Draw

M

matai

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Hey, I'm kinda new to the sport, been playing consistantly for a few months. I was just wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions on drawing the cue ball back when you shoot. I don't know if there is a better term for it or not. I've been practicing putting balls in front of both of the side pockets and the cue ball in the middle and hitting one then rolling it back to hit the other. I can do it, i'm just inconsistant and want to find out what the real key is in doing that. So if any of you experts got some good advice for me, i'd really appreciate it. I plan on taking lessons from Ken, The Sarge, I hear he is the best here in seattle but due to my schedule I can't do it for awhile.

Thanks!
 
How much draw you can put on a ball is HUGELY effected by the quality of the table cloth. I routinely practice in a local room with old crap cloth and can barely draw a ball 3 diamonds when the balls are seperated by 3 diamonds. Last night in league play the bar tables had just had new simones cloth installed...I could draw the ball a table length without any effort. So...it may not be YOU...it may be the cloth!
 
matai said:
Hey, I'm kinda new to the sport, been playing consistantly for a few months. I was just wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions on drawing the cue ball back when you shoot. I don't know if there is a better term for it or not. I've been practicing putting balls in front of both of the side pockets and the cue ball in the middle and hitting one then rolling it back to hit the other. I can do it, i'm just inconsistant and want to find out what the real key is in doing that. So if any of you experts got some good advice for me, i'd really appreciate it. I plan on taking lessons from Ken, The Sarge, I hear he is the best here in seattle but due to my schedule I can't do it for awhile.

Thanks!
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Hi Matai,

Check out the following thread:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=45216&highlight=draw

You will find a number of helpful tips from some of AZBilliards finest players and instructors.

Good luck!
VIProfessor
 
matai said:
Hey, I'm kinda new to the sport, been playing consistantly for a few months. I was just wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions on drawing the cue ball back when you shoot. I don't know if there is a better term for it or not. I've been practicing putting balls in front of both of the side pockets and the cue ball in the middle and hitting one then rolling it back to hit the other. I can do it, i'm just inconsistant and want to find out what the real key is in doing that. So if any of you experts got some good advice for me, i'd really appreciate it. I plan on taking lessons from Ken, The Sarge, I hear he is the best here in seattle but due to my schedule I can't do it for awhile.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Keep a level cue. Don't jack up the back of the cue.

Lower your bridge to aim low on the cue ball. Do not shoot "down" into the cue ball to get normal draw.

Follow through. (MOST Important!!) Your tip should finish ahead of where the cue ball is. If you have room, your tip should finish on the cloth 6 inches in front of the cue ball.

Your follow through should be steady, muscles loose. Do not "push" through the cue ball.

A good stroke is more like guiding the cue forward through a throw. When I am playing well, my cue actually seems to feel like it is "pulling" my hand forward through the stroke.

Hope this helps..

Russ
 
matai said:
... I was just wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions on drawing the cue ball back when you shoot. ...
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Here is a great drill for getting control of your short draw: Put two balls by the side pocket. Put the cue ball where you want. Pocket one ball and draw back for a shot on the other. If you can do two, try putting up three object balls by that side pocket. If you do three, try four. You have to do the balls in order, left to right or right to left -- no fair skipping, and no fair letting the cue ball hit a cushion for position.

As you increase the number of balls, they will have to move back from the pocket some. If you can do five or six balls consistently, you will have a pretty good understanding of draw.

Make sure you chalk well. I think the largest barrier to spinning the ball for beginners is bad chalking. Look at your tip to check your chalking, and especially look at your tip when you miscue to see how bad your chalking was.
 
Bob's suggestion for a draw shot drill is excellent. I've practiced this, it also will help you follow through consistantly, stay motionless, and will do wonders for your touch on short shots.
 
I feel the most important things for draw are a good tip in good condition chalked well especially around the sides (no dark spots on tip, look at tip under light before each draw shot) and *always* a tip in the same good condition, and then your stroke.

Moori tips only shaped with a sandpaper shaper every 8 hours of play or so do the trick for me. Just lightly sand back and forth while rotating your cue.

