb with anything other than the bottom portion of the tip when using follow? Same question for hitting draw with anything other than the top part of the tip.
If it's good advice to aim somewhere other than where you're going to strike the ball, why not just aim 3 inches to the right of the cue ball and adjust on the final stroke? Or instead of aiming low why not aim a few inches above the cue ball and adjust lower on the final stroke? If that sounds absurd then maybe aiming at the actual place you're going to hit may be best.