Problems with power shots!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter amateur
  • Start date Start date
A

amateur

Guest
Hi!

I'm sure there are many with the same problem...I can't seem to get any kind of control on power shots. The table we use at our club is very slow and you really need to work a little harder with the cue ball at 9ball games. The problem is most evident on long draw shots where I often miscue...I make them right only about 10% of the time. My power follow shots are also not impressive.

I have no problems when I reduce the speed of the shot to say 50-60% of max, but with that speed I'm unable to perform full length draws on our slow table (if there is a great distance between cue ball and object ball).

I shoot low, follow through, drop the elbow if power is needed...and all works ok for low to medium speed draw shots...pretty much goes like intended. But if I need to increase the speed of the shot significantly, all hell breaks loose. I know that you're not supposed to have to execute long draws too often, but I'm intermediate at best and my positional game is far from perfect!

My skill level? I run 1 rack of 9ball every now and then, and my high run at 14.1 is 28 balls.

Is there something fundamentally wrong with my stroke that shows only on power shots? Or is it something that simply comes with practice?

Thanks for listening...

alex
 
the length of the shot is overwhelming your judgement, so you are jabbing hard because you think you need all that power. you might even be hitting the CB too low to get that draw. so there's the miscue.

try to "scoop" your stroke. angle your cue slightly down and try to scoop your cue upwards on the follow through.
 
wont the scooping make your stroke erroneous?

i always tell my peers when performing a draw shot to just follow through, dont mind the cloth or the table. nevermind if he breaks his favorite cue, there's always a house cue...:D

also, i must say that scooping is most effective when applying extreme top spins...although i dont use top spins most of the time...;)
 
amateur said:
Hi!

I'm sure there are many with the same problem...I can't seem to get any kind of control on power shots. The table we use at our club is very slow and you really need to work a little harder with the cue ball at 9ball games. The problem is most evident on long draw shots where I often miscue...I make them right only about 10% of the time. My power follow shots are also not impressive.

I have no problems when I reduce the speed of the shot to say 50-60% of max, but with that speed I'm unable to perform full length draws on our slow table (if there is a great distance between cue ball and object ball).

I shoot low, follow through, drop the elbow if power is needed...and all works ok for low to medium speed draw shots...pretty much goes like intended. But if I need to increase the speed of the shot significantly, all hell breaks loose. I know that you're not supposed to have to execute long draws too often, but I'm intermediate at best and my positional game is far from perfect!

My skill level? I run 1 rack of 9ball every now and then, and my high run at 14.1 is 28 balls.

Is there something fundamentally wrong with my stroke that shows only on power shots? Or is it something that simply comes with practice?

Thanks for listening...

alex
Click to expand...

I think the problem may be thinking that you need more power in your shot. Power is not a good term in pool, imho. Speed is a much better term and describes what you need, I believe. You absolutely need to follow through but not necessarily so much that you have to drop your elbow. Try not dropping your elbow, shorten your follow through just a little and concentrate on adding speed not power to your stroke. Loosen up that grip too. Make sure your bridge is solid too, don't allow the shaft to wobble in your bridge if you use a closed bridge.
 
I'm unsure how to explain the process, but I solved the very same problem in my game by changing how I accelerated the cue. It's as if you have the mindset, "I gotta swing it hard to hit it hard." I shifted my bridge back an inch or so, and my grip on the butt a corresponding amount rearward, and deliberately accelerated the cue more slowly. I think that previously, trying to suddenly accelerate the cue was introducing a slight sideways component into my swing, throwing the shot off just enough to blow it.

What came out was something much like my break stroke, which is different than my shooting stroke. It gives me far more available power than I'd ever need for a normal shot, and my accuracy immediately improved.
 
I'm pretty sure scooping the cue will throw it off more, unless it's an extreme follow thru shot. I agree with RickW on this one, it's not more "power" you need, it's more "speed". To apply more power you usually need more momentum, which in turn throws off your balance, contact point on the CB, which in turn changes your contact point of your CB and OB. Try slowing it down a bit, concentrate on your contact point on the CB, the follow thru...don't poke/jab at the CB, stroke thru it and I think you'll see a difference in the outcome! You shouldn't feel a hard "hit" when shooting thru a ball, you should feel less resistence. Kind of like hitting the "sweet spot" on a golf ball...you don't even feel the contact with the ball hardly.
Best of luck...
Zim
 
Alex,

Another point I'll bring up is that is that people (myself included) tend to jump up on power shots. Make sure your staying down. Something I'll do when I'm having problems staying down is to stroke the shot a second time. In other words after you've stroked the cueball, bring the cue back agian, slight pause and then stroke as if your hitting the shot. It might look funny but it really helps you to stay down.

Shayne
 
Something overlooked by all is that if a person does not have good form to begin with and tries to power the cue ball, or any extreme shot out of the norm, his flaws will show up sooner than later.

Scooping the cue? Don't listen to that guy, he's doesn't know what he is talking about...

Just like baseball or golf, if something erratic happens trying to hit the ball, it usually goes to form and follow through.
It is the same for Pool. Most people are really stupid about Pool, and do not take the time to learn, look up, or even ask someone above a 7 speed, what the proper form is for Pool. The very best of any sport, all have good form and follow through, with maybe a couple of exceptions (always oddballs in every sport).

