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Nov 15, 2004 :: The Four Stages of Pool
The Four Strokes of Pool
Stroke #4 – The Draw Strokes
I give this a plural because there are more than one draw stroke. It is not enough to simply pull the cue ball back towards you with a sharp jabbing motion. The draw stroke is the most abused stroke in pocket billiards today. In The Lesson I devote 12 pages to this great stroke. Here are the four draw strokes:
1. The follow through draw
2. The snap back draw
3. The bounce back draw
4. The snip draw
If you use the wrong draw stroke you will not get positive results and you will have no control of the cue ball. You must master each draw stroke and know when to use them.
The draw strokes calls for a snap delivery. You must push the cue tip through the cue ball faster than the cue ball leaves you tip. In other words, the tip is almost all the way through the cue ball before the cue ball takes off. Since the cue tip is faster than the cue ball, the cue ball will immediately spin backwards. This causes the cue ball to come back to you.
With the
follow through draw, the cue tip is not spinning backwards until it has traveled a few feet. Your tip pushes through in a follow through motion. When the cue ball contacts the object ball, it will slide away and then begin to come back. This is an important stroke to use when you want to control the position the cue ball will end up in following a draw stroke.
The
snap back draw is dramatic. You snap through the cue ball in a quick jab. The cue ball will immediately pick up spin and come right back at you. You will tighten up the line it returns on. In The Lesson I show you how to get the cue ball to two separate places on the table off the same shot simply by changing one draw stroke for another.
The
snip draw is the most popular of the draw strokes. You shoot down on the cue ball. The main purpose of the snip draw is not so much to draw the cue ball back to you but to kill the cue ball and throw the object ball. In the “touch no rail” exercise you will not succeed if you do not command the snip draw. This is a vital stroke to have. You use right or left and snip the cue ball.
The
bounce back draw. This is really a “stun” backwards. You are not trying to spin the cue ball back. You are trying to bounce it back from the object ball. There are times in a game when your command of this stroke is the difference between winning and losing.
The draw stroke calls for you to dramatically snap the cue tip through the cue ball. When you do that, this stroke imparts spin on the cue ball. Once you get the cue ball coming back to you with this stroke, try the same stroke with one cue tip above center. Deliver your finest draw stroke and you will see what a force follow is. The force follow is really a draw stroke. The stroke determines the track line. The stroke determines the cue ball speed. The cue tip location has nothing to do with what stroke you are using.
If you want to be a consistent player you must possess the four strokes of pool. There are times when you mix them up. A shot may call for a little follow and a lot of punch. Or punch force follow. Begin your training now. The second stage of pocket billiards is the four strokes of pool. Master them. You can do it. It is time for you to do it right.
To recap, the Four Strokes of Pool are:
#1 – The Punch Stroke
#2 – The Follow Stroke
#3 – The Spin Stroke
#4 – The Draw Strokes
