Billiardclick.com

Mel Larsen recently spoke to us at Billiardclick.com about his unique hand crafted one-off cue cases.

Each case is carefully sculpted by hand into a shark.  The quality of the materials and workmanship is clearly unsurpassed.  He is currently on number 32 of 100.  Each case has a unique look about it making them highly desirable collectors items.

There will only ever be 100 made.

The picture above is from a cue case he did for Mike Massey.  He has made 4 for Mike Massey altogether.

Just imagine walking into a pool hall with one of these.

Next part coming soon!

Chalking your cue tip should be an every shot occurence.  The reason being that when we do not chalk the tip it becomes easy for the fibres within the tip to become impacted.  When they are impacted then it becomes very hard for the tip to ‘grip’ the cueball.  The chalk holds the fibres open and stops them from fusing together.

Different types of chalk can offer slightly different effects.  Some chalk has larger particles than others.  If the particles are too large it may result in ‘layering’ which is unwanted.  Layering is when too much chalk is held in microscopic layers upon the surface of the tip.  This can lead to poor contacts and miscuing.

Chalk is very much a preference item, but once you get a brand you like then stick to it.  The consistency of using the same chalk every time will help your game improve.

© Duncan Noakes - Fotolia.com

Do you want to make chalk hold to your cue tip better?

Technically anyone who answered ‘no’ to that is in the wrong frame of mind somehow.  The Tip Pik (pictured) with its set of spikes will perforate the tip slightly thus allowing more chalk to be captured between the fibres.  This is great news if you want to cut down on miscues and gain better control over the cue ball.  Altogether a really great tool for the pool cue case.  Just don’t over use it.  It can make a tip unusable for those who over enthusiastically use this every two seconds.

Available from every good stockist of pool equipment.

The DVD ‘The Baron And The Kid‘  starring Johnny Cash is about to be released in the UK on the 26th January 2009.  As we eagerly await the release of this DVD please find a brief synopsis below.  We will provide a DVD review in due course.

Synopsis:
The legendary Johnny Cash stars as William Addington - `The Baron’ - a former pool pro whose lifetime of boozing has cost him his career and family. In a final effort to straighten out his life, he quits drinking and plays pool for charity.

Billy Joe “The Cajun Kid” Stanley (Gregg Webb) is a brash, but gifted, young pool player. Managed by Jack Streamer (Darren McGavin), he travels from hall to hall swindling rivals.

Incredibly Cash discovers that “The Kid” is really his own son and now he has the chance to make amends for the errors of his life. He determines to try to guide the boy while keeping his real identity a secret.

Buy here at:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Massè
The art of the masse deserves a whole book by itself and will be difficult to
condense into just one short chapter. The masse shot is basically to make the
cue ball curve , by striking down onto it, to produce a desired path in order to
contact/pot an object ball that otherwise would have been difficult or
impossible to hit/pot using a normal shot. Great care must be taken in
undertaking these shots as damage to cloth , cues and even the table can occur.

Masse 1
In the diagram we can see that the object ball is not with in the cue balls visual
path . We can use Masse to overcome this problem and curve around to make
the pot. The 1st example is one of the easier Masse shots (if there is such a thing) as the object ball is over the pocket and it should just take a tap from the cue ball to pot it.
Remember to use a firm but not hard hit.   The idea cannot be expressed fully
with words as it is more of an artistic interchange , but it is helpful to think
about it like this: Masse is created by squeezing the cue ball against the table
so that it slides outwards, then after friction takes effect on the cue ball the roll
starts from the spin generated, then it continues this path to the target.

Excerpted from the 8ballsecrets.com ebook www.8ballsecrets.com

Interview with Ewa Mataya Laurance (2005)

Photo (C) www.strikingviking.com

Can you tell me a little about how you started playing pool in Sweden? How young were you when you first played and did you have natural ability?
I STARTED PLAYING AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN. I FOLLOWED MY BROTHER INTO THE POOL ROOM ONE DAY, AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE GAME PRETTY MUCH INSTANTLY. I HAVE ALWAYS HAD GOOD EYE/HAND COORDINATION, AND EVEN IN THE BEGINNING, THE GAME SEEMED TO COME NATURALLY TO ME.

