I learned how to draw!

H

Hector3cushion

Hector
Silver Member
Background: been playing 3 cushion for 8 years or so and playing pool for the last 2 years. I’m a strong C+/weak B player. I used to think I could draw as I could draw a table length but would require extra concentration.

A couple of weeks ago while working on my stroke (object ball midtable, straight in, drawing back to short rail) I hit a crisp (read: good) shot and my cue ball inched back a bit. So my post morten analysis went like this: grip: nice and loose, check. Follow through: nice and straight, check. Speed: not too hard, not to soft, actually pretty good, check. Staying still: check. PSR: pretty good, check. So the question on my mind was why didn’t the cue ball draw back! As I stayed pensive I thought I must not have hit my cue low enough, even though I was aiming low enough. Euroka! I had commitment issues. I was stroking the ball higher than intended which is probably a natural reaction to avoid miscues for amateurs like me. Suddenly, now I can draw a table length with minimal effort and the way I’ve seen so many pros and open players do it. Suddenly my draw shot does not require any more concentration than a regular shot, all I need to do is hit low and draw just takes. Cueball control is a lot easier.
 
Congrats! It's always great to be able to know you're making progress.

Hitting low enough and hitting where you're aiming is a common problem. If you use a clean object ball, aligning the number directly at you, and a freshly chalked tip, you'll be able to tell where you're making contact with the ball vs where you're aiming.
 
Grats!!! :smile:

The best thing is, you know the cue ball does not lie. It didn't draw on your first attempt because you hit too high. You caught that on your own, some people are in denial of where they actually hit the cue ball. Kudos to you.
 
tucson9ball said:
Grats!!! :smile:

The best thing is, you know the cue ball does not lie. It didn't draw on your first attempt because you hit too high. You caught that on your own, some people are in denial of where they actually hit the cue ball. Kudos to you.
Click to expand...

One of the hugest problems I've come across trying to help beginners with their draw stroke... Every conversation seems to go like "you didn't actually hit low there" ..."I DID! I swear I did. I'm positive I did."

I like 1hit's chalk thing because it allows you to show them the truth rather than just arguing about it. You can tell them all day "physics-wise if you hit low and hard from that distance, it HAS to spin backwards"... but they need to see the proof or you'll just go in circles.

Anyway, nice job Hector. Some people never get over that fear of hitting too low and being that guy who loudly jumped the ball across the room.
 
Me to. I think it was in the second, or third grade. The first picture I drew was of a pony rearing up on it's hind...what? He meant drawing the cue ball?
My bad. Carry on. :smile:
 
until you've miscued and jumped the ball off the table a hundred times practicing your power draw, you won't have that feel for the sweet spot. Keep working on it. You're probably still not hitting as low as you think you are if you're only getting one table length. When you can draw back to the rail and out to the side pockets on a full table shot (on a 7'), you're hittin' it pretty good. So keep practicing and use that as your next goal.
 
Use a striped ball and set it up with the stripe horizontal. Chalk up your tip. Aim at the lower edge of the stripe which is at or near the miscue limit. Try hitting this shot at different speeds. Wipe clean between each hit. You can clearly see where you are ACTUALLY hitting the CB versus where you were TRYING to hit the CB. BTW, I cannot take credit for this simple little check, Scott Lee used it with me in one of our lessons and it really helped me understand and improve my draw stroke.
 
spindoctor9 said:
until you've miscued and jumped the ball off the table a hundred times practicing your power draw, you won't have that feel for the sweet spot. Keep working on it. You're probably still not hitting as low as you think you are if you're only getting one table length. When you can draw back to the rail and out to the side pockets on a full table shot (on a 7'), you're hittin' it pretty good. So keep practicing and use that as your next goal.
Click to expand...

Agree with keep practicing, but it feels like i'm hitting the sweet spot. I'm drawing a table length (9') with rather minimal effort, what I would consider close to pro effort which looks rather effortless.
 
Great job!

I just helped someone with the same thing last week! I also use a striped ball oriented as 1hit said, other than decelerating or some other obvious mechanical thing it's almost always not hitting as low as you think. Same thing can happen with follow, people rarely hit as high as they think and "force" their follow shots instead of letting them spin smoothly.

You have to remember when hitting higher or lower, you can accomplish this by angling your back hand up or down or raising/lowering your bridge. Personally I like a little of both - on a draw shot, I flatten my bridge to hit lower while at the same time raising my back hand a bit. Just a bit - think of your stick as a lever, if one end goes up or down the other can travel in the opposite direction.

In addition to this, you have to get comfortable with which part of your tip is hitting the cueball at the extremes. For a power draw stroke, the top part of your tip is hitting the ball, not the center, so it should look like you are hitting really low, below the miscue zone, but visualizing the top of the tip will help get rid of that "about to miscue" feeling.

Keep working on it! A table length is sufficient most of the time, but you really need a good draw stroke to draw back a table when the cue ball is 6 or 7 diamonds from the object ball. Once you can rely on your draw, then practice distance control using various progressive practice drills as control is more important than raw power.

Scott
 
If I find myself needing to draw a table's length to get position, two things come to mind:

1) I chose the wrong pattern; and/or
2) I overshot/undershot my position play.

