I'm watching him and Archer right now, I don't know the outcome but I'm rooting for Tommy

BlueRaider said:

I'm guessing the shots where you tighten your grip are outside your comfort zone, thus causing the breakdown in your mechanics. Progressive practice helps with this.

Set up the shots where you tend to tighten your grip, but make them very easy. OB close to the pocket, CB close to the OB. Shoot that over and over to get a feel for what a totally relaxed grip feels like. Because the shot is easy, your grip will stay relaxed throughout the stroke because there's no fear of missing and no desire to "muscle" or steer the cue. Just a pure, relaxed swing. Pay very close attention to how it feels--especially in comparison to your normal tense stroke on difficult shots.

Start increasing the distance slowly until you feel the tension creep back in. Then work on relaxing your grip at that distance. Rinse and repeat with increasing distance/difficulty.

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Oh my God, you hit the nail right on the head. Yes it happens on shots where I get a little longer or a little more angle than I want. I will definitely take your advice and keep shooting them until I feel comfortable.

I do think though that this technique I learned, was based on the 'Parallel English' stroke. Speed (power) became the ultimate factor since it determined so much of what happened in the shot.

From Grip to Grabbing.

Here's the definition of Grip.
physical hold, the strength to hold something, or the manner of holding it.

One thing you should never do with your handle hand is ''grip'' it.
The manner is....
You do a side to side ''pinch'' & GRAB during contact.
Closing your fingers naturally creates your ''cradle''.

I was taught, when actually shooting the shot, to look at where I am striking the cueball, to see the tip hit the cueball. I mean, if you don't, then how do you know where you struck it? The object ball isn't moving, so once you have aimed why look at it again really? If you are referencing it for your aim, you have to get back up and down again to adjust anyway, so what is really the point? I mean yeah you can see both balls I think fairly easily, but the focus should be where and how were are stiking the cueball I think.

So, the key was focus on making contact exactly where and how I had determined I should when aiming, preparing, and going down on the shot. But, to trust that alignment and don't mess with it after getting down to shoot. And also, be conscious of how I am stroking it, keeping my body in control, head still, follow through, hand hitting the chest at the end of the stoke, etc. I don't know if the person who taught me this ever evolved away from it. But, it sure worked for me at the time to develop a monster stroke and consistent game. He actually played this way and was one hell of a world class player too.

There were no low deflection or carbon fiber shafts back then, in prehistoric pool days, so when you needed a powerful stroke to cover distance, or move the cue ball a lot one way or the other, we were always aiming somewhere crazy to adjust for the deflection. Especially once you developed a powerful stroke. lol

JoeyInCali said:

Yes. A young wide grain maple

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I own a Kielwood, my biggest issue with it is that it doesn't feel lively, is there a way to get a Kielwood to play soft and lively?

iusedtoberich said:

He could be an asset to team USA from a German training/coaching standpoint. As a player, he’s simply too old imo.

Then again, if he gets in on points…

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Alcaide, a Team Europe member this year, is older than Hohmann, which might inspire the hitman.

Michigan Mike said:

Hello all, long time viewer, recently joined member and first time poster. Like the title says, I need help selling my Mosconi Cup tickets. ...

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I tried to discover something on their website, and I couldn't get as far as asking to arrange a transfer, which I think is how you do it. That may be due to the tickets not being issued yet. It looks like they do not offer an "offer for resale" option (which Ticketmaster has), so you arrange the sale privately and then transfer. Maybe.

I think you won't have any problem selling the last two days. There are still seats for sale for the first day.

trob said:

That’s why it’s tattooed right on my arm… dead stroke. Pool nirvana.

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That boy hardcore

Unfortunately, there's no way anyone can accurately answer this. All cues from every era are going to have variations in how they hit as, even if they're the same design with the same species of woods, no two shafts or butts are exactly the same. I will say, though, if you can find an older one that's straight and hits/plays the way you want, you can't really go wrong. If it hasn't warped by now it probably isn't going to as long as it's cared for properly.

Also, judging a cue's playability by who made the finals or won a tournament with that brand isn't really a good way to look at things. The guys you mentioned could have probably done the same with just about any cue out there. They're just that good and they were playing at the tops of their games at those times. The best player I've ever had the chance to watch in in his prime on a regular basis won the all-around title at The Derby with a cut down house cue paired with a Schon shaft. But, again, there's zero doubt in my mind he could have done that with any cue he was comfortable with. He was simply playing that good at that time.

He could be an asset to team USA from a German training/coaching standpoint. As a player, he’s simply too old imo.

Then again, if he gets in on points…

I was there playing, I picked em to win, bet on em the last five matches with Cardone .
Helped pay for the trip.

Santin23 said:

Thanks for the feedback, buddy — really appreciate it. It’s kinda hard to try those cues around here; most pool halls I go to are full of Predator lovers or carbon-fiber guys, and that’s just not my thing. That’s why I’m asking for some opinions, I’m not really familiar with any of the brands i mentioned. Personally I have a Viking, which is good, but I’m a little bit disappointed with the inlays. Cheers

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All I can tell you is they all have a very stiff hit. Which is what I always liked to play with. Your correct.. the days of the custom cues seem gone. All you see is predator and cuetec

Ko Pin Yi has a 30k Zen. Has gold in it.

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melling maybe was a rookie MVP, and possibly boyes. it's pretty rare

I'm guessing the shots where you tighten your grip are outside your comfort zone, thus causing the breakdown in your mechanics. Progressive practice helps with this.

Set up the shots where you tend to tighten your grip, but make them very easy. OB close to the pocket, CB close to the OB. Shoot that over and over to get a feel for what a totally relaxed grip feels like. Because the shot is easy, your grip will stay relaxed throughout the stroke because there's no fear of missing and no desire to "muscle" or steer the cue. Just a pure, relaxed swing. Pay very close attention to how it feels--especially in comparison to your normal tense stroke on difficult shots.

Start increasing the distance slowly until you feel the tension creep back in. Then work on relaxing your grip at that distance. Rinse and repeat with increasing distance/difficulty.

VVP said:

Not sure why people are downplaying the "rookies" like they have an enormous weight on their shoulders. Filler and I believe Sky, we're MVPs in their rookie year. I'll take Pijus and Moritz over anyone in the USA team given how they are playing TODAY.

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Know where you are coming from. I don't think the "weight of the world" argument is valid when it comes to Mosconi rookies. I think what's hard for a Mosconi rookie is dealing, for the first time, with the crowd noise, that reaches a level not nearly found at any other event. Some get used to it, and some do not. Shaw seems to raise his level of play whenever the crowd noise is amped up, which is why he is the right captain for Team Europe.

Neuhausen will have been helped by having participated in the Reyes Cup last month, but the crowd will be a lot louder at the Mosconi. Labutis, on the other hand, may find the transition a little tougher, much as Mickey Krause did a year ago. It took Mickey three days to really get going, and on Day 4, only a double hit foul denied him a win over Gorst, so he eventually figured it out.

Admittedly, Filler in the 2017 event is the exception. Skyler wasn't MVP in 2016, but in 2018 he probably gave the best performance by any American player in the past decade. Tyler Styer wasn't MVP in 2018, but he was a Mosconi rookie that contributed significantly.