One more thing from me, and then I will stop hogging my own thread.

We did not come here just to drop a link and disappear. I love this game, and I plan on being around here talking about everything pool: cues, chalk, tough rolls, league nights, all of it. Honestly, the game talk is the best part of this place.

Thank you for accepting us here, and for the honest feedback, good and bad. I read every word of it. I cannot wait to get to know this community properly, and I cannot wait to meet some of you.

David

jnwilliams, I'm in a similar spot here in Hamilton — most of my table time is practice on my own, and I don't get into a rated league night nearly as often as I'd like, so my Fargo feels like a guess with a number attached. I liked sjm ballparking you around 550 from the ghost numbers, and Chili Palmer's Bowlliards idea makes sense as a steadier check than one good ghost session. My problem is the ghost flatters me on a good night and punishes me on a bad one, so I never know which version is real. For those of you who built a Fargo from scratch, what did you trust most to cross-check it — BU exams, Bowlliards over a few weeks, or just getting games in against rated players?

Mensabum, this is a really interesting middle ground — I've been stuck on my wood shaft here in Hamilton mostly because I like the feedback, and the couple of full carbon shafts I've tried felt a bit dead to me, even if they were forgiving. Your point about the white ash giving you that feel back while still keeping deflection minimal is what caught me. Vince's Janka hardness reasoning makes sense on paper, but I'm curious how it actually plays on a long shot with a tip of side spin, where I still tend to overcompensate and miss thin. Does the hybrid let you aim pretty much like a low-deflection carbon shaft there, or do you still have to adjust more like wood?

JasonATX said:

Here's how Earl does it.

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I think that's not Earl's most extreme version. For a while, he was Earl Scissorhands.

When during the stroke does your cue come off line?

Janhaus said:

... but sometimes in a game situation I miss it and I'm not fully confident it's not b/c of my stroke, you know what I mean? ...

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Is there any way for you to show your stroke is different in the shots you miss in a game? Many good players -- see Judd Trump for example -- have less than ideal mechanics and still do OK. Consistency can trump a perfectly straight stroke. When Judd misses a shot, his mechanics are horrible. When he makes yet another century, his mechanics are horrible. And, very, very consistent.

Chopdoc said:

What I think is really cool is these later Dufferin cues seem to be more appreciated now.

It's sad things went the way they did, but that writing was on the wall. Brunswick of Canada went under in 72 or 73 as I remember.

The "Asian Invasion" changed everything.

Viking got rescued from the dead

Several others still hang on, and honestly are henerally excellent.

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Thanks for adding that, Chopdoc. I appreciate the history — I hadn't put the Brunswick of Canada timing together with the Dufferin story that way, and your point about the Asian invasion changing everything really explains a lot about why those later cues ended up overlooked for so long.

It's good to hear the later Dufferins are getting more appreciation now. They were solid, honest cues, and it's a shame the company went the way it did. Thanks for sharing what you remember — that kind of first-hand context is exactly what makes these threads worth reading.

iusedtoberich said:

It will be funny as hell if the pros don't do the course, but 5 amateurs do, and split that 50k with 30th place finishes.

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Well, yes, but, .... I suspect that all the pros who participate in WPA events already have taken the course and they already have the required WPA athlete license.

Bob Jewett said:

One condition of being eligible for the added money is that you take and pass this on-line course, which is estimated to take about 20 minutes:

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It will be funny as hell if the pros don't do the course, but 5 amateurs do, and split that 50k with 30th place finishes.

Bob Jewett said:

I'm curious why he didn't play a jump shot. Maybe too much chance of leaving the table if you don't land right?

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That's the reason. You very rarely see a jump shot in a situation like this in world class play. Object ball on (or very near) the rail is a dealbreaker for most.

jax_joe said:

They've apparently added more money....

$90,000 Added To The 9-Ball Championship!

The 2027 Derby City Classic 9-Ball Championship features $90,000 in total added prize money. Learn about the $40,000 guaranteed added money and $50,000 WPA Bonus Prize Fund eligibility requirements.

www.derbycityclassic.com

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One condition of being eligible for the added money is that you complete this on-line course, which is estimated to take about 20 minutes:

@Bob Jewett - are you suggesting I not worry as much about correcting the stroke and just practicing more? That's certainly a thought I've had, b/c every day after I run the Mighty-X drill I move on to other drills anyway, despite not having a straight follow-through, but I think it may still be worth tinkering with? Or maybe at some point I just live with it, but either way I'm definitely working towards the HAMB approach.

I run drills a good bit, haven't been as strict with requiring completion on those in awhile but I probably should. For example one of the shot drills I've used (TorX) requires has suggested requirements like making a shot 20x in a row. I'll admit to being lazy to those and stopping at 10+ That's why I mentioned missing easy shots out of nowhere - I have made those shots 10+ in a row with at least top, bottom, left and right english in shot drills, but sometimes in a game situation I miss it and I'm not fully confident it's not b/c of my stroke, you know what I mean?

How to measure progress? There's DrDave's BU RDS system with progressive levels and I've been doing that one recently. Other than that, I run various drills, like Niels Feijen's drills, where he suggests being able to run X in a row for C players, B players etc. so I strive to improve that #.

markjames said:

... not even mccready can teach you how to mccready

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That's simple -- learn to play for a hundred a game while you are still in middle school. Put the ball in the hole or starve. You will find a way.

I'm curious why he didn't play a jump shot. Maybe too much chance of leaving the table if you don't land right?

I also wonder if he had looked at how long the new cloth was playing for three rail kicks. If you have time before a match, testing the corner-5 (or maybe opposite-3 for this shot) is useful.

Related to playing the corner-5 on slick cloth, here is the comment from YouTube from someone who probably plays a lot of 3-C:

fjk said:

I grew up watching the old legends (not Lassiter old, but Earl, Buddy, Sigel, Varner, Hopkins old). When I watch their videos now, it's pretty obvious how superior today's top guys are. While they certainly played well enough to take a set of someone like Filler, in a long race, they would stand absolutely no chance.

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i completely agree with you

and to the people who say pool used to be more entertaining to watch, and they prefer the old days over the current (you’ve heard the insults, ‘boring’ ‘robots’ ‘identical’) top pros-

those guys you mentioned often missed shots they shouldn’t miss BECAUSE they played it “entertainingly”

i’ve watched accustats videos of mike lebron and his ‘amazing’ break that hurt my whole body so bad that my stomach hurt

to each their own i am a student of the game and i learn alot more watching any of those guys with unpronounceable and unspellable names from poland because not even mccready can teach you how to mccready

dquarasr said:

I can’t view your video. Perhaps upload it to YouTube then post a link.

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I had no problem viewing the "gdrive" link in chrome/Windows 11.

Janhaus said:

... I miss shots out of nowhere that are not difficult shots, so I'm coming back to my stroke for diagnosis, welcome any comments!

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I suggest that instead of trying to fiddle any more with your stroke, you turn the shots you miss -- and feel you shouldn't -- into progressive practice drills. Be sure that you are playing similar position (like stun, or left follow, or ...) during the drill.

Do you measure your playing progress in any way?