vintagecollectibles831 said:

Have you ever seen any really strong players who get down on the cue ball, and seemingly do not take any practice strokes, before their final follow through.

Either that, or their practice strokes are so short, that they can't even be seen, by the audience, or anyone else.

I find it pretty amazing, that players are able to play really good like that. Getting down on the cue ball super fast too, as if they already have everything lined up before they did so.

Is this a style that some instructors teach, or is that probably just naturally how the player learned to play, on their own? I mean, the part about the ultra short / undetected practice strokes.

Thanks for any thoughts.

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Maybe they take very short strokes like Hopkins and DiLiberto. Or are ready to shoot right away like Keith. They are certainly lined up and aiming at something.

I don't see how many of today's players play with such long bridges. I mean really long.

azhousepro said:

I reached out to Mike Panozzo with BD and he explained the following...

HUGE printer fail with mailing labels for that issue, with hundreds returned to us. Didn’t know for weeks. Resending them along with letter about free digital access for current subscribers.

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Thanks for the information!

I know loads of people who take a million practice strokes each time and miss shots by a mile on a regular basis.

I speculate that being properly aligned in the first place is considerably more important than how many prestrokes one does, but I'm far from an expert of course.

Bump

dendweller said:

Right now I have a set of Super Pros sitting in my trunk and a set of Dynashere Bronze on my table at home. I'd try the Challenger if I were you.

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I've been playing with the Titanium's. Not a fan of how the balls play. They mute or dampen down the stroke put into them.
They don't throw well which I use a lot in One Pocket.

Got a set of Super Pros in my Cart on Amazon. Might as well get what I'm used to I guess.

uk_9_ball_convert said:

I was going to say I stopped using Amazon after I read that if they have multiple sellers selling the same product using them for fullfillment they just store them all together and pick one at random when you order, meaning you could order from a good store with good reviews and actually recieve a product from a store that uses counterfeits and has terrible reviews.

But just learned they stopped that practice earlier in the year:

Commingling practices will end effective March 31, 2026

In March, we’ll end commingling practices across our supply chain and update eligibility criteria for using manufacturer barcodes. Commingling is when we fulfill customer orders using exact product matches from the closest available inventory in the Amazon fulfillment network, even if that...

sellercentral.amazon.com

Slightly pointless post since it's no longer an issue, but thought I'd share in case anyone else had been put off by Amazon for the same reason. Seems it's now safe to purchase from stores on Amazon with good reviews (which I don't think was always the case).

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Very helpful post.
I was totally unaware of this.

Thank you.

336Robin said:

Its free shipping and returns guaranteed and they have good reviews, but I appreciate your opinion.

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I was going to say I stopped using Amazon after I read that if they have multiple sellers selling the same product using them for fullfillment they just store them all together and pick one at random when you order, meaning you could order from a good store with good reviews and actually recieve a product from a store that uses counterfeits and has terrible reviews.

But just learned they stopped that practice earlier in the year:

Slightly pointless post since it's no longer an issue, but thought I'd share in case anyone else had been put off by Amazon for the same reason. Seems it's now safe to purchase from stores on Amazon with good reviews (which I don't think was always the case).

BasementDweller said:

Gorst, SVB, Tyler, Bergman, and .... Skyler.

It doesn't matter if they earned it or not, Matchroom needs the most competitive U.S. team to try an keep this train on the rails.

The team listed above, if given a month or two to get dialed in....ahem...Skyler...ahem.... would actually have a fighting chance. We still haven't seen a comfortable Gorst in MC play. If he plays well, the pressure would minimize for everyone else. Gorst is the key. If he plays like the number one player in the world, the U.S. could actually win. Still underdogs, but maybe +150 or so.

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I feel like the U.S always puts up Gorst and SVB up early against Europe's best players where it's 50/50 who wins and if they lose it starts to look terrible for America.

Most pool captains seem to have the convention to put out their best players first. When I played in a team if we knew our opponents were better we'd always put out our weaker players first, it's basically a free hit, let the opposition waste their best players playing guys that weren't likely to win anyhow. Then have our best players playing players they could actually beat. If your poor players cause an upset you can win, and even if they don't you have a good chance of getting a draw. Best way to play it when your outgunned IMHO and I'm always amazed the U.S never takes that approach at the Mosconi. Wonder if Johan will see the strategy differently.

jay helfert said:

As I suspected, the better players are at an advantage in push out situations. You underline it here.

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I wonder if it's the better jumpers that are at an advantage. I know if I was Gorst I'd certainly be leaving a jump shot if I was pushing out knowing I'm better than my opponent at jump shots.

Bob Jewett said:

In general the cue ball will have some curve immediately after it hits any object. If you play a 3-cushion shot with follow off a ball, the cue ball will curve after it hits the object ball, and then it will curve after hitting each cushion. I think "the CB curves only once" is correct only if you have a lot of other explanation.

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Yes, of course you're right. When I say it only curves once I'm referring to the big visible curve which can occur off the OB or off a rail, depending on speed and distance.
In general, I'm usually using this explanation in regards to a side of the rack breakshot in straight pool for purposes of scratch avoidance. When people say they scratch on certain shots when they use follow I tell them to use more speed. That ensures the big curve occurs after rack contact, not before, otherwise a scratch may be in play. Any subsequent curve is very small and very seldom plays a role in practical terms.

Yes bbb, that's a situation where the "big curve" occurs after rail, not ball, contact.

Black-Balled said:

I would NOT buy off Amazon unless it is a well known entity...and then I'd reach out directly to purchase directly.

Amazon is rife with fakes and saving the little you will is NOT worth it.

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Its free shipping and returns guaranteed and they have good reviews, but I appreciate your opinion.

Gorst, SVB, Tyler, Bergman, and .... Skyler.

It doesn't matter if they earned it or not, Matchroom needs the most competitive U.S. team to try an keep this train on the rails.

The team listed above, if given a month or two to get dialed in....ahem...Skyler...ahem.... would actually have a fighting chance. We still haven't seen a comfortable Gorst in MC play. If he plays well, the pressure would minimize for everyone else. Gorst is the key. If he plays like the number one player in the world, the U.S. could actually win. Still underdogs, but maybe +150 or so.