What is a drag shot in snooker?

Answer 1

(A) DEFINITIONS:

There are three excellent websites dealing with the rules and terms pertaining to snooker and the said sites are cited as Sources at the bottom.

The two definitions of "drag shot" as gleaned form the foregoing sites are now appended hereunder for your information.


Definition I:

Drag Shot :A shot played slowly and with heavy draw so that the cue ball can be struck firmly but with a lot of the pace taken out, allowing more control than just a gentle tap that would travel as far.

Definition II:

drag, drag shot: A shot played over a large distance but with much backspin, often utilized when delicate contact between cue ball and object ball is required. The backspin, or drag, helps to nullify the effects of any deviancies in the table surface that may cause the cue ball to wander off course when played at low speed.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_cue_sports_terms

http://www.chemistrydaily.com/chemistry/Snooker

http://www.billiardindex.com/ContentGlossary.html


(B) EXPLANATIONS:

In addition, the website

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/cue_sports/26873/2

very nicely encapsulates the various features of drag shot.

SOME Excerpts:

“initially move faster, but travel less. This is the classic drag-shot, which is often used in snooker for long shots which require a slow-moving collision. If the ball was just struck gently, there would be much less control, and any interaction with the nap of the cloth, or roll on the table, would affect the aim.

Additionally, if the ball described collided head-on with another ball before point B, then the shot would be a screw-back, where the cue-ball would return along its direction of travel after the collision because of the extra backspin.

This exchange between spin and velocity is what makes the motion of balls in Snooker147 & Poolster so realistic and it means that:

after a collision with another ball, the cue ball will generally move in an arc, rather than in a straight line; applying top spin will cause follow-through after a collision; applying bottom spin can cause a screw-back(or english), a drag-shot or a stun-shot.”

Answer 2

Hey Give the other guy 10 points he is rite bottom draw to slow the ball down not just snooker, its next door to a stop shot but it rolls a little for position Just like hair sometimes you need a little finrss sometimes you need a lot