14.1 Past & Present

I expect it to be one of those great threads 14.1 section is so famous about. Thanks Steve!

I ve to kneel down for this Steve :thumbup:

Usualy players/sportsmen trying to develope technical things in their sport. For sure there have been some things that changed especially on straight-pool over the last decades.
Forgive me- but when i came back into the pool-buisness i was a bit shocked. Right after i got my way back to pool i watched a league-game and first i was surprised how the level of the players really increased- extremly good shotmaking etc. ... But when i watched straight-pool i reallyl wondered. The 2 guys were breakin with so high-speed.....and i was talking a bit to myself. A man stood next to me and looked at me like he would have seen E.T. , lol- i really didn t perceive that i whispered to myself-Rotfl....
I said somethin like "..oh my god-they re talkin to god after each break-shot and beggin to see the next ball...."
The man asked me why i would say somethin like that and told me how good they are blahblah. I just answered that they have absolutley no control on the breakshots- and the breakshots i saw in that game were all in the position where you ve been able to hit on of the first two balls in the rack. so in my opinion wonderful to control and easy to know where the next 2-3 balls would go after contact...if played with good speed (and ofc be able to shoot at em with the Cueball, lol).

Perhaps i am too old-fashioned and but i can t find anything positive on praying that i perhaps get a shot after the break. There are enough breakshots where you definitley should KNOW what happens after your break.

From my side the game hasn t really increased itself- it s more about bombing the breakshot to pulverize the rack (looks to me that they re just too lazy to work seriously with the rack and good sequences).


At least- that s my opinion-and for sure there are still great players who are knowing what they re doing- but i am really STILL wondering why such amazing good shotmakers deciding to beg instead of knowing!


lg from overseas,

Ingo

I have watched "old school" and "new school" 14.1 for the last 20 years here in PA. As many of you know the northeast is loaded with great straight pool players.

as I learned I asked as many of the old guys what style is best.....they explained that most of the style differences comes from the equipment. On slower tables with clay balls you had a hard time plowing through a full rack on breakers ,so you "nibbled" at the corners to break a few out til the cluster was smaller, then bust the rest open.

On the new faster cloth there is no need tickle the rack, so hitting the break shots harder gives you a better % of coming up with a shot as long as you leave the cue ball in the center of the table. IMO the reason most of the new school players smash the rack is because it works......you can't argue that the Euro crew hits hard breakers, AND they run a bajjillion balls.

That was nothin about just european players-

Still love watching this. Kinda feel bad for Joe though.

http://www.google.com/search?q=irvi...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBUQqwQwAw

Old School vs New

I really enjoy watching the "Old School" players play 14.1
There is nothing better. I wish there were more videos available. They break a few balls out of the rack and go to work on taking the rest of the rack apart piece by piece. As for the New way. They do bust open the racks with hard hitting break shots.
I do think it has a lot to do with the type of angle that the break shot ends up on. Also, when playing on slow, dirty tables, I have seen including myself. Hit break shots hard and hardly nothing moves in the rack.
With smoke filled cloth & a film on the balls. It is very hard to move balls around.
I know with my own table at home. If it is very damp out side. It seems like my table is sluggish and I keep my table in tip top shape. It is much harder to get a run going when a table is playing slow.

When did the clay balls go away?

some time in the 70's I would guess. I played with a set as a kid in the late 70's.

JohnnyP said:

When did the clay balls go away?

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I learned to play with the old clay balls in '61 and you had to pound the break shot to get them to open. But the modern balls were around then also. That is as far back as i can go.
Also talk about style back in the 80's in Jersey i used to watch Neptune Joe Frady and Allen Hopkins play a lot of straight pool. Joe was a blaster and Allen was a nibbler and both came from the same era. Go figure. Also from learning to play with the clay balls I'm a blaster also on most break shots. Some break shots it's just smarter to nibble. I think the biggest difference between the old players and the new is that the new one's will take a chance with a real hard shot where the old school players will take a safe.

Yes

measureman said:

I learned to play with the old clay balls in '61 and you had to pound the break shot to get them to open. But the modern balls were around then also. That is as far back as i can go.
Also talk about style back in the 80's in Jersey i used to watch Neptune Joe Frady and Allen Hopkins play a lot of straight pool. Joe was a blaster and Allen was a nibbler and both came from the same era. Go figure. Also from learning to play with the clay balls I'm a blaster also on most break shots. Some break shots it's just smarter to nibble. I think the biggest difference between the old players and the new is that the new one's will take a chance with a real hard shot where the old school players will take a safe.

Click to expand...

Very good points. I agree. Thanks for your comments on this post.

i think i mentioned this before; but on one of rempe's videos he says that, in person, he called Mosconi a "putter" to which Mosconi took offense. lol.... personally, i think that the old school, "putter" style requires more control. not only do i like watching "putter" games but, i like playing them too. having said this, i do not miss an opportunity to blast the rack into tomorrow. :grin-square:

hey steve: i'm on dialup and recently sold my table. take pitty and send me some of those old-school vids. :wink: i'll put you in my will....