And you'd have be a mid-1930s-born oldtimer like me and Danny D to immediately recognize the prime antecedent model for the geometric elements of that dazzler. Most longtime European (and American) 14.1 coaches inter-generationally know about the wired kick shot Mosconi often started his exhibitions off with, and which they inevitably & amusingly demonstrate at some point to their students..
I saw Willie do the dazzling 2-railer-into-the-side-pocket numerous times in PA/NJ/NY rooms during the late 1940s and into the 1950s as I was getting hooked on Straight Pool. It's near-certain that Mosconi's shot is playfully demonstrated to serious students (like an early-Filler) by just about every Euro 14.1 coach (and American ones) who's heard about and seen it done in modern times during practice or trick shot showing off. Successfully doing a combo-involved version of its mechanics in the semis of a major tournament is just astonishing . . . and as beautiful and crowd-startling as 14.1 gets!
Willie would bring his own balls in his car trunk and give the wired shot a half-dozen warm up tries before the spectators came in, in order to gauge how the rails and cloth played for it. He'd make it usually after about the third trial, and have the table's roll, the cloth and rails' speeds, and the stroke firmness he needed -- down cold, and the rack's head ball would be pocketed every time -- couldn't miss -- on each of the three or so trial attempts after that . . . and most important he'd then never fail to pocket the OB any of the 7 or 8 times I saw him do it to start-off his exhibitions when he chose to open witn it.
It goes like this if you've never seen a 14.1 player do it -- just for "kicks" . . . literally:
Rack all 15 balls square and tight as possible then place the CB in the kitchen near the head string and either the left or right long rail (either one, doesn't matter -- your choice). Call the rack's head ball designating it will be pocketed in the side pocket of the long rail you're shooting from. Hit the CB into the short foot rail with a moderately firm stroke so that it comes behind the rack and squarely strikes the rear corner ball (typically the one or five in the old days because they're both a bright rules-consistent target amenity for the loser of the lag).
When you've got a good pre-established sense of the speed of the cloth+rails+stroke-force down cold, the odds of that called head ball traveling 2-rails and dropping into the designated side pocket are geometrically-wired for a far better than 50-to-60% result. On my 1992 tight-pocket 9-foot Diamond (which I obviously knew pretty well) I'd generally make it 7 out of 10 tries "just showing off" -- a la Miz -- for local students that I was informally coaching. It's a dazzler to pool-innocent folks.
Hopefully some merciful AZBer can make and post a quick professional diagram of what my excessive -- but hopefully clear -- verbiage is describing about the shot. (Don't have the knack or program for it, myself.)
Arnaldo ~ enjoy
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