What has been your best achievement in your life to date?
MY DAUGHTER NIKKI. OH, AND WINNING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND US OPENS RANK RIGHT UP THERE ALSO…

Gaining your place in the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2004 must be quite an honour.  What do you think about the fact that you are only the fifth female player to be included?
OBVIOUSLY IT’S AN AMAZING FEELING.  WHEN YOU WIN A BIG CHAMPIONSHIP, THE “HIGH” LASTS A FEW WEEKS. WHEN YOU GET RECOGNIZED IN YOUR SPORT BY BEING INDUCTED INTO THE  HALL OF FAME, IT TENDS TO STAY WITH YOU FOR A WHILE…

I see that you do exhibitions, tradeshows and other events.  Do you think that this sort of thing helps you mentally prepare in any way for competitive play, or do you perceive any other benefits/hazards?
UNFORTUNATELY THERE ARE MORE HAZARDS THAN BENEFITS. I HAD TO MAKE A DECISION WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS YOUNG TO EITHER GIVE THE GAME UP OR FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE A LIVING AT IT. EVEN THOUGH I WAS RANKED NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD, THERE SIMPLY WAS NOT ENOUGH MONEY BACK THEN TO LIVE ON.  SO I STARTED TO LOOK AT IT MORE LIKE A BUSINESS AND REALLY HIT THE EXHIBITION CIRCUIT HARD.  IT WAS QUITE SIMPLE.  I COULD MAKE AS MUCH IN A DAY AS I COULD WINNING A MAJOR TOURNAMENT.  THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT YOU PLAY WAY TOO MUCH “FOR FUN” AND NOT ENOUGH SERIOUS POOL AND THE TRAVELING PREVENTS ANY CHANCE OF STEADY PRACTICE. BUT I’M NOT COMPLAINING. I REALLY LOVE MY LIFE.

I notice that you have written three books, ‘The Ewa Mataya Pool Guide’, “The Complete Idiots Guide to Pool and Billiards’ and the ‘Quick-Start Guide to Pocket Billiards’.  You obviously feel very passionate about your sport.  Finding time probably has been a major factor in writing these books, but what part of writing do you think besides time has been the most difficult to do?
WRITING IS A GREAT DEAL OF FUN, BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH PUTTING DOWN WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GAME ON PAPER, IS THAT YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT FIRST.  I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A NATURAL PLAYER, PLAYING MOSTLY ON FEEL.   NOW I TEND TO BE MUCH MORE ANALYTICAL, AND THERE IS NO ROOM IN TOURNAMENT PLAY FOR THINKING OF MECHANICS.     I AM ACTUALLY WORKING VERY HARD ON THAT RIGHT NOW.  JUST GOING BACK TO PLAYING ON FEEL, AND TRUSTING THAT THE STROKE  WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU PULL THE TRIGGER.

Looking at your biography I notice that you are also a golfer. Have any of your billiards skills, for example mental skills been transferable to golf?
ABSOLUTELY. HOW YOU APPROACH ONE THING TENDS TO BE HOW YOU APPROACH EVERYTHING. ESPECIALLY THE SHORT GAME, CHIPPING AND PUTTING. THE MENTAL APPROACH IN BOTH SPORTS IS THE SAME AS WELL. (ONLY GOLF IS MORE AGGREVATING!)

If someone asked you to tell him or her how they could play better pool, what advice would you give them?
MAKE SURE YOU START WITH THE CORRECT BASICS. IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT STANCE, STROKE, APPROACH, ETC.  TAKE SOME LESSONS EARLY, OR EVEN IF YOU’VE PLAYED THE GAME FOR A WHILE, DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE YOUR FUNDAMENTALS IF YOU FEEL YOUR GAME HAS REACHED A PLATEAU. FROM THERE, IT’S LARGELY BASED ON HOW MUCH PRACTICE AND EFFORT YOU’RE PREPARED TO PUT IN TO IT. READING BOOKS, WATCHING VIDEOS AND BETTER PLAYERS ALSO HELP TO IMPROVE YOUR OVERALL KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME.

Can you tell me one thing about yourself that people do not generally know?  For example do you play a musical instrument? Do you have any strange hobbies?
MY PASSIONS OUTSIDE THE GAME ARE GOLF, GARDENING, SPENDING TIME WITH MY FAMILY AND OUR ANIMALS (WE HAVE THREE HORSES, FOUR DOGS AND TWO CATS.)
OH, AND SHOPPING, I’M AFRAID…

Please visit www.strikingviking.com for more wonderful information about Ewa

Interview with Dr Dave G Alciatore (2004) - Author of Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards

Can you tell me a little about your background and what interests you in pool?
I grew up playing pool (misspent youth) and played a lot in college (stress relief and fun).  I got more serious about pool about 10 years ago when I starting reading every book I could find on the subject.  Being in a pool league in the Washington D.C. area also peaked my interest. There were many great players (and serious gamblers) in that league, and I learned many things from them. One thing I learned is that many players (even good ones) often don’t truly understand how to plan and execute shots.  Also, books and people willing to give advice often do poor jobs at trying to teach and help others apply the important basic principles of pool.  That’s when I starting thinking about writing a book that would cover all of the important principles, be very well illustrated and easy to read, and be supported by lots of great web resources (mostly video demonstrations). Being a mechanical engineering professor (specializing in robotics and motion analysis methods), a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, and an avid pool player, I thought I could do a good job with such a book.