Once you have a good consistent tip to play with, then you can practice drawing back the cue ball. Set up a row of balls between the side pockets. Place cue ball one diamond back. Then draw back cue ball one diamond. Next shot draw it back 2 diamonds. Then 3, etc.

Practice this everyday for 2 years. You will get to where you can draw the ball back just a little, more, or a lot.

You can get more draw by shooting lower on the cue ball or following through more. You don't need to "kill" the ball to get draw. You can shoot quite slowly - shoot low - and follow through, leaving the tip of your cue 6 inches past where the cue ball was, and you will get good draw.

As a matter of fact, you may find that you get better draw shooting slowly and following through than you do trying to "kill" the ball!

Beginners tend to "poke" at the ball and stop their tip right where the cue ball was sitting. Or they will shoot down on the ball. Shoot level.

Shoot a nice smooth slow stroke leaving the tip of the cue touching the cloth 6 inches past where the cue ball was sitting.

So far as the tip in good condition thing goes, some players will say they can draw with any tip. Well so can I. The trick is being able to draw back a *specific* distance. I find it is much easier to do if you always play with a tip in the same good condition. If there are dark shiny spots on your tip, no telling what will happen. (will sometimes "scoop the ball.) There should be a nice even coating of chalk all over the tip and everything the same color. (Especially the sides of the tip which contact the cue ball for draw shots.)

Chalk well before every draw shot.
 
Getting away from poking at the cue has improved my draw. Clean smooth follow thru.
 
i had to learn to relax to get good a good draw stroke going. a lot of people try to hit it harder instead of following through more and tense up, which often elevates the cue, which then messes up the draw shot since you're no longer hitting below the center of the cueball.
 
matai said:
So is there any technique to chalking a cue or do you just gotta get the chalk on there?
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This seems to be something a lot of people don't pay any attention to, but you should really look at the tip while you chalk to make sure you're not missing any spots do to the shape of your tip and the shape of the groove in the chalk. Rub the chalk around on the tip for a moment to cover most of it, and then brush the tip with the chalk for the parts that didn't get as much coverage.

Then when you're stroking, make sure you're not "steering the cue". A beginner often starts to let the cue go forward but his muscles keep making little adjustments all the way through the stroke. This kills the cue's acceleration up to contact. Instead, work on getting a straight stroke so that you can effortlessly, with a very light grip, allow the cue to go back and forth in your stroke totally straight. Then when shooting, make sure you "let the cue go" through the course of the stroke, instead of controlling it through the stroke. You'll find you can really make it dance once you master just letting the cue go forward, free of tension, through your natural swing.

-Andrew
 
If you're not getting draw, it's because you are not hitting the cue ball low enough. Most likely the reason why is because you are moving your upper body, head, shoulders, upper arm (elbow) around too much and it's thowing the stroke off. This same movement will cause all sorts of maladies in pool and it's usually due to tension in the grip/forearm. If you "clutch" the cue abruptly, you ruin the stroke.

Try to set up low on the cue ball, keep your head and shoulders still but very relaxed, and just make a normal stroke right through the cueball keeping even grip pressure (medium firm). You might want to envision the tip following through to the cloth after contact.

It's easier to set up the cueball about 1 foot or so from the object ball.

The draw shots to practice are straight shots, 1 tip low, shooting from different distances from the object ball, 1 ft, 2ft, and different lengths coming back, 1ft and 2ft draw backs. Once you get good at controlling those and pocketing the ball, you can do a lot.

Chris
 
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Billy_Bob said:
Practice this everyday for 2 years. You will get to where you can draw the ball back just a little, more, or a lot.
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TWO YEARS??? Wow, if the person who first showed and taught me how to draw had told me that, it would have scared me away!

How about 15 minutes?? I guarantee you that if you can do anything more than poke the ball, and even if you can only do that, I can show you how to poke the cue ball and get a fair amount of draw out of the shot.

The suggestions in this thread about how to draw are good, keep a level cue, as much as possible, hit low on the cue ball, stroke through the cue ball, etc. etc. However, it's also possible to develop a simple chop draw stroke for close-to-the-object-ball shots that's very consistent.

