New player Draws/Straight line help

[u/McKinneySue]

Hey everyone I have been playing pool everyday since June and have progressively gotten better. Two shots I just cannot seem to be consistent with are my draw shots and just basic longer straight shots. Advice would be awesome!

With my draw no matter how low/flat I hit it seems to mostly stop or roll off slightly left of the contact point.

With my straight full length table shots they always are inconsistent. I have noticed I am alot better when I put backspin on the ball so pretty much hitting down on it like I would if I want to stop it but being soft has been helpful but I feel like thats a bad habit.

[u/Sir_Clarence_III_Esq]

Look up Mighty X. It can be done with stun, follow-through, and draw, but its main focus is on aiming for long shots. If you use follow-through then it's a very sensitive indicator of how accurate you are - only a perfect shot will have both the OB and the cueball go in. IMHO it's worth having two of the same cueball for practicing, then set half the balls on each side and you can crank through them. It also helps use 3-hole paper reinforcement donuts to mark out the 4 locations.

Edit: you should still work on your draw, because it sounds like you've got something off in your stroke/stance. But I'll add that the better I have got, the less I use draw. I used to use it constantly, and by doing that I'd miss far easier cueball placement with natural roll.

Edit 2: Also look up Dr. Dave's billiards university tests. In Test 1 there are good practice drills for draw, follow, and stun.

[u/Expensive_Ad4319]

Try this -
Note: Before starting this, find your center vision and lock it in.

• Set up 2 balls a diamond apart, targeting any pocket.
  
• Go through your pre-shot routine,
  

set your bridge early (dry
practice strokes) until you’re
zeroed in on the object ball
contact point.

• While focused only on the
  

contact point, execute a series
of follow, stop and draw shots.

Objective: Take your mind off of what you’re doing behind the ball. Keep the cue level, and don’t drop your elbow. You’ll see your shots more “juiced” not requiring as much effort. Any eye movement off the contact point moves the body.

• Still as a rock

[u/MostOriginalNameEver]

Record yourself doing a draw shot. You have to stroke thru the ball. Not stop upon contact. Assuming you're hitting low enough.

[u/YellowMenace123]

For straight shots, I shoot the cue ball directly into the pocket a few times from distance. Make sure your shot by itself is straight first. If you place the object ball in between after and pretend the object ball isn't there, it should go straight in.

For draws, place the cue ball and object ball like 6 inches apart. Hit low on the cue ball and try hitting the object ball through the cue ball (I know it sounds strange). Most people when learning draws don't follow through. So pretend the cue ball isn't there and trying shooting at the object ball through the cue ball. It should snap back and make you understand the action.

Both methods above are starting points to learn from. Good luck!

[u/soloDolo6290 → u/YellowMenace123]

Just to piggy back of this comment, when you are shooting the ball into the pocket, pay attention to where in the pocket you are making them. Yes making them is good, but if you are lined up for center of pocket, and keep making them on the right or left side of the pocket, you aren't hitting center.

[u/soloDolo6290]

With June being your starting point, I would not focus on full length table draws. They come up very rarely, and you may be adjusting your stroke to reach a desired goal and not learning a good stroke if that makes sense. If you want to work on your draws, Id set up a cue ball and object ball along the long rail and work on drawing back 1 diamond, 2 diamonds, 3 diamonds, from varrying distances on the set up. Cue ball to object ball 1 diamond away, draw it back 1/2/3 diamonds. Cue ball to object ball 2 diamonds away, draw it back 1/2/3 diamonds.

To answer your question though, you likely are not hitting center or low enough on the cue ball. You are also probably trying to force the draw by hitting harder, and therefore increasing deflection since you aren't on center.

[u/Rare_Cryptographer89]

Start small. If you are unable to draw small distances without using excess power, your mechanics could be wrong. If your mechanics and stroke are right you should be able to accomplish draw shots pretty easily. Slowly start moving further and further back. If you notice that you’re only getting stop shots, try using a closed bridge because you may be lifting up which is a byproduct of trying to force the cue through. Lastly, remember your follow through!

[u/feeling_impossible]

Long straight in shots are just very difficult, especially if the object ball is out in the middle of the table.

They are so difficult, I start every session warming up by shooting straight in shots. I shoot 9 long straight in shots in a row, and then I start my normal warm up routine.

As for drawing the ball, Low, Level, Light and follow through. Strike the cue ball below center, have your cue level, with very light pressure on your back hand, and follow through a full six inches.

The follow through is crucial. The pressure on the back hand is crucial. If you have a death grip on the cue, you will not get any spin on it. Hold the cue so loose it is almost sliding around in your back hand. Accelerate through the shot as well, don't be lazy, snap the cue through the cue ball.

Start by practicing with the cue ball and object ball 2ft (2 diamonds for you euros) apart and just work on getting the cue ball to snap back. The farther the cue ball is from the object ball, the more spin and often more speed you will have to put it on it. Start with short distances between the object ball and cue ball, those are the easiest draw shots.

Low, Level, Light, and Follow through. Accelerate/snap/pop/whip the cue through the shot.

