I have written a few articles that focus on draw shots, and I’ve encouraged you to practice your draw and develop the ability to control how far the cue ball comes back.  What I’m going to do in this article is give you some drills and tricks so you can be more precise with your cue ball draw.

Before we get started, it is important to check your cue ball and make sure it is the same size as the balls you are using.  Working with an under or oversized cue ball will make your life more difficult and the learning process will take that much longer.  If you do play with non-standard equipment, learn how to measure draw shots with a standard cue ball, and then adjust from there.

The first step in learning this important skill is knowing how to hit stop shots at varying distances.  Here is the first drill to get you started.  Aim for the 1 ball and hit a stop shot. Then put the cue ball back at the head string and repeat this shot with the 2 ball on down to the 5 ball. Once you can do each one successfully, shoot at them out of order to simulate game conditions.

 

Once you have mastered hitting a stop shot at varying distances, you can use this knowledge to control the distance the cueball will draw back.

Now here is the trick:

To draw your cue ball back a certain distance, imagine a ghost ball in front of the object ball at an equal distance to the amount of draw you would like to create from the object ball. Now hit a stop shot to that ghost ball.  If that sounds a little confusing, take a look at this diagram:

 

Developing the feel for drawing the cue ball back a measured amount is invaluable in position play.  Using this concept will give you a basic structure to develop your feel for draw shots.

Experiment with these drills for a while, and before you know it you will be playing at a much higher level.

Good luck and see you on the road!