He didn't say he was broke, just that it was not financially sensible since it was single elimination and 3 to four hours from the nearest airport.

sjm said:

It is not on Meucci. They facilitate, not ensure that he can make a living from pool. If he doesn't play well enough to make it happen, it's on him. In a sport where few manage to do so, I don't think his failure to make financial ends meet reflects poorly on them at all.

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I don’t even think they should ensure he can make a living. That’s still on him. He needs to pay his own phone bill, rent, food, car, etc.

But that sponsorship is to turn him into a walking billboard. They don’t need to be his mommy waking him up on time by rubbing his tummy. But what kind of complacency would it be to not care if he has enough hotel and gas money to even make it to major domestic events. They should be picking up the phone after this saying “What’s going on here? We don’t want this for you.” Or go the other way…

MattPoland said:

However they opt to handle it surely would be their business. It’s just not a great look for him to be publicly saying he can’t afford to get to events and they’re his top sponsor.

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It is not on Meucci. They facilitate, not ensure that he can make a living from pool. If he doesn't play well enough to make it happen, it's on him. In a sport where few manage to do so, I don't think his failure to make financial ends meet reflects poorly on them at all.

I've hijacked this thread enough. Be hard headed all you want. Ignore the GOAT all you want. I'm done.

Jaden said:

I'm not going to go into it again, I would suggest looking into pivot point for a shaft. The benefits are numerous. If you constantly change your bridge length even when forced not to, I would imagine you miss a lot of balls.

Actually I will. All shafts have a point on which they will hit the same point if lined up on a straight shot and rotated for any side spin. Of course there are other variables which can be mitigated in certain ways, but for arguments sake, let's just say that you can hit the point you're aiming at if you bridge at the point on your shaft that fits the above. All shafts have them. LD shafts have pp (pivot points) that are farther back.

Some people use this as an advantage when adjust for sidespin by using BHE (back hand english). That is to say, you aim every shot as though you're going to hit straight center ball and then manipulate the cue so that it's pointing on the cue ball for the amount of spin that you want.

There are things that come into play, like swerve (masse), so people that use BHE should raise their bridge for follow and lower their bridge for draw to best minimize this effect.

Now I use a different method for finding the pivot point than that of Dave or others suggest and it is for this reason. Well, first let me say how I find it. I setup various shots and shoot them with extreme sidespin usng bhe and adjust my bridge length until they consistently go in center pocket. It's easier on my table because of how tight the pockets are.

This method isn't best for finding the cue's natural pivot point as it is defined but it's better for using BHE because it takes the natural swerve, CIT and deflection that creates multiple variables into account and gives a more day to day usable PP.

There is a second type of PP for a cue and that is for FHE(front hand english). That is instead of rotating the rear arm and keeping the bridge stationary to put the amount of english you desire, you keep your back arm locked and slide the bridge hand (front hand) side to side to apply the english you desire.

It just so happens that they tend to be at the same place. what I mean by that is that if you are bridging that the PP for BHE, typically (if your arm is at 90 degrees at the tip contact with the cue ball) your grip hand will be at the correct point to rotate for FHE, but this should be verified prior to use because it's not always the case.

This definitely comes in handy when you can't bridge at the BHE PP because of an obstructing ball. You can bridge anywhere and slide your bridge for FHE and still effectively use side spin.

Now a quick list of benefits (these are mostly benefits of bridging at the cue's pivot point, not holding the butt that FHE PP)

1) Stroke forgiveness
a). Since you shot doesn't know if you intended to rotate at contact, it doesn't care and the ball will often be potted successfully anyways.
b). You can use various methods of applying BHE, players in the past have successfully used swiping (twisting the cue sideways just before contact) although I wouldn't suggest it.
2) consistency
a). your body develops muscle memory, the more variables you introduce by varying bridge length, the longer it will take to develop said muscle memory and the more variables there are the more likely failure will occur.
3) BHE
a). The ability to easily adjust for squirt with any cue and use any side spin you want while still striking the ball where you want has so many advantages, it's hard to explain. It's ESPECIALLY important for shots in one pocket. Inside or outside to throw a bank to get out of the way is essential for high level one pocket.
b). being able to more accurately aim for CIT. Sometimes you don't quite have an available angle because of a ball obstruction. With BHE there's no need to guess, you get to use spin to aim slightly off and throw the ball into the pocket. You still aim as though you were going to just shoot the ball regularly but the squirt sends the cue ball in at a different angle to avoid the obstruction, but the spin throws the ball in the pocket.

There's more but I don't feel like writing a book right now, especially when I started out the post saying I didn't want to answer it again at all...lol.

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Depends on the groundwork. I've done 126 in saturation drills. That's not straight pool. That's 4 trays of balls at a time; twice back to back. Cue balls included. So, 63 on the table at a time; one cue ball to shoot with. I consider that 126 perfectly executed strokes. Yes they all went in the holes. Those that want video, just do it yourself. You'd be amazed at what you learn and develop along the way.