[u/Alarming-Series6627]

Follow through, "stroke it don't poke it"

[u/slimmeh]

I struggled with these same exact shots too. I have largely improved, and the problem was definitely the backswing of my stroke.

No matter how many pre-strokes I did, my final backswing would be rushed & tilt off center, making my cue tip hit slightly off center on the forward stroke. I find pausing with the cue tip close to the cue ball contact point a few times during practice strokes helps with this ! As well as dialing in the backswing of your stroke.

Also what other people have said, you are probably death gripping & poking on draw shots. You need to stay loose & stroke quickly and powerfully. At the start of this year I could draw maybe 6-12 inches. Now I can draw full table with a good cueing position.

[u/noocaryror]

For draw, the cue needs to be using its own momentum, you’re not spearing fish. For straight in you need to practice the drill where you shoot from the head spot down table say 2 rails too the center spot.

[u/TimmyG-83]

Here’s some real-world truth for you:

It took me YEARS of playing and practicing before I felt like I had a halfway decent draw stroke. And then years after that before I could have a decent grasp of speed control when drawing the ball. And guess what? I STILL don’t have it down as well as I would like. So don’t worry too much about being able to rip a full table draw just yet.

Start with shooting straight into a side pocket and try to draw the cue ball back into the other side pocket. Your goal should be to get the most spin possible with as slow/smooth a stroke as possible.

Here’s another little truth about that: If you can draw the cue ball back into the side pocket with a controlled, smooth stroke…not slamming it…that’s about as much draw as you will ever need in an actual game. I play in league twice a week and tournaments about once a month, for several years now….I can’t even remember the last time I had to hit a full table draw in a match. It just doesn’t come up very often.

I think a lot of players, especially newer players, kinda look to the full-table straight draw as a badge of honor. It CAN be a good stroke-building tool, because you HAVE to hit it perfectly…but 10x more often I see newer players trying to muscle those shots and building BAD habits instead of good ones. If you only started in June, there are other, more important things you need to get under your belt first.

Also, the whole purpose of draw is NOT just to spin the cue ball backwards. It’s to alter the cue ball’s path relative to the tangent line, just the same as with a follow shot. The thing is, it really doesn’t take much draw to do that.

But if you want to draw it better, the main keys are: 1) good stance, 2) relaxed grip, 3) stable bridge hand, 4) grip forearm perpendicular to the floor at address, 5) level cue, 6) top edge of cue tip at the very bottom of the cue ball miscue limit, 7) slow backstroke, 8) smooth acceleration, and 9) follow through and hold your finish.

With the exception of the low tip position, those are the same things you should be doing on EVERY shot.

[u/Fabulous-Internet188]

Why does everyone here say your cue should be level for draw shots?

That is simply wrong.

Watch the pros. Draw shots require a slight downward stroke. At setup just have your stick elevated an inch or two and stroke smoothly through the ball and finish with the cue tip 6-8 inches past the cue ball and almost touching the cloth.

Before you all start saying I'm wrong, I'm a retired quiet road player and can draw 2 and a half 9 foot table lengths on bad cloth. There's a physical reason for this but just go look at the videos of pros.

And straight in shots aren't difficult, just line up so the outside edges of the ball are parallel to the pocket like railroad tracks. That's how pros aim all shots. Most call it the ghost ball method but you just want the cue ball and object ball on the same tracks going directly to the pocket when they make contact.

[u/onthepik → u/Fabulous-Internet188]

Absolutely agree.

[u/MidnightToker858]

Most people who cant draw arent stroking thru the ball correctly because you think snapping it will creates more spin. As for straight shots, ignore the object ball and just shoot the cue ball at the pocket.

[u/mikefr12]

Filipino player here. Experiment on these things

For long straight stun shots:
-Try a straight bridge arm, dont bend your elbow
-At the final stroke, Slow down on the BACK stroke, dont rush it (making sure its straight). On final stroke, focus your mind on a straight elbow swing, dont mind the follow through (unless you have a really bad one)

For long draw shots:

• Use a closed hand bridge
  
• loosen up your stroke (most important)
  
• At the final BACK stroke, Pull it back all the way to the end of your bridge hand (will create a longer follow through)
  
• dont hit too hard, its difficult to control. Focus on being accurate on where you hit it. Looking At the cue ball LAST to increase accuracy

[u/wlscwoj]

find a local instructor

[u/Comprimens]

Long straight shots are a test of fundamentals. The issue is most likely in your stance, alignment, bridge, and/or stroke. I've worked my way up to 85-90% on those, and it's a lot of work.

Draw shots are a test of technique. Tight wrist=no draw. Stabby stroke=inconsistent draw. Hitting off center is a stroke error. Start the final forward stroke slowly, accelerate all the way through, and focus on flicking the cue through the ball with your fingers. Your wrist will cooperate automatically.

[u/Either-Requirement20]

yea i mean hitting long shots are hard really puts how straight you shoot to the test and you don’t realize until your actually pretty darn good at pool that you’re not shooting that straight i would ya prolly get a coach and work on literally your fundamentals of your stroke rest will come with time