Unless I was opting to get into the Artistic Pool game, I'd then focus on correcting #1 or #2 before working on developing a Herculean draw stroke. And rather than focusing on "raw power" in a draw stroke, I'd focus on 'positional control'.
 
GeoEnvi said:
If I find myself needing to draw a table's length to get position, two things come to mind:

1) I chose the wrong pattern; and/or
2) I overshot/undershot my position play.

Unless I was opting to get into the Artistic Pool game, I'd then focus on correcting #1 or #2 before working on developing a Herculean draw stroke. And rather than focusing on "raw power" in a draw stroke, I'd focus on 'positional control'.
Click to expand...
but the point being that one can draw the length of the table without a Herculuan draw stroke if the right technique is applied. Not only that, but to get good position play somethings a soft but well applied draw stroke is needed.
 
Hector3cushion said:
Background: been playing 3 cushion for 8 years or so and playing pool for the last 2 years. I’m a strong C+/weak B player. I used to think I could draw as I could draw a table length but would require extra concentration.

A couple of weeks ago while working on my stroke (object ball midtable, straight in, drawing back to short rail) I hit a crisp (read: good) shot and my cue ball inched back a bit. So my post morten analysis went like this: grip: nice and loose, check. Follow through: nice and straight, check. Speed: not too hard, not to soft, actually pretty good, check. Staying still: check. PSR: pretty good, check. So the question on my mind was why didn’t the cue ball draw back! As I stayed pensive I thought I must not have hit my cue low enough, even though I was aiming low enough. Euroka! I had commitment issues. I was stroking the ball higher than intended which is probably a natural reaction to avoid miscues for amateurs like me. Suddenly, now I can draw a table length with minimal effort and the way I’ve seen so many pros and open players do it. Suddenly my draw shot does not require any more concentration than a regular shot, all I need to do is hit low and draw just takes. Cueball control is a lot easier.
Click to expand...

If you were a weak B and didn't know how to draw the ball you will be plum dangerous now.
 
alstl said:
If you were a weak B and didn't know how to draw the ball you will be plum dangerous now.
Click to expand...

I play sort of backwards due to my 3 cushion background. i generally get great shape but miss my pocketing fairly often.

To clarify i could draw before but it just required extra effort and concentration. Not it feels that i just hit low and the cueball takes off.
 
GeoEnvi said:
If I find myself needing to draw a table's length to get position, two things come to mind:

1) I chose the wrong pattern; and/or
2) I overshot/undershot my position play.

Unless I was opting to get into the Artistic Pool game, I'd then focus on correcting #1 or #2 before working on developing a Herculean draw stroke. And rather than focusing on "raw power" in a draw stroke, I'd focus on 'positional control'.
Click to expand...

Did

3) My opponent missed and left me...
4) I made 2 balls on the break and...

cross your mind?
 
Hector3cushion said:
but the point being that one can draw the length of the table without a Herculuan draw stroke if the right technique is applied. Not only that, but to get good position play somethings a soft but well applied draw stroke is needed.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and exactly the point I was trying to make at the end of my post.
 
Grats on taking another step in learning! Always feels good to figure something out and be able to repeatably use it in your game.

Just be careful, I got kicked out of a bar once for grabbing a cue off the wall and on my 2nd to last shot I drew the cue ball back about 5 feet to get position on the 8. Apparently, that was proof enough that I was "a shark". :)
 
seven_7days said:
Did

3) My opponent missed and left me...
4) I made 2 balls on the break and...

cross your mind?
Click to expand...

Did not cross my mind. Agreed that #3 and #4 may be unavoidable situations.

But - IMO - a C+ player shouldn't be thinking "Drawing 9 ft back to hit position" instead of looking for an option using follow or a defensive option; especially with 7 balls left on the table to hide amongst (#4).

Put another way, which is more important for a C player to learn? Power draw? Or any/all of the following: pattern recognition, speed control/positional control, force follow, defensive strategy?
 
Hector3cushion said:
Background: been playing 3 cushion for 8 years or so and playing pool for the last 2 years. I’m a strong C+/weak B player. I used to think I could draw as I could draw a table length but would require extra concentration.

A couple of weeks ago while working on my stroke (object ball midtable, straight in, drawing back to short rail) I hit a crisp (read: good) shot and my cue ball inched back a bit. So my post morten analysis went like this: grip: nice and loose, check. Follow through: nice and straight, check. Speed: not too hard, not to soft, actually pretty good, check. Staying still: check. PSR: pretty good, check. So the question on my mind was why didn’t the cue ball draw back! As I stayed pensive I thought I must not have hit my cue low enough, even though I was aiming low enough. Euroka! I had commitment issues. I was stroking the ball higher than intended which is probably a natural reaction to avoid miscues for amateurs like me. Suddenly, now I can draw a table length with minimal effort and the way I’ve seen so many pros and open players do it. Suddenly my draw shot does not require any more concentration than a regular shot, all I need to do is hit low and draw just takes. Cueball control is a lot easier.
Click to expand...

Now you need to master the length of the draw.. 6 inches, 1 diamond, 2 diamonds, and all from different distances between the balls. One of the old timers had me doing this drill a long time ago, it really helps to be able to control whitey.
Mark
 
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