Pool players often have trouble with drawing the ball. I get lots of players in my store coming in and asking me what they can do to improve their draw. Before I show them the proper way to draw the ball, I first like to go over the mistakes that they are likely making when attempting their shot.

The first mistake players make when trying to draw the ball is to lift the butt of their cue up so as not to jump it off the table. This is a very inefficient technique because of all the wasted energy that your cue is putting into the table. Shooting at a high angle like this also yields poor rotation on the cue ball. A much more efficient and powerful way of drawing the ball is to level out against the table. Shooting at this angle (or rather, lack of angle) will help transfer all of your energy through the ball.

Some people may know the correct techniques but they fail to implement them consistently. I don’t believe that any technique is worth doing unless it can be done every time. The best way to fix this inconsistency is to always start on the felt. Line up your shot using the leveling technique mentioned above. Next, stroke the cue tip on the felt a few times. Once you feel comfortable and you’re ready to shoot, bring it up one tip length. That ensures that you’re not guessing anymore and you can accurately hit the ball where you intend to.

Some players will do all the above techniques properly but when it’s time to actually hit the ball, they hit it just like it’s a normal stroke. That player may sink their shot but the cue ball will not draw very far after impact. To draw the ball properly, you need to snap it while also following through. This will make the cue ball spin backwards after impact.

The common phrase “Practice makes perfect” is a bit misleading. It seems to imply that as long as you keep doing something, you’ll eventually become the best at it. This is flat out wrong. If you continually do something wrong, you won’t improve, you’ll just figure out the quickest and most efficient way to do it incorrectly.

To improve in any aspect of life, you must practice using the proper techniques. Learning the right way to do something and then emulating that is the only true way to attain perfection. So, really a better phrase would be “Perfect practice makes perfect“. That is what I hope to impart on you today with my Pool Technique video.

We’re going to learn about how to properly follow the cue ball. Learning this technique will help you to become much more accurate and that will make it easier to sink balls.

The first thing to do is make sure your stick is level. You don’t want to angle your stick too high and transfer your energy into the table. You also don’t want to go over the top of the cue and transfer your energy over the ball. You want to hit the cue straight on, so that you transfer all your energy directly into the cue.The best practice is to create a reliable pre-shot routine and remember to do it each time you line up a shot.

Begin by leveling out your cue as I mentioned before. Then you want to aim just above the cue ball and then bring it down a tip-length. This will ensure that you are going to be hitting the cue ball straight on and it will transfer nearly all of your energy into the ball. It seems like a simple and obvious thing, but I’ve seen professional players who sometimes forget this relatively easy to grasp technique. Learn this technique and make it part of your daily routine and I guarantee your accuracy will begin to improve dramatically.