The English is a little wonky but you should be able to follow it. Change the Audio Track to English (US). A great primer on short table tickies, based on the mirror system at first, but then more about feel and changing hits and english and speed for different shots that aren't all that different from each other.

The Korean channels on youtube are just gold these days. They have all the Euro pros on, all sorts of good stuff, even -gasp- system information.

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jasonlaus said:

What about front hand?

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The old books showed the pivoting about the bridge hand (the grip or back hand moving the stick) was an understood concept. Front hand English wasnt a thing until these forums around 2000, and the term was coined by someone like Pat Johnson or Mike Page, IIRC.

maha said:

nice you went back to wood.

but to be more powerful it needs to have some method of springing forward to add acceleration to the cue. they haven't figure out a way to do that yet and be legal.

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I think it's about the balance, and the mass behind the cue, I dont feel any "weight" feedback to my back hand... When I had a great break, I did not feel it, so it's hard for me to replicate the similar break... wood is more consistent to me

GideonF said:

What didn’t you like about the break tip? What break tip do you prefer? My girlfriend has a Cuetec breaker and I like the Taom tip.

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I think it's soft and bouncey, more suitable to be the jump tip... I have always been more familiar with Samsara, or recently Caiden Fenrir

My High run was done with a warped Butt with a warped Shaft, due to having a long stroke once I started to notice the tip/ferrule turn as I was striking the cue ball I decided to destroy the Cue. I never roll my cue with mid cue extension on the table because I know what it would look like and it would bother my mental game. But to answer you yes you can run many balls with it

VVP said:

I suggest that you Google and listen to all the Podcasts Karim Belhaj participated in so you can hear directly from the "horse's mouth."

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Oh, I have. I have. I didn't do all my research and ignore Karim. I scoured for everything he has said publicly the last five years.

Frankly, I haven't found him or Frazer very forthcoming.

VVP said:

Predator does not see WNT as a competitor for viewership. In fact, it is in Predator's interest to flood WNT events with all its best players so it can get free commercial for its name brand.

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To be clear, I don't think Predator is trying to put the WNT out of business. Not at all. Doesn't hurt Predator at all when its top players play and do well in WNT events, as you note.

But I also don't think Predator cares much what happens to the WNT. The company is doing what is in its own best interests.

Even if Karim says he doesn't think Predator is a competitor to the WNT, of course it is. Whenever they have clashing big events, they are competing for viewers and sponsors. Predator and WNT have clashes this year with the PLP, Florida Open and partially the Mosconi.

When the PLP was on, for instance, I mostly watched it instead of the Las Vegas event. Other fans watched the Las Vegas event.

Predator also appears to have boxed out or squeezed Matchroom in Vietnam. It scheduled an event in Bali that conflicted with the WNT Hanoi Open last year, and it would happen again this year if WNT held another in Hanoi. Once Predator realized what a jewel Vietnam was - thanks to MR - it rushed right in.

If both sides keep expanding, they will inevitably have more scheduling clashes. Predator has avoided putting events on around the time of the WPC and US Opens, but it's encroached on the Mosconi the past two years. I find that ... very curious.

Both entities are drawing money from the same narrow pool of sponsors, by and large. None of them have really deep pockets like advertisers for traditional sports. So I consider the money pool available to pro billiards as a partial zero-sum game. What one side gets is not available to others.

If the two sides cooperated more, there is definitely room for both. But the more they clash, the more something has to give, or change.

jokrswylde said:

To piggyback your point about the recent Cologuard classic...one of the biggest characters of the generation in pro golf is john Daly. John Daly who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, can still hit it a mile and tells great stories. Golf fans LOVE him. The biggest highlight of the recent tournament was him hitting a shot from the rough and falling and rolling down a hill...

If you sterilize pool to the point that the true characters are phased out, it would be a shame, IMO. Current players are already described as "Robots" when it comes to things like stroke mechanics and pattern play.

Sure, there is a certain percentage of folks who love to hear about Fedor's latest Social Media merchandise offer, or this pro's workout regimen, or that pro's favorite drills, but I would wager there is a larger portion who loves to hear a good CJ Wiley or Keith road story, or about the time this pro scored big and the time that pro lost it all...THOSE stories are the ones that build personalities and legends that make people interested.

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Absolutely correct.

mcarver said:

Not my cup of tea but thanks for the offer.

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How about this?
Ivory joint.
IV inlays.
Lizard wrap.

JAM said:

Barry Hearn has pretty consistently positioned himself as someone trying to professionalize cue sports, structured tours, bigger prize funds, media rights, and making it viable as a full-time career. That’s the same playbook he used in snooker and darts, make it TV-friendly, sponsor-driven, and commercially stable.

Traditional pool culture has heavy roots in action, gambling, and backroom money. Modern pro pool (especially via Matchroom Sport) is trying to look polished, sponsor-safe, and mainstream, yet many of the big-money sponsors are betting companies or gambling websites. Gambling built the culture of pool. Without that money, prize funds likely don’t jump the way players want.

Should pool lean into its roots more? Somethings needs to change if it's going to survive.

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Yes…yes…yes…it should LEAN into its roots a LOT MORE!