Here is another way to explain the essentials. First you must know a few things. First, whenever you hit the cue ball below center, it starts off with back spin, and then the back spin wears off and it slides without any spin at all for a brief moment, and then the friction with the cloth catches up with it and it starts to roll forward naturally. If the cue ball was still in the initial back spinning phase at the time it hits the object ball, then it will draw back after it hits the object ball (with a full hit), otherwise known as a draw shot. If the cue ball is in that short middle sliding period when it hits the object ball, then it will stop dead when it hits the object ball (with a full hit), otherwise known as a stop shot. If the cue ball is in the latter naturally rolling phase when it hits the object ball, then it will continue forward after hitting the object ball (with a full hit), otherwise known as a follow shot.
The distance the cue ball is able to travel forward with backspin on it before it transitions into sliding and then ultimately rolling is a function of both how low you hit the cue ball, and how hard you hit the cue ball (as well as amount of friction between ball and cloth).
If you hit the cue ball dead center, it starts off sliding and then transitions to rolling naturally, and how long that slide lasts is a function of speed (and amount of friction).
If you hit the cue ball at least 2/3rds of the way up or higher, it starts off with a natural roll to begin with, and so essentially every shot like this is a follow shot, and how far forward it follows after contact with the object ball is a function of speed (and amount of friction).
Remember that to accomplish a stop shot, the cue ball must be in that brief sliding stage when it comes into contact with the object ball.
Set up the cue ball and object ball 1/2 diamond apart and lined up straight for a pocket. Hit the cue ball absolutely as low as you possibly can, right at the cloth, and shoot the object ball into the pocket with the goal of trying to do a stop shot, where the cue ball stops absolutely dead in place at contact and does not drift in any direction, and does not have any spin on it either.
If the cue ball drifts left or right after it hits the object ball instead of stopping dead, then you know that either your aim was off, or your stroke/delivery was off. If the cue ball drifts forward, you know that you hit the cue ball at too slow of a speed and the sliding had worn off and it had already starting rolling forward again before it hit the object ball, and therefore it followed forward a bit after contact. If the cue ball draws back a bit after hitting the object ball, then you know that the hit was too hard, and the cue ball still had back spin on it (it had not yet reached the sliding stage) when it made contact with the object ball, and therefore it drew back. Keep hitting this same shot over and over again, always hitting the cue ball the absolute lowest you possibly can, until you get reliably get the speed right to make the cue ball stop dead.
Now take this same shot, with the cue ball and object ball 1/2 diamond apart and lined up for a pocket, but this time hit the cue ball mid way between the cloth and center ball/the equator. In other words now you will be shooting every shot about 1/4th of the way up from the cloth. Once again, find the speed that reliably gets you a perfect stop shot every time. You will find that it takes more speed now since you aren't hitting as low.
Now do this same shot again over and over, but this time hit just a hair below the equator every time, and find the speed that will be required to get a perfect stop shot every time. Once again you will find that this will require more speed than ever before (probably a pretty firm hit at this point) since you are hitting with less draw than ever before.
Now do this same shot set up the same as all the other previous times, but try it at all the other heights you can hit below center. Try it hitting 1/16th up from the cloth, then 2/16ths up from the cloth, then 3/16ths up from the cloth, and so on up to 7/16ths up from the cloth (just below center ball/the equator), finding the appropriate speed for each that allows you to get a perfect stop shot. Basically you are just filling in the gaps so that no matter where you hit between the cloth and center ball, you know the correct speed to use to get a successful stop shot.
Now do the same shot as all the times before, but make the distance between the cue ball and object ball be one full diamond instead of half a diamond like it always was before. With the balls one diamond apart, repeat the above whole process hitting the cue ball anywhere from the absolute bottom at the cloth to the equator (center ball), figuring out the appropriate corresponding speed for each that will result in a perfect stop shot.
Once you have mastered stop shots and one half diamond, and one diamond, move the balls to two diamonds apart, and repeat the whole process again. Hit the cue ball at every point from the cloth to the equator and find the corresponding appropriate speed that will result in a perfect stop shot for each.
Once you have mastered 1/2, 1, and 2 diamonds, move them 3 diamonds apart and do the whole process again until you have mastered it. Then repeat at 4 diamonds distance, then 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 9+ diamonds apart (where the cue ball is on the lip of one corner and the object ball is on the lip of the diagonal corner).
As the distance increases, stop shots become increasing harder to do. Don't move on to a longer distance until you have fully mastered stop shots AT ALL POSSIBLE SPEEDS at the shorter distances. The key word is mastered, not just successfully accomplished it a few times. If you are not having at least a 90% success rate at a particular distance, hitting them with every combination of cue ball contact point and speed, then it isn't time to move on yet as you haven't mastered that distance FOR ALL POSSIBLE SPEEDS yet. Once you exceed a 90% rate AT ALL POSSIBLE SPEEDS, move on to the next longer distance but still go back and do the shorter distances mixed in too so that you are building the long term muscle memory for how to do them all 90+% of the time AT ALL POSSIBLE SPEEDS. If yo don't do enough repetitions, often enough, it won't get committed to your long term muscle memory and you will quickly lose it, but once it is truly mastered and committed to the long term muscle memory it will be like riding a bike and will never go away.
You will just have to trust me on why all this is so important, and how much time it will cut off your learning curve to becoming a good player. I explained much of it in the last post but don't want to make another at the moment trying to put it into better words. Just trust me, I promise the benefits from learning stop shot at all distances, and all speeds for each distances, will pay off in spades that you will understand later.
