iusedtoberich said:

Something isn't adding up. TAR 1 was in 2007, and Shane showed the world with a wood rack how to break 10 ball, making the corner balls 4 rails, the head ball and the balls behind it in the side, etc. Billy was on the mic, and paraphrasing, he said "Shane is playing 7 ball while Corey is playing 9 ball after the break".

From 2007 until at least 2020, that was the 10 ball break the pros used. It didn't matter if it was a wood rack or a template.

Now, in these Predator events, all the pros are breaking from the rail? Are we sure they don't have a rule where you "must" break far away from center table? Is their rack so bad that the Shane break doesn't work?

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Tighter pockets?
Different cloth?
Different humidity conditions?
All will make a difference

Lowell said:

There is surprisingly little talk of her considering how much of a force she is in women's pool.

She just beat Kristina Tkach, Pia Filler, and Jasmin Ouschan within 4 matches.

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She's a top-10 women's player for sure. She seems to play fewer events than others, at least on this side of the globe. And she doesn't have a flashy style of play, like, say, Chezka. But she can (and clearly often enough does) win any women's tournament.

middleofnowhere said:

Check with Chris hightower for some ideas. Even if you don't end up buying anything from him just looking at his website is food for thought.

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He has a great site. I am not interested in any type of wood working, and I play only with carbon fiber cues. But the collection of lathe parts on his site is very comprehensive. He also has some tips available for sale. Since I keep my cues in my garage the humidity / temperature variations cause the tips to delaminate. I am thinking of switching to Water Buffalo or Triangle single layer tips. I play three cushion so I hear these are appropriate and may solve my problem.

Zakato said:

Thanks! Shane doesn’t sell them separately. I am planning to buy the wrap and install it at Nitti cues locally.

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surprised that chris cant get it for you

Lowell said:

There is surprisingly little talk of her considering how much of a force she is in women's pool.

She just beat Kristina Tkach, Pia Filler, and Jasmin Ouschan within 4 matches.

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that's pretty strong.

I perform the Mighty X drill a lot.

I have an issue, though, and have been trying to figure out why.

I shoot an entire rack (8 in one direction and 8 on the other diagonal; I use the Rempe training ball the set came with as my 16th) with a short backstroke low cue speed. I can shoot all 16 in the heart of the pocket, right down the center. The shot is soft enough for the CB to follow about 7-8” and stay on the table.

Then I shoot a rack with more speed intending to follow the CB into the pocket. I can usually make all 16 OBs but not all CBs. Of course this is with a slightly longer backstroke and slightly faster cue speed.

The next 16 are stop shots. I can often make 15 or 16 but most have the CB moving a little left or right. Only a very few result in a dead stop, CB not spinning. And of course these are with an even slightly longer backstroke and a little more cue speed (no, I’m not wailing on it, just enough to have the CB sliding all the way.)

Forget about draw, if I can’t get better stop shots.

Working on it. A lot.

My Joss's butt is right here -- my avatar. Anyone?

sudocrushms said:

If I'm playing 10b against low level players I'll break from center the whole time as I won't expect them to be out if I'm dry. Against good players you need to play a large part of the game 2 ways.

Obviously making a ball is a huge advantage, but anyone that plays 10b with and without a template knows it is FAR more difficult to consistently make a ball with a hand rack (just look at the stats from Predator events). Even with all 10 on the table you don't want to leave it open as with a center-table break. They'll be out on you every time. If you're not getting the second row consistently, you switch to the 1 in the side and work through the mess. If the 1 doesn't go at least you're less likely to leave an easy out. You have to play everything by the percentages.

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So the 1 in the side is dead, got it. Yeah, nah disagree on just about everything said here.

Storman Norman said:

Betsy's billiards sometimes has a cue guy during tournaments

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Maybe only at the Monthly, or larger tournaments. I have been told to go to Skinny Bob's, in Round Rock, for the highest quality cue repair work in the area. I really wish there were a local cue repair person closer.

There is surprisingly little talk of her considering how much of a force she is in women's pool.

She just beat Kristina Tkach, Pia Filler, and Jasmin Ouschan within 4 matches.

yea they went thru a bunch of different names and some actors changed around. the major one was mugsy who was leo gorsey. he ended up getting one of the runs dropped and opened another with him being part owner.

the shows had humphry bogart ronald reagan and a few others was well.

a mild offshoot of new players was spanky and our gang. they were harmless though. i did know spanky from at the race track where he was most nights. looked the same as the little kid.

JasonATX said:

Superior has colored lizard and so does Shane Jackson.

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Thanks! Shane doesn’t sell them separately. I am planning to buy the wrap and install it at Nitti cues locally.

its all hand eye co ordination. not practice or determination that allows you to get past just above average speed.

few want to accept that as that premise destroys many players hope. tough luck.

take cole dickson for example. he was playing pro speed pool at a young age. i knew and played with him when he first "started trying to play golf." he was terrible, but in a year plus some, he was shooting in the 70's.

skogstokig said:

they redraw each round?

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doesn’t look like it, the order of matches corresponds with the previous bracket page.