To me, pool execution is like flying a helicopter. You need independent control of many variables and a sense for it all. And no, I've never been in a helicopter but I do know it's done.

So much for me. It's still the pool.

straightline said:

I don't care for LD shafts as such but I am curious as to why one would shoot everything with the same "focal" length. Shots have too much range to confine yourself like that.

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Exactly right. Lot of talk on here about what pros do. I'll tell you what they do. It's very simple.

They do whatever is necessary in any given situation to give themselves the biggest margin of error possible. Doing that allows them to be successful to the highest percentage possible.

Bridge or stroke length, stroke speed, amounts and types of english, position routes and many other things are just tools they use very skillfully to give themselves the best possible chance of success.

Of course most will have a default bridge length on a normal shot and though it varies player to player the majority bridge in the 10-12" range.
Watch 20 high level pros shoot in an hour long video and you'll see that with most, unless they have to stretch or need a lot of power they're bridge is nowhere near the natural pivot point of their shaft.

Don't have to believe me, just watch some vids.

Better still, for those who go to big tournaments, ask a few pros how much attention they pay to pivot points. The answer will be...not much.

Smoothrobinva said:

Mel j’s at genito and hull

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Looks like a real nice room

straightline said:

I don't care for LD shafts as such but I am curious as to why one would shoot everything with the same "focal" length. Shots have too much range to confine yourself like that.

Click to expand...

I'm not going to go into it again, I would suggest looking into pivot point for a shaft. The benefits are numerous. If you constantly change your bridge length even when forced not to, I would imagine you miss a lot of balls.

Actually I will. All shafts have a point on which they will hit the same point if lined up on a straight shot and rotated for any side spin while keeping the bridge stationary and rotating the back arm(hand) to appy side spin. Of course there are other variables, which can be mitigated in certain ways, but for arguments sake, let's just say that you can hit the point you're aiming at if you bridge at the point on your shaft (pivot point) that hits that point with side spin applied. All shafts have them. LD shafts have pp (pivot points) that are farther back.

Some people use this as an advantage when adjust for sidespin by using BHE (back hand english). That is to say, you aim every shot as though you're going to hit straight center ball and then, while maintaining that bridge position, you manipulate the cue so that it's pointing on the cue ball for the amount of side spin that you want.

There are things that come into play, like swerve (masse), so people that use BHE should raise their bridge for follow and lower their bridge for draw to best minimize this effect.

Now I use a different method for finding the pivot point than that of Dave or others suggest and it is for this reason. Well, first let me say how I find it. I setup various shots and shoot them with extreme sidespin usng bhe and adjust my bridge length until they consistently go in center pocket. It's easier on my table because of how tight the pockets are.

This method isn't best for finding the cue's natural pivot point as it is typically defined but it's better for using BHE because it takes the natural swerve, CIT and deflection that creates multiple variables into account and gives a more day to day usable PP.

There is a second type of PP for a cue and that is for FHE(front hand english). That is instead of rotating the rear arm and keeping the bridge stationary to put the amount of english you desire, you keep your back arm locked and slide the bridge hand (front hand) side to side to apply the english you desire.

It just so happens that they tend to be at the same place. what I mean by that is that if you are bridging for the PP for BHE, typically (if your arm is at 90 degrees at the tip contact with the cue ball) your grip hand will be at the correct point to rotate for FHE, but this should be verified prior to use because it's not always the case.

This definitely comes in handy when you can't bridge at the BHE PP because of an obstructing ball. You can bridge anywhere and slide your bridge for FHE and still effectively use side spin.

Now a quick list of benefits (these are mostly benefits of bridging at the cue's pivot point, not holding the butt for the FHE PP)

1) Stroke forgiveness
a). Since you shot doesn't know if you intended to rotate at contact, it doesn't care and the ball will often be potted successfully anyways.
b). You can use various methods of applying BHE, players in the past have successfully used swiping (twisting the cue sideways just before contact) although I wouldn't suggest it.
2) consistency
a). your body develops muscle memory, the more variables you introduce by varying bridge length, the longer it will take to develop said muscle memory and the more variables there are the more likely failure will occur.
3) BHE
a). The ability to easily adjust for squirt with any cue and use any side spin you want while still striking the ball where you want has so many advantages, it's hard to explain. It's ESPECIALLY important for shots in one pocket. Inside or outside to throw a bank to get out of the way is essential for high level one pocket.
b). being able to more accurately aim for CIT(collision induced throw). Sometimes you don't quite have an available angle because of a ball obstruction. With BHE there's no need to guess, you get to use spin to aim slightly off and throw the ball into the pocket. You still aim as though you were going to just shoot the ball regularly but the squirt sends the cue ball in at a different angle to avoid the obstruction, but the spin throws the ball in the pocket.

There's more but I don't feel like writing a book right now, especially when I started out the post saying I didn't want to answer it again at all...lol.