More

Gonna drop some pics in here….hope others will too

L.S. Dennis said:

... Also not universally known was that Mosconi was under contract at the time with Brunswick and had to get their permission to take part in this film. Brunswick at the time was trying trying put a 'cleaner' image of pool because pool was really in the doldrums but nothing seemed to work for them. I think that Brunswick just threw up their hands and said 'go ahead and do it Willie nothing we're doing seems to helping this game out anyway. The result as it turned out was a smash hit success and it was The Hustler that brought pool back in this country, for a while anyway!

Click to expand...

Here is Brunswicks take -- in their official book on the history of Brunswick by Rick Kogan -- on that revival:

Practice is hard. I mean that to practice as you play the game and not goof off during your session. When I goof off by one or two stroking shots, not caring if I miss and not bearing down that actually hurts your game. I try to end every session by trying as hard as I can to execute the drill exactly as I would during a match.

lfigueroa said:

As some (many) know, I'm writing a book and something happen to me this past weekend that I would want to address in said book.

It is something that has happened to me in the past but was particularly dramatic/traumatic this past weekend. I've been playing pretty good, consistent, high level for me, and then this past weekend -- for one session -- my game fell completely and totally off the cliff. Could not see the angles, could not judge CB speed accurately, and my banks went into the toilet, (sigh). My game was a wreck.

So my question is, though I know we all have our ups and down: do you occasionally walk into the PR, get into a game, and without prior warning, have your skills evaporate? Yes, I know they eventually come back. But do you occassionally suffer a fugue state in which it appears you've never played pool before?

Lou Figueroa

Click to expand...

I didn't read the other thread answers, just answering directly. This would happen to me after a few hours of playing, maybe in every fourth tournament or so, or sometimes when I would play friends. Sometimes they would even say "Nathan, are you alright?"

It had to do with my pre-shot routine missing something that should be a conscious part of my process, and instead I made subconscious out of naiveite. When this thing was calibrated subconsciously would play great, but when my mind got tired this piece would un-calibrate and I would fall off in a big way.

After years of studying my pre shot routine, I finally figured out that I wasn't making a deliberate effort to align the exact center of the cue ball to my shot line. I've played pool / billiards so much that I would just feel where the center was. But by not taking the extra second to just look at the top edge of the cue ball and verify that the peak of the curvature was on top of my predicted shot line, it allowed my "feel" of the center of the cue ball to drift very slowly as I became more mentally drained. This caused other problems like dialing back on max English due to a feeling of under-confidence, and things unraveled. I added this visual check on every shot, and also use my lower peripheral vision a bit more to watch my final follow through to make sure it isn't drifting towards center.

The issue with this is that it is so incredibly personal and internalized I don't see how any video or instructor could even pick it up. No training device that I could make could figure this out either. It is very mental and subtle, and just requires a lot of patience and observation to notice and fix details like this.

So I would say that all pros have gone though this process many times, and have PSR that is bulletproof, not only for every shot, but also checks micro details when their mind is tired and keeps them on track for the long haul.

I have a C14 $1400 with two shafts.

I Have a C 14 with two shafts.

I believe that’s the plan

Here's a kind of drill that doesn't fall into the repeated shot category. It's for players who need work on their position play. I call it bump pool, not to be confused with "bumps" which is another word for bank pool.

Break open a rack of 10 or 15 balls. Free break, scratches don't count. On every shot you have cue ball in hand. On the first shot, choose any ball to be pocketed and also call the next ball. The called next ball has to move during the shot. The easiest way to make the next ball move is by shooting in the first ball and then bumping the next ball with the cue ball. There are other ways to make the next ball move during the shot. Hint: think combinations and kiss shots as well as hitting the next ball first.

Where you bump the next ball to is important, but that will require more advanced skill.

A much harder version of this is rotation with either six or nine balls. You have to hit the lowest first and pocket some ball and move what will be the next. For this, you can repeat each shot up to three times because the bump requirement is really, really hard at rotation.

A general comment about drills: I think each shot during practice should be at least a little different than the one before. That's a fundamental principle in the progressive practice style of drill. Maybe have three identical shots in a row at maximum, unless you are working on a specific problem with your mechanics.

I've got a Jim Pierce that I really like. Don't know what they are going for right now though.

Are these still available?