Their is a difference between putting a lot of english (or spin) on the cue ball and powering a shot. When you power a shot, you hit the cue ball closer in to the center of a cue ball than when you just want a lot of english or spin. An example might be to perform a carom shot where you can only hit so much of the object ball, but need the cue ball to deflect at a wider angle than it normally would.

Angling your cue downward on a draw shot, especially a long one, is the fastest way to kill the cue ball reaction when it hits the object ball. Just cue low on the cue ball and keep the butt as low as you can, and follow through smoothly. Practice that, and in no time, you will be drawing the cue the table length and more.

By the way, I read 3 books on Pool and billiards and watched the best players in town for 6 months before I picked up a cue. I approached it as a sport, not a game, and I feel this is the best mindset to have if you want to be any good at it. And as Jimmy Caras, 3 time world champion, told me when I was 14, 70% of the game is cue ball control.

I am considered a 'player' (up to $2-3,000 sets), have played
over 40 years, and am the current Kansas State BCA Champion.
 
Many players tend to flinch when adding power. Power is something you would do well to avoid. Increase cue speed, or the length of your stroke, but never try to force feed the pockets. I compare it to watering your house plants with a fire hose. I have explained this many time with the break shot, but it is true of all shots. Tensing up occurs in the best of players. The only thing that should move is your shooting arm, from the elbow down. If anything else is moving, stop moving it.

Scooping. You would be surprised how you can effectively and acurately draw the cue ball back by using a smooth, level stroke. You do not even need to stroke the cue ball as low as you might think. My suggestion is to take your stroke to a qualified instructor that can guide you away from bad habits.


Always remember: NEVER SACRIFICE ACCURACY FOR POWER.
 
Last edited:
locki said:
wont the scooping make your stroke erroneous?

i always tell my peers when performing a draw shot to just follow through, dont mind the cloth or the table. nevermind if he breaks his favorite cue, there's always a house cue...:D

also, i must say that scooping is most effective when applying extreme top spins...although i dont use top spins most of the time...;)
Click to expand...

it's a trick a friend showed me. he told me to scoop, and proceeded to demonstrate.

IN FACT, he DIDN"T scoop. his cue actually leveled out, but he THOUGHT he was scooping! this move covered a multitude of sins for me and taught me the importance of perception. i noticed too, that players with a natural "scoop" tend to get english on the ball while staying close to center. it's all in the followthrough. so scooping smoothed out my stroke and followthrough, kept it from being choppy.

and i also think that timing is important. blackjack touched on something i do a lot.......flinching. my flinch is a MENTAL FLINCH. near the moment of impact, my brain does a mental blink,,,a momentary loss of acute awareness.
 
Last edited:
welcome back blackjack

Blackjack said:
Many players tend to flinch when adding power. Power is something you would do well to avoid. Increase cue speed, or the length of your stroke, but never try to force feed the pockets. I compare it to watering your house plants with a fire hose. I have explained this many time with the break shot, but it is true of all shots. Tensing up occurs in the best of players. The only thing that should move is your shooting arm, from the elbow down. If anything else is moving, stop moving it.

Scooping. You would be surprised how you can effectively and acurately draw the cue ball back by using a smooth, level stroke. You do not even need to stroke the cue ball as low as you might think. My suggestion is to take your stroke to a qualified instructor that can guide you away from bad habits.


Always remember: NEVER SACRIFICE ACCURACY FOR POWER.
Click to expand...


I sir agree with your every word, it's great your back, a great player, a great author and teacher, you have been missed. :)
 
Hey guys!

Thanks a lot for good advices. Did a few tests on draw a few hours ago.

With open bridge, closed bridge and rail bridge. Closed bridge gave me a little more confidence and little less miscues, but I couldn't really draw any better with it than with open style. Anyway, after half an hour of shooting I could do table length draws with both bridges about 30% of the time. Other 70 percent were more like "half table" draws, LOL.

My rail bridge was my weakest.

A few months ago, I was having trouble even getting a little draw so I must be getting somewhere.

I studied some of the pro's too.

I have a few 9ball matches on my computer, but in all of them those damn players play such good position that every shot they play is almost always soft with very little need for power. Just a few long draw shots by Mika Immonen and Hui Kai Hsia. I have replayed those shots many times. Looks effortless from both.

In one short snooker clip I have there is that left handed Jimmy White guy who puts unbelievable draw on the cue ball. I wouldn't really know, but many guys claim he's the king of the draw shot. He hits very low with a lot of speed. How the hell does he generate that kind of speed? Drawing a full table length draw on a 12 footer with slow cloth? Give me a break!

Cheers!

alex

p.s.

On getting classes? I thought about it. When I will have time and/or money, maybe I'll sign up for Ralf Souquet's training camp or Allison Fisher's pool school.
 
Last edited:
Zims Rack said:
You should see Mike Massey shoot a draw shot!!!

Zim
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, on the circular draw shot, one of Artistic tougher shots, Mike hits that one just awesome. The only guy I saw shoot it better is former TASA world champion Rick Wright of Stockbridge, Ga. Jimmy Moore could spank it too. David Howard as well.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top