A Journey Into Billiards

Well, there's something strange about January 13th... it apparently is the day I break the tip on my break cues.  It's happened 2 years in a row.  Seriously. To.The.Day. This happened at league:

So, now I have to figure out if I want to give this tip/shaft another try or maybe try the predator shaft...

I'm just a mere 3 weeks away from receiving my first custom cue!!!  Local cuemakter, Josh Treadway and I have been talking back and forth about a custom for some time now.  A situation came up that allowed us to finally get the deal going.  Well, now it's neary complete and I seriously could not be more excited!  He's been sending me pics along the way of it's build and with each one I get more and more amped up!  The last one he sent had the rings and the joint in it.  Then three days later he calls and said "I hit some balls with your cue today. And I'm not gonna show you any more pics."  SUCH A TEASE!! I picked the wood, the veneers, the wrap, the joint, the shaft diameter, the weight, the buttcap - and even helped him figure out a way to do a new feature for his cues: screw-on extensions!!  I am SO stupid excited it's ridiculous.

Here's the last teaser he sent me:

Obviously, this is before any of the finish-work has begun.  But, I can't believe I'm this close to finally getting a real custom cue!!!

Make sure you all go check out Treadway Cues!! 

I'm noticing that my game is getting back to just about where it was back in May/June of last year.  I'm back to running out (at least in practice) at least once a night.  And when in a match, if the balls are open and I start anywhere after the 3, it's a good bet I'm gonna get out.  I'm starting to get a lot more confidence again.  For example, in the runout below, when I came up a little short on the 8, I knew I just had to make the ball, because I can make the 9 from pretty much anywhere. :)

Last night, I played 2 races with my practice partner, and I won both, 9-5 and 9-2.  I really need to work on my break though.  I'm getting a good spread usually, but I'm not making a ball and my cueball control is gone.  I've traded accuracy for power lately and I need to go back to a more controlled break. Watching any of the recent sets on video I can see that I'm htting much harder than I used to - averaging now around 22mph (prior average was around 19), but I'm loosing the cueball every time.

This is just too damn cool!  I have a long video where you can watch Gail Glazebrook, Tony Robles, myself and another local Alan all playing, but this is a pretty nice runout by Tony and I.

you can see the rest of the evening here.

I feel like I have a lot to say about my game lately, because I can see that it *is* coming back.  I'm running more balls than I have been, I've ran out a few times when I should have... I feel like I'm about to get back where I was in July.  It's a great feeling.  But, my day-job is ending in 10 days and I'm just too busy with job-searching to really spend too much time on AZB or reading the blogosphere unfortunately.  Nor do I have the time (or attention span) to really lay out my game analysis.  So, here's some videos that get rendered and processed while I'm at work or sleeping. heh

Who Want's a Montage!!

A pretty nice out, if I do say so myself (after a poor break).

Here we have three sets with me and a pool buddy. Each is a race to 9. Here's set 1 (6-9) which I totally fall apart after the halfway point. Then I make a monster comeback in Set 2. Finally, set 3 was a close one, but I edge it out to in 9-7.

I'm currently rendering another race to 9 with Josh of Treadway Cues wherein we literally close the place down.

OH!! Speaking of, I will very soon (about 6 weeks now) have my very own and very first custom cue, courtesy of Treadway Cues. I am stupid excited by this. :)

This month's edition of Pool Synergy is all about how to recharge your pool game while dealing with being burnt out, rundown and generally exhausted.  Be sure to click the header image above to read all of this month's entries.

For me personally, whenever I'm at the table and the balls seem blurry and I can't seem to stand up straight and no matter what I do with my back arm, the cue ball goes somewhere else, I know it's time to call it quits.  The question is always: For how long?  Sometimes, I adhere to half of the old pool player's advice "Take 2 weeks off, then quit."  I will take a week off, completely, not watch pool online, not play pool games on my phone, not read AZB.  Just a full system shutdown. Things have to be pretty bad for that to be the answer though.

Although, not every break has to be so severe.  Sometimes, I'm just having a rough couple of weeks outside of the pool hall and simply don't have the energy to practice, but still want to be doing something pool-related.  Those are the days where I troll AZB reading filtering through the messages looking for helpful advice or a good discussion of a player's mechanics, etc.  Those are also the nights where I might play a game of pool on my phone before falling asleep to sort of unwind from the day, but still get some kind of pool-playing feeling.  Or, if there's a good match on UStream, I'll watch a live stream. If not, YouTube has thousands of hours of great pool matches.  It all helps me keep pool in mind without physically draining me.

And each time, regardless of the break intensity, when I do finally get back to the table, I'm refreshed, and excited to be there. I don't do any drills, and instead basically knock the balls around. Not put any pressure on myself, just let myself enjoy the simplicity of the game.  Powerstroking shots just for fun. 3,4, and 5 rail banks just to see if they go. Essentially rediscovering the wonder and awe the game can provide when you're not confined to the strict rules of KISS for the money/match/league/title/tournament.  It's like learning how to love the game all over again. 

