Good day, I was just wondering if there are any good resources or drills I can do to learn to use force follow.
Force Follow
- Thread starter 9intheside
- Start date
A simple progressive practice drill: put an object ball a diamond out of the kitchen. Place the cue ball in the kitchen for a nearly straight shot into a far corner pocket. The cue ball and object ball go to those spots for every shot. Set a coin down at the distance you want to follow to -- make it four diamonds away as a start. If you leave the cue ball within an acceptable distance from the coin -- for example one diamond or maybe a handspan -- then move the coin for a longer distance goal. If you fail to get the right distance or miss the shot, move the coin for a closer goal. Eventually you should be able to follow to the foot rail and back to the head rail.
Thanks Bob, I will give it a try
Yes! I also see this all the time with all sorts of spin shots. Beginners have a very hard time hitting away from center on the cue ball -- they have a phobia of eccentricity. On the shot in the drill, there is no time or distance for the cloth friction to put follow on the cue ball between when you hit it and when it hits the object ball.
I suspect beginners have the problem because they never learned to chalk and the resulting miscues teach their arms to bring the tip to the center of the ball even if their brain says otherwise.
On a side note, shooting down on the cue ball is why people aren't very accurate with position when using force follow. The cue ball has a tendency to pop up in the air when it hits the OB meaning the spin can either wear off a bit mid air or if its hit at a thinner angle it can hop along the tangent line further than expected before the spin takes. It makes it harder to judge. Hitting the shot so the ball doesn't hop up makes for more consistent results to practice with.
A little trick I do to make sire the cue ball doesn't pop into the air is to release my thumb and index finger from the cue when following through. The cue transfers into the back of the hand as you move the cue forward and grip with the pinky, ring and palm of the hand. It makes me follow through perfectly level. Keeping the cue level is the key to consistency with this kind of shot.
That was my problem. I could stop or draw at any distance, but struggled with follow until I tried a really short bridge and found I was hitting down on the ball with my longer bridge after that it was easy over time i was able to follow with a longer bridge length.
I'm confused... I thought "forced follow" described the shots where high hit on the cue ball and a more than 1/2 hit on the object ball hanging in the corner jaws, would make the cue ball bounce back and then curve back to the same rail. Thus solving shape that was unobtainable any other way and also possible ruining shape if the next ball was at the other end for beginners which is the way I usually see it happen.
Last edited:
Not an instructor...just my opinion...I think that is known as 'top stop'.
It can be a result of 'force follow' stroke.
Yes, force follow just means follow with more than typical force (hit hard). It has no special meaning.
I've never heard the phrase "top stop", although the CB action is well known.
pj
chgo
to me (im not an instructor) force follow is getting the cue ball to "turbo drive" forward
examples would be in straight pool when the cue ball "barrels "thru the stack with follow
or when the cue ball "bends" forward because of the forward spin
with a measles ball you can see the the excessive spin on the ball
examples would be in straight pool when the cue ball "barrels "thru the stack with follow
or when the cue ball "bends" forward because of the forward spin
with a measles ball you can see the the excessive spin on the ball
Force follow is simply hitting the cue ball high (with follow) while hitting the object ball rather full. The forward momentum is halted by the full hit, then the rotational spin is converted to forward momentum causing that "whipping action" like Buddy Hall would say. I think of this as a little different than the normal follow shot because of the more pronounced delay before the follow action takes effect.
No special stroke is needed, just hitting the cue ball high with good speed and the object ball rather full. If you hit the cue ball high and the object thin, nothing special will happen. Also, a level cue helps with both action and accuracy, otherwise you hit down into the cue ball and can lose some action due to the jump or hop.
Hopefully you aren't relying on these stroke-type shots too much in your normal positional play. But the progressive drills (on Bob's site) are fantastic for practicing and calibrating not only follow shots but also draw and stop shots as well.
Scott
No special stroke is needed, just hitting the cue ball high with good speed and the object ball rather full. If you hit the cue ball high and the object thin, nothing special will happen. Also, a level cue helps with both action and accuracy, otherwise you hit down into the cue ball and can lose some action due to the jump or hop.
Hopefully you aren't relying on these stroke-type shots too much in your normal positional play. But the progressive drills (on Bob's site) are fantastic for practicing and calibrating not only follow shots but also draw and stop shots as well.
Scott
