Follow through
- Thread starter RicNic
- Start date
RicNic, follow through, or a good finish as many prefer to say it, is important on every shot, in my opinion. I think what makes a bad finish show up more on a draw shot is that many people do what we call a "cowboy draw shot". In other words, they try to, whether consciously or unconsciously, jerk the cue back out of the way after contact with the cue ball. Some people can get by with this most of the time, but what generally happens is that the bicep will know to start that "jerk back" and will actually keep the cue from accelerating through the shot. True, it really makes no difference what the cue does AFTER contact, but it really needs to be accelerating or at least NOT decelerating at contact, which is what I usually see with people who do the "cowboy jerk" (got that term from RandyG, because it's similar to the motion a cowboy makes when he jerks the rope after roping a calf). So a good consistent finish (follow through) insures that you are accelerating (or at least NOT decelerating) at contact.
As for a ball being steered... if the "steering" starts before contact, then you're going to put side spin on the ball. That causes all sorts of things to happen to the cue ball path depending on how much off center you hit, how low or high you hit, etc. It can squirt off one way or the other on a straight line or it can lightly or even heavily curve off line. On the other hand, if you "steer" after contact, nothing is going to happen. The cue ball is already gone and the "steer" has no effect.
There are many that advocate "swiping" across the cue ball at contact... my timing just isn't good enough for that. Tried it a long time ago and it just turned into a disaster for me. I'm not saying it can't be done with great consistency, because I have seen some great players that "swipe" across the ball, but not me... can't do it... my timing is just not there for that shot.
Hope this helps answer your question.
Bob
Last edited:
It's not the actual contact that is the issue. Essentially you want to contact the cue ball around the moment of peak velocity. So you are accelerating your cue up to the point of impact. When you are stop your tip at the cue ball or slightly beyond you will typically be slowing down before you actually contact the cue ball. Which means in order to achieve the same cue speed as a player that has a good finish, you have to exert much more effort which leads to reduced accuracy.