My game is slowly but surely coming back. League was this past Friday and while I did win, removing me from last place, it was not an overwhelming victory.  However, I can see aspects of my game coming back.  When I started back up when my hand was ready, I thought my ability fall-off was due to just being away from the table.  But, 5 weeks into league and only now am I starting to see elements of playing like I did a year ago.  Table-time is always part of the issue, sure, but there was one thing that has been driving me bonkers since my return to the game. Whenever I miss shots, it seems I'm only every missing by an inch or so. I'm talking about shots that I get down on and feel 100% confident I'm sighting it correctly. I thought it was my stroke-arm being messed up, but my stroke-straightness tests are about where they were just before I broke my hand. The only difference left to consider is my weight loss. This year, I've lost 60 pounds and whole lot of inches off my body. I've recently considered that my shape change has also affected my stance and alignment. The muscle memory I built was built around keeping my arm away from my older and larger body mass. But now, it's too far out from my body, yet it feels "natural". The problem is that it also relied on my body mass as something of a "guide" to swing parallel too. If I had continued to play all year long, I'm confident that the alignment adjust would've happened in sync with the weight loss, but since I was off the table for 3 months while my hand healed, but continued to lose weight, the automatic adjustment is now out of relation with the weight-loss.

For example, here's one of my favorite shot-angles (because I can put the cue-ball just about anywhere on the table from this spot):

But whenever I shoot that shot - I hit it as diagrammed. Most of my missed shots (save for really difficult cuts, etc) are missed by that small a margin. I'm not sure how I'm going to fix this small alignment issue, but I've taken some steps towards it. Starting with eye-placement without changing my stance too much. I've found, with less body mass I'm more able to get over the cue with less work, stress on my neck, and in doing so, I'm seeing the shots much clearer. I still have to adjust left or right depending on the cut and distance, but not as dramatic as it was before. I'm using more "center-eyes" where I used to use extreme left or right eye.

Below is a rack from last week's league match. It certain is not pretty, but it was a run-out, that I didn't really expect to finish once I got out of line.

This is a great confidence booster (forgetting that my attempt to play a safe on the 1-ball was an utter failure.); as this out relied on shot-making more than good position. Obviously, I want to focus on position so I don't have to come up with great shots, but regardless I got out when I should have - no matter how ugly it was.

These 2 are having something of a rematch this coming weekend! I have so much going on this weekend, I'm not sure I'll get to watch much of the PPV, but I'm hoping to catch as much as I can.  Two of my favorite run-out players!!  Check out the stats on the table they're playing on:

This match will take place December 2,3,4 2011 at the TAR Studio in Las Vegas, NV. The match will be 9 Ball, race to 75, $5000 per man winner take all. Rules are winner breaks, rack your own with a magic rack on the TAR Studio 9 foot Diamond Pro Am with the "Fatboy" rails by RealKing Cobra that feature 4 1/8" pockets. The 9 ball must be made last and will spot up if made on the break or early in the rack on a combo or carom. Call shot/call safe rules will be used just like in the last match between these two. - Justin/TAR

Been pretty stressed for time lately, but I have been at the table a lot more lately; though not always a good time.  It seems my alignment issues are not yet resolved. Though, they are getting better, there is still something "off" about things.  The 2nd week of league, I played a friend of mine, and lost that match (video here). But after that, I played something of a arch nemesis there, this kid Jacob.  He's just got my number, and I'm stuck a few dollars to him over the course of our interactions.  But, I finally managed to squeek one by him. Though that was more him defeating himself than my winning.

The next week I finally got my first win in the league, which you can watch here; but it's not really all that pretty.  A few days later, I'm practicing with Johnny again, and I hit, quite possibly the best cross bank ever - it was a 100% fluke, but it looked awesome.  Made even moreso by my total non-surprise reaction. haha  This came during a practice race to 9, which I lost 9-6 (and can't seem to find the video for right now), but here's a follow-up race to 3.

This weekend was Thanksgiving and I chose not to play in the annual t-giving tournament held at the Ride the Rail because I just didn't really feel like it.  However, I did get to play with an old practice partner, Jean - and we played some 10-ball.  Though this was at the end of the night, and it was only when I got home and literally fell asleep on the couch moments later I realized just how tired I was.  I was playing better earlier, I promise. :p

And just because, here's that cross-bank video:

The other night, I got into a ring game with some locals.  The night, overall, was absolutely terrible for me - save one shot.  The previous shooter had hung the 5 ball in the jaws of the side, but the cue ball was in such a place that I couldn't possibly back-cut into the pocket.  I do not 1-rail kick very well and I didn't like the 2-rail option, as I had earlier missed a very similar kick.  After studying the table for a minute, I finally saw it.  Kick 3 rails with inside to reverse of the 2nd cushion sending the CB directly at the 5.  I was just hoping to get a hit, but it turned out that I hit perfectly!

The other shooters were just as stunned as I was.  I was able to finish out this rack from there, but it would be the last rack I'd win for the next 2 hours.  Like I said, it was a bad night for me - and this was so entirely random I just can't believe I pulled it off.