If you have followed my Cue Ball Control articles 1 and 2 you should have practiced playing position with stop shots, draw and follow.
You should also be able to predict the path of the cue ball when you cut a ball with follow. The last installment of Cue Ball Control is predicting the path of the cue ball when playing draw.
In the diagram below the balls are enlarged to help visibility.
Step 1 – line up center cue ball to the center of the blue ball and note the contact point
Step 2 – line up the center of the target (yellow ball) to the center of the blue ball and note the contact point
Step 3 – find the midpoint between the 2 contact points and this will be your aim point
Now shoot a smooth draw stroke and the cue ball should draw right back into your target.
This is not only used for caroming into the 9 ball. You can use this for position play, breaking clusters and even safety play.
Richard Wojnarowski(called Wojo by most people) has been playing pool for about ten years and teaching pool for about three years. He started out as a self taught player where he would read every book he could get his hands on. With his knowledge of Math, Physics and computers he has helped improve his pool game and others.
Photo: Dominik Morbitzer/Flickr Editor: Dana Gornall