What was the result of the Hopkins-Flaco match?
Hopkins - Flaco match
- Thread starter tedkaufman
- Start date
It was a fun match to watch. I like watching Allen and his "poke stroke" it makes mine look like Buddy's. I had a poke stroke for years with a chicken wing. About 8 years ago I tried going back on 9' tables and changed my stroke. Changing it didn't help me on the 9 footers at all. Now i've been trying different strokes out for 5 or 6 years. Wish I never changed from the poke stroke. Johnnyt
Allen really doesn't poke - it's merely pure acceleration through the CB. Many would be "shocked" at how well Allen can spin the CB. He can draw the CB a LOOOONG ways with that "poke" stroke.
Yes, I know. I played hin in Cherry Hill, NJ many years ago. Big mistake. Johnnyt
I agree. A lot of folks mistake Allen's short pull-back / immediate cue delivery through the cue ball as a "poke stroke." It isn't. Allen's follow-through the cue ball is dead-nuts straight and quite long -- much longer than a "poke stroke." And as Dave mentions, Allen can spin the heck out of the cue ball -- with extreme accuracy even over long distances.
-Sean <-- used to make the trek over "The George" (George Washington Bridge, that is) over to NYC's sixth borough -- "Joisey" -- to watch Allen play.
Allen does go through the cueball beautifully. Another thing people seem to overlook, while dwelling on his short backswing, is how perfect his mechanics are; his plane is dead-nuts on; it's no wonder he goes through the cueball so purely.
Thanks for the reports. I figured it would be a terrific match.
Thanks for the reports. I figured it would be a terrific match.
Anybody ever notice that Grady has a similar technique?
They seem to get their full stroke on their follow-through....
...kinda like Bruce Lee's one-inch punch.
I've seen many snooker and carom players use this approach.
Allen said his style was the result of his home table when he was a kid...
...the walls were too close
Here's a slightly longer report on how the match went.
It was winner breaks, and the breaker lost the first six games, so the score was 3-3. Then Allen won 4 games in a row, taking it to 7-3. Flaco won the next six (with Allen looking kind of dispirited near the end of that series of games), making it 7-9 in Flaco's favor. Allen then took two games, to tie it at 9-9.
Even though the race was nominally to 13, it was to end on the next game if it became tied at 9, 10, or 11. So it was hill-hill at 9.
Allen broke. After the push out, Flaco had no shot to make the 1-ball, but he attempted a carom off the 1-ball trying to make the 10-ball. He scratched instead. It looked like Allen would run out, but he miscued on the 4-ball. Now it looked like Flaco would certainly run out. But he came up a bit short on shape on the 10-ball and had a fairly sharp cut at it into the foot-rail pocket to his left using a bridge. He hung it in the jaws to give the match to Allen.
It was winner breaks, and the breaker lost the first six games, so the score was 3-3. Then Allen won 4 games in a row, taking it to 7-3. Flaco won the next six (with Allen looking kind of dispirited near the end of that series of games), making it 7-9 in Flaco's favor. Allen then took two games, to tie it at 9-9.
Even though the race was nominally to 13, it was to end on the next game if it became tied at 9, 10, or 11. So it was hill-hill at 9.
Allen broke. After the push out, Flaco had no shot to make the 1-ball, but he attempted a carom off the 1-ball trying to make the 10-ball. He scratched instead. It looked like Allen would run out, but he miscued on the 4-ball. Now it looked like Flaco would certainly run out. But he came up a bit short on shape on the 10-ball and had a fairly sharp cut at it into the foot-rail pocket to his left using a bridge. He hung it in the jaws to give the match to Allen.