For screw shots I strongly recommend longer waggles in the preparation.

What is needed is a smooth cue action and a clear pause at the end of the back swing before driving the cue through, striking the cue ball below centre, as marked back spin in Figure 1, and following through on a straight line.

If the waggles are short, the shot will he more difficult as the last back swing has to be longer. There will be loss of rhythm in the stroke. To make sure this doesn't happen, prepare for the actual shot with each waggle and get a feeling for how much power is required.

I must emphasize the need to follow "The Drill" that I talked about in a previous link, and how important it is to stay absolutely still on the shot. The harder you hit the cue ball, the more chance there is of error creeping in, especially in striking the cue ball where not intended.

The lower you strike the cue ball, the more back-spin (screw) will be imparted to it. To find out what happens is a case of trial and error. If you strike the cue ball just below centre and for the purpose of this exercise the object ball is no more than a foot away, the cue ball will come back only a short distance once it has made contact.

If you address the cue ball a little lower still, and providing the shot is played correctly and at the same speed, the cue ball will travel back further.

Keep practicing the various distance and strength related shots to develop the right feeling for whatever shot you may wish to play. Do not however, make the mistake of lining up the cue ball directly behind the object ball so that when the shot is played the cue ball travels backwards towards you - an exercise usually practiced on the blue spot.

If you do this, also remember that having struck the cue ball, the cue has to be withdrawn quickly into the air for fear of the cue ball travelling back and coming into contact with the cue tip. This defeats the whole object of good cueing, which is to make the cue strike straight and follow-through. With this shot you just don't have time to follow-through properly.

I shudder when I see coaches lining up a straight pot with cue ball and object ball only six inches apart and asking the player to screw back. The player is so preoccupied with getting the cue out of the way of the cue ball as it comes back, that he will not only pull the cue back but probably jump up on the shot as well!

All that is required to prevent this is to make the pot slightly off centre. When the tip of the cue comes into contact with the cue ball, you can follow-through as usual and there will be no need to stand up quickly to remove the cue from the path of the cue ball.

Instead you can stay down on the shot and check that everything has been done correctly

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