If when you're practicing draw shots someone shouts at you to "get that butt down!" and so on, don't let it bother you.

The best thing might well be to go to a pool hall and try to find some of the better players and watch how they do the shot, and at a good moment walk over to them and ask them to show you how to shoot a draw shot. Just about anybody who isn't a jerk (and there are a few out there....) will probably be happy to show you simple things like that. If the first one won't, someone else will.

Ask them to show you different ways to draw the ball. Mention low and smooth, and also ask them what they do if they have to shoot over another ball to get at the cue ball and want to draw it, if even a little.

Then go practice it. If you can't get it to work for you, go back and ask them to show you again, and tell you what you're doing wrong. And then buy them a beer or soda or something and thank them a lot.

Good luck!

Flex
 
One of my problems was my bridge hand was always loose... and I would miscue a lot or not hit it as directly as I'd hoped, and as a result, not get the amount of draw I wanted or none at all. I started to work on making my shots clean and precise instead of "hey I'm gonna try this and maybe this will happen". You gotta know what's gonna happen and shoot for that result. Practice Practice Practice! :D
 
It's all in the wrist, stroke the ball like you're "cracking a whip." Don't be affraid to go low on the cue, and level that cue out. Try puting your tip all of the way down to the felt and shoot it, you'll miscue. Try this again and move it up just a hair at a time, until you see where you can hit it without miscueing. Most people are supprized how low you can really go on a draw shot. Follow through enough that you can get that wrist action on the cue-ball, don't hit it hard--stroke it smoothly. The more frustrated you become trying this, the harder it will become because you will start to hit it harder and harder, force yourself to baby it; you'll get some draw and be amazed that you hit it THAT easy and drew it back.

Also, hold your cue down in your fingers, not your palm. This will give you more leverage with the wrist movement. It'll feel weird at first, but you'll be drawing a ball like you hadn't thought possible if you keep practicing...

Another quick tip that comes up when I'm working on draw with someone is that they have a tendancy to grip so far back on the cue that they are "running out of stick" to follow through with. Simple fix: bend your bridge-arm's elbow.

Good luck!
 
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Andrew Manning said:
... you should really look at the tip while you chalk to make sure you're not missing any spots do to the shape of your tip and the shape of the groove in the chalk. ...
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I think this is the secret. You have to look at what you've done. If you do that, you will learn a motion that works well. If you never look at your tip, it's likely you will never learn to chalk well. Here's an article about chalking, among other things: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2002-11.pdf

Don't be a Borer.
 
matai said:
... I've been practicing putting balls in front of both of the side pockets and the cue ball in the middle and hitting one then rolling it back to hit the other. I can do it, i'm just inconsistant and want to find out what the real key is in doing that. ...
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As for this part, you don't say what happens when you fail. Is it not enough draw, or is it that the ball comes back at the wrong angle, or that you miscue? If it's not enough draw, you are either not hitting the cue ball hard enough or not hitting it far enough below center.
 
Flex said:
TWO YEARS??? Wow, if the person who first showed and taught me how to draw had told me that, it would have scared me away!

How about 15 minutes??...
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Anyone can learn to "draw" in 15 minutes. But to learn to draw the cue ball back a specific* distance consistently takes years of practice.

*draw the cue ball back 6 inches, 1 diamond, 2, 3, 4, etc.

Keep in mind that everything changes with greater distance between the cue ball and object ball.

Sometimes you need to draw back just a little. Sometimes a little more. Sometimes more than that. Sometimes you need to draw the cue ball back to hit the rail and come back out a certain distance. Sometimes you need to shoot a shot at the far end of the table and draw the cue ball back to the near end of the table.
 
seymore15074 said:
It's all in the wrist, stroke the ball like you're "cracking a whip."

Another quick tip that comes up when I'm working on draw with someone is that they have a tendancy to grip so far back on the cue that they are "running out of stick" to follow through with. Simple fix: bend your bridge-arm's elbow.
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The wrist has no bearing on whether or not, or how much you can draw the CB. As far as the grip goes, the forearm should be perpendicular to the table when the tip is at the CB. That's the most consistent place to hold the cuestick. Other than those two things, your information is pretty valid.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
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