short draw shots
- Thread starter brigeton
- Start date
Need more information. What does 2" to 6" mean? Is it the distance between the cb and ob? Is it the distance you want to draw the cb back ? If it's the distance between the cb and ob, how far do you want to draw the cb back? If it's the distance you want to draw the cb, then what's the distance between the cb and ob?
If you mean the distance the cue ball draws back, start with a cue ball 6" from an o.b. and use a regular stroke (no snapping, jabbing, extra wrist action, punch, draw nonsense, etc.).
Simply take the regular stroke through the center cue ball hand bridge but with the butt of the cue slightly elevated to bring cue tip to a tip below center (or more based on preference). You can even make regular center ball practice strokes than elevate the cue slightly before the final backstroke for the shot.
Feel the top of the tip make contact with the c.b. so that this "draw stroke" is done softly, smoothly as with a regular center cue ball stroke but with "draw feel". Just a few minutes in practice will help you to draw the ball at will with great precision, 2", 6", 1 foot, etc.
I meant draw it back 2-6" from a foot or 2 away. I worked on it today and made some progress.
A good drill to work on shots like that is Mosconi's "ring around the side" drill. Put a semi-circle of five or six balls around the side pocket and then shoot them in order from left to right or right to left using draw to play on the next ball. You will learn exact control on soft draw shots with this drill.
Great. Thanks. Before you can decide which way to shoot that shot --- and it does vary --- you will have to quickly assess a few important things:
1.) Pocketing speed. Do not put the shot at risk. You must shoot it at a speed that gives you as close to 100% certainty as possible.
2.) The condition of the cloth. New and tightly pulled cloths will allow you to draw the ball easier than worn down and loose cloths. For example, on a new cloth, you may have to raise the tip up a bit to prevent the cb from flying back at you.
3.) The weight of the cb and ob: If the cb is heavier than the ob, then you will get less of a reaction. If it's lighter, you'll get more of a reaction.
I like to cue the ball as low as possible for backspin shots and adjust the speed, but that's not always possible when you assess the above three things. And by the way, that's pretty much true for all draw shots. Players all have their overall preference, but they will still need to be flexible enough to adjust to the conditions.
Condition of the balls? Dirty scratched up old vs New/good condition.
What do you think of shortening the stroke length for more draw with a softer stroke?
Does the shorter stroke simply make it easier to control the tip, or is there something else going on?
I can't remember seeing any straight rail carom or balkline players with long strokes.
Good points. I've never done a comparison between drawing with clean vs dirty balls with all other conditions being the same. That would be interesting to study.
As for the short stroke vs long stroke I think there are predominately two issues. One is stroke speed and the other is accuracy of tip placement. I think generating speed with an accurate tip placement is more difficult with a long stroke, and if you're not Mike Massey trying to draw the cb six rails, you probably don't need the extra length. I think when applying speed, shorter is better as long as you can get the results you want.
I think we know from painful lessons, at least subconsciously, about how accurate our strokes are and subconsciously adjust our tip/ball aim point to allow for inaccuracies. Your tip's "shot group" for a given stroke length/speed is likely smaller than mine, so (1) you can aim to hit closer to the miscue limit without stepping over the line too often and (2) you have more precise control of the CB in general.
pj
chgo
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I was working on it yesterday and found if I shorten my bridge length to a couple inches and hit the cue ball real low I have better control on the real short draws because I don't have room to generate too much cue speed. I remember Dr Dave suggestion that for touchy safeties.
I still need a lot of work controlling my draw on longer shots also. I was playing my wife 8 ball last night and ran down to the last ball leaving myself straight down the rail. The only option because of blockers was to draw about 3' back for a shot on the 8. I drew it 2-1/2' and hooked myself.
I still need a lot of work controlling my draw on longer shots also. I was playing my wife 8 ball last night and ran down to the last ball leaving myself straight down the rail. The only option because of blockers was to draw about 3' back for a shot on the 8. I drew it 2-1/2' and hooked myself.
That's true about making subconscious adjustments. I also adjust the angle of attack subconsciously, I think. It's probably the same for any player who's been playing for a long time.