Best in the world. Without a doubt.

Here's the thing - STOP calling them "trick" shots. What Florian and Jamison and Semih and others do when they do the big masses and power draw and power follow shots are STROKE shots. It's the pool world's equivalent of strong man competitions.

Trick shots to me are the set up shots where the biggest part of the shot is whether you got all the balls set properly or not.

Stroke shots are those that require insane knowledge of how far and which direction the cueball will go when hit with killer spin.

One of the trick shot guys - Nick from Canada sells templates to do the setup shots. They work. Put the balls in the template and hit it according to the instructions and bam you made six balls in one shot.

Now I do think that setup shots are also art and are artisitic. Some of them are just nuts.

I was fortunate to spend some time one day talking to Charlie "Show Me a Shot I Can't Make" Petersen. I gave him a case in 1998. Charlie told me of traveling around the country doing shows and his hook was, as his tagline states, that he challenged anyone to show him a shot he couldn't make.

And I really feel that the guys who are into trick and stroke shots are pretty much all cut from the same cloth in this regard.

Look at the "rivalry" (friendly) between Venom, Ppooler, Eric Yow and others on YouTube. These guys all push each other to do more and get better.

Venom really went nuts with the bicylcle rims and the timing shots and the multiple cues multiple hits shots.

So you want the title most creative? You got it for sure at this point as far as I can see it.

But I still think that we need to make a distinction between the stroke shots and the trick shots.

This might be it -

Making the cueball dance - that's a stroke shot.

Making a bunch of object balls go in different directions - that's a trick (setup) shot.

Quite a feat, considering Peterson died in 1962. He was 82 years old. I was fortunate to see one of his last performances at the Detroit Fairgrounds maybe six months before he passed away.
 
Quite a feat, considering Peterson died in 1962. He was 82 years old. I was fortunate to see one of his last performances at the Detroit Fairgrounds maybe six months before he passed away.

Then I defer to you Jay. I must be thinking of someone else. The person I met claimed to have been a trick shot artist in the 20s and 30s.

I went to a house in central Florida, a retirement community and the person whom I am obviously misrembering as Chas Petersen, showed me a photo album full of newspaper clippings and other memorabilia and we talked pool for a couple hours. He also had a wall of framed photos.

Now I am sad that I don't remember who I talked to and gave a case to. :-)

Anyway, the point I was making is still valid that innovation and creativity has always been a part of trick shots at least as far back as "Show me a Shot" Petersen.

Your memory is like a computer! Between Jay Helfert and Terry Ardeno I don't think anyone can get by with a incorrect statement concerning pool in the last 50 or so years!! Thanks for the correction.
 
I applaud Florian for his commitment to excel at what he loves to do. I wouldn't even call them "trick shots". To me it is true cue artistry.
Hats off also to Nathan for seeing a product that needed to be cultivated. The DVD is very cutting edge in it's format, and it's nice also to show how many times a few of the shots took to actually make. It gives a true sense of how difficult and complex they really are. When I run this video in my store, it always gathers a crowd!

Chris
 
Wow, intense! The video preview looks like a world class product too, that's awesome. Who wouldn't be surprised and impressed. This certainly has earning power!
 
Showed the utube stuff to some of my league guys. The responses were all pretty much "What the hell, he did NOT just do that" with a lot of rewinding and head shaking.

Whoever manages this guy, if anyone, needs to get the word out to broadcasters. Heck, Letterman probably would book this for his "human trick" bit.
 
Showed the utube stuff to some of my league guys. The responses were all pretty much "What the hell, he did NOT just do that" with a lot of rewinding and head shaking.

Whoever manages this guy, if anyone, needs to get the word out to broadcasters. Heck, Letterman probably would book this for his "human trick" bit.

We are working on getting him on any of those shows. Hopefully will have some news soon. But you can check out clips from Venom trickshots DVD at any restaurant/ Bar that has "TAP TV".
 
This is such a lame attitude and response.

Florian...Let me give you another perspective...from someone who does "the same tricks again and again", and performs them all over the country to 1000's of people every year (and gets paid to do it). Every time you do a show, 95% of your audience will be NEW people, who have not seen your "tricks". The 5% who may have seen them before, will be the guys saying, "Watch this...you won't BELIEVE what he can do!" Rossman does the same routine...Massey does the same routine. Why?...because it works! So, while I applaud you continuing to create new things, don't think that stuff you may think is 'ordinary', are things that won't continue to amaze people. Some people call the Railroad Shot (the one with the three cues) "old and tired", yet it gets the biggest response from the audience, every time I do, no matter where or when it is (and it is a very easy trick shot to perform). Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing your amazing stuff! It was nice to meet you in the Crown Cues booth last month! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Question

I was watching this video, and a few of Semih Sayginer's; I was just wondering if insane trick shot skills translate to an automatic killer all around game (whether it's pocket billiards or 3 cushion).
 
OMG. That guy is the most innovative cueist I have seen in a while. I wish he would enter events.
 
Some of my favorite shots he makes are the ones on the 1' x 6" table. :lol:
Housing it on that little table just makes me shake my head with a big smile on my face :grin:
 
I was watching this video, and a few of Semih Sayginer's; I was just wondering if insane trick shot skills translate to an automatic killer all around game (whether it's pocket billiards or 3 cushion).

He can run a rack or two of 9 ball but he is no champion for sure. He is progrssively working on his 3 cushion game and just the other day ran a 7. I played him 9 ball at SBE this year and I tell you he is tough to hook......lol.
 
Well, it's official. Florian has been officially invited to compete in this year's ESPN Trickshot Magic!

The format doesn't cater to him nearly as well as I assumed it would (he's only allowed to pick 3 of his own shots per match), but I'm sure he'll do well regardless.

Congrats Florian!
 
Well, it's official. Florian has been officially invited to compete in this year's ESPN Trickshot Magic!

The format doesn't cater to him nearly as well as I assumed it would (he's only allowed to pick 3 of his own shots per match), but I'm sure he'll do well regardless.

Congrats Florian!

Thats Huge....and it's a good thing that they are only letting him pic three or it could be over quickly;).
 
I just watched some of the YouTube stuff last night, and showed it a good friend who does a little trick shot stuff around our local room. We were both floored. Awesome stuff. Look forward to seeing more.
 
I usually watch trick shot magic only when channel surfing but I'll definitely tune into this one.
 
to BHQ - off thread topic, sri...

his ability to hit the cueball a second time while on the move is just amazing to me
his hand eye coordination must be phenomenal to be able to do it

just wanted to tell you that when my daughter and son-in-law were visiting here last my daughter returned the cue i gave her and out of all my cues chose a sneaky peat that you made...

she loves it!

so did i...

all the best,
smokey
 
Wow, intense! The video preview looks like a world class product too, that's awesome. Who wouldn't be surprised and impressed. This certainly has earning power!

Thanks. We're still trying to get distribution for the DVD in a lot of areas. I spent a small fortune making this DVD, so hopefully things will pick up once it starts getting into catalogs.

Either way, I appreciate your support. :)
 
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