Help With This Shot

D

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Can any instructors give me some advice on how to hit this shot? Its one of the routine shots that I practice a great deal. And, after 25,000+ times of shooting it, I still struggle with it. Its perhaps my #2 nemesis shot, behind the long, straight-in draw shot.

Any help will be appreciated. And I will add that I had a really good player tell me once that this is a very difficult shot. Its hitting the 1-Ball low, bringing it off the right side rail, and back across for the 2-Ball. Its missing the shot that really hurts me. And there is a very - VERY - slight cut on the 1-Ball.

r/DCP

https://pad.chalkysticks.com/a1310.svg
 
There is a tendency to want to steer the cb to the rail which results in an unwanted twisting motion. With this shot, trust is a must. Resist the urge to steer the cb. Shoot with a deadly straight stroke. Let the angle of the shot and the spin do the work for you.
 
If you have shot the shot that many times, and still haven't mastered it, you just aren't paying any attention at all to what you are doing.
 
Neil said:
If you have shot the shot that many times, and still haven't mastered it, you just aren't paying any attention at all to what you are doing.
Click to expand...

Well.....25,000 was an exaggeration. But I bet I probably have shot it at least 2,500 times over the years.

Its like that old saying that I read on here every now and then. An amateur will practice a shot until he can make it. A pro will practice a shot until he knows he cant miss it.

Which, of course, is a nice little saying but obviously erroneous. Any shot can be missed. I just seem to miss this one a lot.

And Fran, I know what you mean about steering, excellent observation.

r/DCP
 
Also, when practicing a particular shot, resist the urge to stay in your stance or even just rush to shoot it again. Take your time. Treat each try as a separate individual shot with a separate aim and approach each time.
 
What part of this shot is giving you trouble? Is it pocketing the object ball, drawing the CB to the rail or getting the speed right to land the CB on the other side of the table?

If it's the pocketing part or the draw part, you need to just revisit fundamentals. Good shot setup, quiet elbow, feather-light grip, and clean follow-through. Even your aim will get better just by improving your set-up and stroke, if your shot setup is solid it should lock you into absolutely perfectly straight warmup strokes that you can actually use as a foundational reference for aiming.

If it's the speed control and landing right on the next ball, the first thing to check is that you've experimented with tip placement and cue elevation. Some people don't realize just how low you can hit on the ball without a miscue if you've got a good stroke, and others don't realize that you can get draw hitting even just a hair below center, depending on cue elevation, shot speed, and distance. And although you generally want to keep a cue as level as possible, sometimes you may want to increase your spin-to-speed ratio by raising up a little. Dialing in the right recipe is going to depend a lot on your cue's weight and stiffness and tip hardness, as lighter cues with thinner shafts/tapers will generally achieve more spin for a certain shot speed. My problem with this shot is actually 'overcooking' the CB, I tend to put a little too much backspin compared to speed and the CB bends backwards off the rail so much it comes back down the table as much or more than it bounce across leaving me either with the wrong angle or further away than I wish to be...


Whether you're overcooking the CB or getting mishit sloppy draw in the first place, many times the answer to hitting a good draw shot is the same -- don't try too hard!! Draw is easy and natural if you just trust it to work.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Its missing the shot that is giving me trouble. There is no consistent pattern for my misses either. Some I overcut, some I undercut.

And I don't ever even come close to the 5-Ball in the diagram.

r/DCP
Click to expand...

Ask yourself. Why is that?
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Its missing the shot that is giving me trouble. There is no consistent pattern for my misses either. Some I overcut, some I undercut.

And I don't ever even come close to the 5-Ball in the diagram.

r/DCP
Click to expand...
If there is no consistency on how you are missing the shot, then that is your answer. I would assume that you are not hitting the cue ball where you think you are hitting it? If you were, there would be a consistent theme to your misses. Try using a cue ball with a dot, or a striped ball (something you can tell where your chalk mark is after making contact) and determine if your aiming and your actual hit on the cue ball are exactly the same. Once you start hitting the same spot over and over again, you will be able to see where the object ball is going - either over cutting or undercutting. Now you just have to align your aim and practice until you do not miss.
 
nitekram said:
I would assume that you are not hitting the cue ball where you think you are hitting it? If you were, there would be a consistent theme to your misses. Try using a cue ball with a dot, or a striped ball (something you can tell where your chalk mark is after making contact) and determine if your aiming and your actual hit on the cue ball are exactly the same.
Click to expand...


As soon as I get over my back pain I am going to head back down to the table and use the Rempe Training Ball and try this. I was thinking about this the other day. Thanks for mentioning it and reminding me.

r/DCP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top