14.1 players know that on a cut shot of say 20°-40° the initial path of the cue ball can be slightly altered back or forward, particularly on a firm stroke. This knowledge often comes in to play on a break shot, and the initial path of the cue ball is actually opposite of what one might think.All of the curved lines are curved from the start. It is not so apparent with the curves that are broader. It is a common mistake to think the initial path is a straight line. The shape of the curve is a parabola and those don't have flat spots.
That having been said, the path with draw/follow is initially a straight line if the cue ball has left the table. If you jack up and hit a draw cut shot hard you can get the cue ball to bounce forward. If you view that path from above, it looks straight until the cue ball lands and then it takes a jog, and if it keeps bouncing, you get a series of jogs rather than a curve. But that's a totally different situation. And the initial path is forward of the tangent line.
If your break ball lies towards the bottom of the pack to where you’re not even sure if the cue ball is going to contact the corner ball (after contact with the object ball), hitting the shot with a firm stroke and extreme draw will actually decrease your chances of catching a part of that corner ball, whereas hitting it with a firm stroke with extreme follow will give you a better chance of contacting that corner ball.