Long Pot Question?

[TamboTom]

Hello, i was just wondering why snooker players play a bit of drag on the cue ball when potting in some shots. I no it slows the ball down and is used for positioning but does it help pot the ball. I tried it today and i started to pot more in. Thankyou :snooker:

[jrc750]

Hi mate and welcome to the forum
I always assume its to stop any risk of the white drifting off line and missing the pot, ie you can play it quite hard to keep it on the correct line but the drag slows it down to the required pace......does that make sense...i use this shot quite a lot and is satisfying when it works just perfect

[Rethunk]

The drag itself doesn't help pot the ball, but because you can play a firmer shot using drag, you reduce the chance that the cue ball will roll slightly off the intended path.

If you shoot a very soft shot using a center ball hit, then the cue ball is a little bit more likely to deviate based on any imperfection in the playing surface. The cue ball isn't sliding across the cloth (as though on ice), it's rolling a bit like a wheel.

If you hit it off center, it may take a slightly curved path. You can think of it this way: the cue ball's forward momentum and sidespin are "fighting" for control of the ball's path. Which do you want to dominate? (This is not a great analogy, but in truth the physics get complicated. All the more reason to avoid unnecessary side!)

When you shoot a drag shot--which is essentially a screw shot that runs out of backspin a bit early--then the cue ball will be sliding (rather than rolling) across the cloth for much of its travel, and it'll be moving faster than a soft center ball shot. Even if there's a little bit of (unintentional) sidespin, the sidespin doesn't have much of a chance to "grab" the cloth to impart a curved path.

All that said, in most circumstances you should be able to shoot a screw shot, center ball, or drag shot and pot the ball equally well. If you pot better while using a drag or hard screw shot, but have more problems with soft shots, then you may be imparting a bit of unintentional side. It's also possible that for other reasons your stroke mechanics improve at a medium speed, perhaps because you usually pot at that speed.

Try setting up practice drills shooting the blue off its spot into one side, and then later into a corner. Try deep screw, normal screw, drag, hard center, and soft center shots. It may help to have a mate watch your shots and keep track of the number and types of misses so that you can focus on potting the ball; it can be hard to be objective about this sort of thing.

Finally, when shooting a ball, you want to consider not only whether you pot it, but what part of the pocket it landed in. Did it go in the left, center, or right side? That's another bit of information to check your accuracy.

[iancafc]

i use drag in long pots to slow and control the ball better

[hotpot]

Drag can be useful but is very hard to judge on long shots

[gazza147]

Alot Harder if the Table isn't 100% True!

[ace man]

Yes, it's hard, but think about it.
The other alternative would be to use a slow rolling shot. On 12ft distance? Very negative shot and there's much more chance of cue ball drifting away. Almost every good player out there avoids this shot like a plague. Only Mark Williams seems to be able to play it with confidence.
Good players will favour drag shots and stun run through (on shorter pots) as opposed to slow rolling. Good cue action and very precise tip placement is required. Not so good players with not so good cue actions will almost always resort to slow rolling the ball which is wrong. Having said that, yes, I roll the cue ball far too often...I'm looking to eliminate those negative shots in future.

[nrage]

Yes, it's hard, but think about it.
The other alternative would be to use a slow rolling shot. On 12ft distance? Very negative shot and there's much more chance of cue ball drifting away. Almost every good player out there avoids this shot like a plague. Only Mark Williams seems to be able to play it with confidence.
Good players will favour drag shots and stun run through (on shorter pots) as opposed to slow rolling. Good cue action and very precise tip placement is required. Not so good players with not so good cue actions will almost always resort to slow rolling the ball which is wrong. Having said that, yes, I roll the cue ball far too often...I'm looking to eliminate those negative shots in future.

Why is a slow rolling shot a negative one? I think you have to be very confident to play a slow roll, and provided you play it 'fast enough' you should avoid a lot of drift.. especially on the thinner cloths.