The best way to understand throw is to visualize spinning gears. One gear moves in a clockwise direction while the other moves in a counterclockwise direction. When the two meet, one causes the other to rotate. Okay, now let's apply that to the pool table.

If your cue ball is spinning in a clockwise direction, when it hits the object ball, it transfers the spin to that stationary ball, making it rotate in the opposite direction. Thus, the “gear effect.” The spin on the cue ball causes the object ball to be “thrown” in the opposite direction. So if you hit the cue ball using left English, the object ball is thrown to the right and if you use right English, the object ball will be thrown to the left.

Incorrectly gauging squirt, curve, and throw is the leading cause of missed shots when using English.

But keep in mind that the effect of throw due to the transfer of English from the cue ball to object ball is minimal at best. The thing that should be of main concern to you once you become an advanced player, is that certain angled shots will result in more throw, which means more transfer of spin to the object ball. The reason for that is with certain angles, the cue ball may “cling” to the object ball a tad longer, which gives it more time to transfer spin to the object ball.

Whew, this is getting really complicated, isn't it? You may want to seek out your local physicist! Just remember that throw is something you may want to spend some time on once you've become comfortable understanding the fundamental principles of squirt and curve.