What does your tipical day as Mechanical Engineering professor consist of?
prepare for classes. give lectures, help and mentor students that visit my office, drop in on Lab courses to make sure things are running smoothly and to answer student questions, write technical papers (for journals and conferences) and pool articles (for Billiards Digest), read articles and books supporting my research and pool interests, respond to e-mail from students and pool enthusiasts, respond to messages posted on the Billiards Digest online Discussion Forum, maintain and expand all of my websites (pool and engineering related), serve on university committees (e.g., to make changes in curriculum and hire new people), do volunteer work for the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), plan trips (e.g., for the “Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards” talk that I give around the country), and plan, think about, and do work on my textbook (dealing with electronics for mechanical engineers) and future pool book projects.

How did you start with the idea of writing your books?
For any book project, I read lots of other related books, keep a folder of ideas and notes over a long period of time, think about the project daily and mull it over in my mind, and talk to people about my ideas to get input and recommendations. Before I started writing “The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards,” I had a folder about 1 inch thick with scraps of paper and bar napkins with all sorts of ideas and example shots. I started with a rough outline of the book and added all of the folder ideas to appropriate places in the outline. Then I drew all of the illustrations for the book.  Then the book almost wrote itself.

It takes a lot of dedication to write a book, did it take you a while to >complete? and what was involved?
I thought about the book, kept the folder of ideas, and did research over about 4 years (but not full time). The actual writing took about 5 months over 2 summers.  The website work supporting the book took about 1 solid month of work.  The most time-consuming part of writing the book was developing, drawing, and verifying all of the illustrations.  This can sometimes be tedious and it required me to develop proficiency with a computer drawing program (I used CorelDraw).

Do you practice a lot, what do you do for practice?
I don’t practice near as much as I would like. I usually only find time to play a couple of times a week for 1-3 hours each time.  I usually just play 8-ball or 9-ball with friends.  When I practice alone, I run racks of 9-ball, starting with ball in hand after the break. Any time I miss a shot or play poor position, I try the shot over and over again until I am happy with the results and confident I can do better the next time I face such a shot.  Sometimes I just practice safeties and follow-on reply shots, because these are critically important component of intelligent pool.  If I feel I am not doing very well during practice or after playing with friends, I always go back to checking my fundamentals:  making sure my stance and stroke are comfortable and consistent, and making sure no bad habits have popped up in my game (e.g., dropping the elbow, not pausing before the final stroke, moving my head or body during a shot, steering the follow-through, etc.). Then I practice in front of a mirror, with a video camera, or with a friend watching to eliminate any identified problems.

What are the top three skills that a person must learn to win games?
1.) aiming and visualization skills (this is part natural talent and part practice)
2.) consistent stoke (be able to hit the cue ball at the desired contact point and in the desired direction)
3.) speed control and solid strategy and decision making.

What do you think about the mental skills a player must have?
confidence and positive thoughts, realistic appraisal and understanding of one’s ability, concentration and focus, dedication and desire to practice and get better, ability to not be influenced or emotionally affected by factors out of your control (e.g., a lucky or distracting opponent), motivation for and love of the game.

Is 8ball your favorite billiard sport?
Yes. I also like 9-ball.  I like the sometimes chess-like strategy involved with 8-ball and the shot-making and position play challenges of 9-ball.

What is your favorite pool film?
The Color of Money.  The movie was very well done with good acting, cinematography, plot, and music, and it also helped glamorize our sport and dramatically increases its popularity.

Do you play any other sports?
bowling (I recently bowled a perfect game [300] and average about 210), table tennis (I play a couple of times a month with fairly serious players), running (I ran track and cross country in college [The University of New Orleans] and still run to keep in shape and mentally sane), hiking, biking, and skiing (Colorado is great for these things).

find out more at http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/

A description of the DVD below from Andreas Efler the creator of this DVD video

While working on my book about three-cushion billiards
an idea to make a DVD slowly developed. With a good
friend, Robert Leitner, this DVD arose and with it,
material never seen.
Using highspeed(Up to 16000 pictures per second)and
infrared cameras, we can now see billiards from a
different angle.

