Making Your Shot. The Long Draw Dilemma! This was taken from Famous pool Coach Jerry Briesath—who I have personally worked with. Be sure to check out his site. Enjoy!
Q: Is there something you do differently on a long draw shot as opposed to a medium or short draw shot?
A: By the way you state your question I think you’re okay on the short draw shots but have trouble with a long draw shots.The only difference between the two is that you must use more power on the long draw shots and that’s where the problem comes in because when we shoot hard we lose some control of where the tip strikes the cue ball. Novice players tend to speed up the backswing as they use more power.
One of the ways to overcome this and make your power draw more consistent is to slow down the backswing.
One more thing to check is your follow-through.
As you accelerate the cue through the cue ball, the tip must strike the cue ball at least 1 3/4 tips below center then continue through the cue ball into the cloth and scrape the cloth the remaining three or four inches of the follow-through. If the tip does not end up on the cloth at the end of a draw shot you are dropping your elbow during the swing which causes you to strike the cue ball higher than where you aimed.
Check out his three DVD set “A Pool Lesson” at Jerry Briesath’s Pool School.
Photo: Camila Ulloa/Flickr Editor: Edith Lazenby