The bonus material contains:
Bubbles of soap blasting, waterdrops falling into its
natural element, lightening matches and much more.
Using a highspeed camera taking thousands of frames per
second, the results were and are amazing.

DVD-Type: DVD 5
Format: Pal 4:3
Sound: PCM stereo
Length: 25min.
Genre: Sport, Science

As I also play the game of golf I have transferred some of the ideas from the driving shot to the Break shot in pool, which I feel is very much like a good golf swing on the driving range.  The movement of shoulders and hips make the biggest success by shifting body weight.  This is what you should master to have an explosive break.  Like so many of the different aspects in pool, a good break can mean the difference between winning and losing a game.  The aspect of control however is more important than power, as if the cueball finishes in a tough spot this may ruin your chances at that inning, or worse the game.  Try to leave the cueball somewhere near the center of the table when it finishes.

If you hit the cue ball just like you would on a break shot but without any of the object balls you will see that the cue ball will travel a great distance.  The energy that the cue ball uses to travel that distance is the energy that normally is received by the pack.  You must learn to increase and channel this energy to maximize energy transference to gain maximum spread.

Aiming
You must aim for a full ball contact into the pack in order to maximize energy transference otherwise the cue ball will still hold some of the energy after impact.

Achieving compression of power in the Break shot
Try to think of the break shot as if you were compressing a lot of power into it as you go through the downswing, with your hips and shoulder in the action.

Setting up the balls

DON’T POLISH THE BALLS
I cannot over emphasize this enough.  Whatever you do don’t polish the balls too much as a little dirt actually helps each contact.  I’ve played in some bars where they polish the balls every day, try getting a decent break on a table like that, the balls just can’t spread properly because of bad contact between them.

Some points to consider whilst setting up the balls:

* New balls will break better than old ones

* All balls must be touching to maximize energy transference

* Different types of cloth will effect the movement of the balls after the break

An old trick to pot a ball used to be to move the triangle forward an inch when setting up in order to have a greater chance to pot a ball.  This can work on some tables but I always win by skill and never cheat.

Placement
The placement of the cue ball and your bridge is vitally important in order to gain more energy into the break.  The nearer the pack the more energy can be transferred.

Weight Of The Cue

There is a physics equation for kinetic energy, which explains that a heavier cue does not make the break better.

In the equations most basic form, if you:

* Double the mass you double the energy

* Double the velocity you quadruple the energy

Timing
The cue ball must be hit at the moment that the cue is traveling fastest (at the bottom of the pendulum swing.  Think about that Golf swing again)

Body movement
You may have seen the nine ball players throwing themselves at the cue ball whilst breaking.  Although this movement creates more power in the break it will also increase inaccuracy.

Placement for striking hand
Try to hold the cue a little nearer the butt to maximize energy.

Can the break be too good?
Sometime we can spread the balls too well, but not potting anything, so leaving the opponent to clear up.  Its something to keep in mind.

www.8ballsecrets.com

Newman, Cruise and a whole lot of pool action

Martin Scorcese directs this sequel to the 1961 film ‘The Hustler’.

Anyone who fails to get excited by the start of the opening line ‘Nine-ball is rotation pool….’ must not appreciate pool.  It is the beginning of the cinematic

The ‘Color of Money’ is certainly a more modern take on the game than what the ‘Hustler’ showed us.  This duality has without a doubt enriched both films, as I believe they compliment each other perfectly.

The camera angles are fantastic and there are a few shots to look out for.  I especially like the shot as the camera looks down on the hall of tables (I think there are around 30?) or when ‘Fast’ Eddie is getting his eyes tested.  Cinematography at its best.

‘Pool Excellence is not about excellent pool, it’s about becoming something’

The music in the film is provided for by artists such as Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Don Henley, Robert Palmer and of course not forgetting Warren Zevon.  The songs fit perfectly to each scene e.g. the Warren Zevon ‘Werewolves of London’ scene.  The music helps set up the atmosphere of the film with it’s dingy backroad pool halls and bars.

At the end of the day the films mean different things to different people, but to me both movies were about regaining faith in your art, pool in this case.  The ‘Hustler’ and ‘The Color of Money’ are very different films based on the same subject spaced 25 years apart.  Some people, like me will love ‘The Color of Money’ but there are going to be others who don’t want to destroy the purity of the original.  If you’re a pool player that wants to watch a pool film without cringing then you should seriously consider adding this to your collection.  All we need now is a really good special edition.

Buy the Color of Money DVD here:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Buy the Hustler DVD here:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk