Nick Varner came into town yesterday to do a clinic. The advertising for this wasn't great, so the turnout wasn't good. And, a handful of people that were gung ho to come couldn't make it for one reason or another.
So, it was almost like a private session. Here are some thoughts on the day.
Lessons from a professional player
I'm a strong believer in getting lessons from a professional instructor (like the BCA instructors), as the curriculum is generally more organized for learning. But, I also believe in getting lessons from a professional in order to see how he plays, what he's thinking, and most importantly, see the possibilites that most non-professional instructors are unable to show. My advice to anyone is to get a healthy balance. Nick even says that he wants to take BCA instruction (for instruction, not for certification).
The game is physical.
This is something that I've always said, but until you spend time with a professional, it's too easy to say that it's a mental game. Nick's stroke looks so coordinated. Everything is done with ease, even the very firm shots. No wasted motion. Very effortless.
Nick just got LASIK surgery done, so he no longer has to wear gas permeable lenses. It's the lenses that he says made his game drop to the basement his final day at the 8-ball IPT in Orlando. He says that he feels wonderful now.
He's hired a personal trainer to keep in top shape for this tour. Personal trainers for pool players. Imagine that. He shared where he thought he needed to gain and maintain strength. Strength in pool. Imagine that.
Elevation
Again, another thing that I beat to death on these forums, so I can only report observations. Nick's standard stance and address for draw has the butt of his cue over 10" high, but not 15". So, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-13° of elevation. That's just a report. I checked out Sigel at the IPT. He was about the same. Nick doesn't try for elevation. It just is what it is. His bridge hand doesn't drop for draw, so he raised the butt end to get the tip low. That's what many top players do without ever thinking about it.
The Break
Nick uses a couple (or more) of different breaks. One he calls the flat break "where you just turn the hand over." I love this kind of wording because it reminds me of other sports' instruction where the action may not mean anything in the scientific world, but it means something in the sports world. I really don't know what he really meant, but the cue travels in what would be close to a normal stroke path. I guess in his mind, to keep the stick flatter, you don't do certain motions with the hand (like super wrist snap) that you would with a more powerful break. The next paragraph explains.
His other break was what he simply called the power break. Nick sets up low, but he rises the tip. In fact, he said that he specifally want to "break up." I've heard other hard breakers say this. Like previous break thread discussion, he slowly draws his cuestick back, and then fires forward. What I didn't mention in the other break thread was something that I noticed Sarah Rousey doing, but didn't realize other people did. Nick breaks sidearm. That's right. For the powerbreak, he hitches his stroke to snap the wrist. And there's a tremendous wrist snap. It looks like when he does snap the wrist, his elbow cock/hitches to the inside (reverse or inside chicken wing) and he snaps the wrist forward. Sarah noticeably does this. I doubt she realizes it. I doubt Nick realizes it. Bustamante already has that inside chicken wing in his stroke so there's not much difference. However, I'm guessing he also brings that elbow farther inside on the snap portion. This seems to again point to the side armers of the past whom I say did not shoot sidearm just because they played as children. I think they fell into something that was advantageous, from a wrist snap perspective. In the end, if you're trying the wrist snap on the break, and you're trying to fight from having your elbow go to the inside, don't fight it. I think you're wrist wants your elbow to move to the inside.
Do I recommend this type of power break? Hell ya, as long as you realize that this power break is a different stroke altogether. People should master the standard flat break, but if you could master this power break as well, that's a hell of a weapon. Sometimes, if hitting them squarely and firm isn't quite doing it, it'd be nice to go into the bag for something else.
We ended up playing against Nick for several games in 8-ball letting him break every time. I thought it was important to watch him rather than try to beat him. He switched to the power break after his first break came up dry or barely leaked a ball in. He broke them harder than anyone I've seen on a bar box with simply superior control. Most people could run most of the racks that Nick broke, they were so wide open. And, he went through what was going on his mind in the runouts as well as the corrections he was making based on earlier shooting. By the end, if he really wanted to, I could see him break and running out 90% of the racks. His break just was so good. And when the rack wasn't all that runable, he still ran out.
Safety Play
Didn't discuss it much. We were focused in on bar box 8-ball. The players that were there were mostly offensive players, low to high B, and though he did mention safety play in passing and even shot a small amount of safety play, I think he knew intuitively that pattern play 8-ball runouts was more benefecial to the group.
Nick is ready for the IPT tour The guy is happy (he and Toni have a 21 month old son that Nick adores), healthy , and starting to love the game again. He doesn't like the big buckets and short race 9-ball tournaments as too many people can win, players that have no chance in longer races on tighter equipment. Read into that what you want, but the bottom line: players that you think can compete based on what you've seen on TV have less chance than you think .
So, 8-ball on tighter equipment is a welcomed change. He also looks to Allen Hopkins as one of the tougher players, once Allen gets back in gear. Strong words.
I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now.
Fred
So, it was almost like a private session. Here are some thoughts on the day.
Lessons from a professional player
I'm a strong believer in getting lessons from a professional instructor (like the BCA instructors), as the curriculum is generally more organized for learning. But, I also believe in getting lessons from a professional in order to see how he plays, what he's thinking, and most importantly, see the possibilites that most non-professional instructors are unable to show. My advice to anyone is to get a healthy balance. Nick even says that he wants to take BCA instruction (for instruction, not for certification).
The game is physical.
This is something that I've always said, but until you spend time with a professional, it's too easy to say that it's a mental game. Nick's stroke looks so coordinated. Everything is done with ease, even the very firm shots. No wasted motion. Very effortless.
Nick just got LASIK surgery done, so he no longer has to wear gas permeable lenses. It's the lenses that he says made his game drop to the basement his final day at the 8-ball IPT in Orlando. He says that he feels wonderful now.
He's hired a personal trainer to keep in top shape for this tour. Personal trainers for pool players. Imagine that. He shared where he thought he needed to gain and maintain strength. Strength in pool. Imagine that.
Elevation
Again, another thing that I beat to death on these forums, so I can only report observations. Nick's standard stance and address for draw has the butt of his cue over 10" high, but not 15". So, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-13° of elevation. That's just a report. I checked out Sigel at the IPT. He was about the same. Nick doesn't try for elevation. It just is what it is. His bridge hand doesn't drop for draw, so he raised the butt end to get the tip low. That's what many top players do without ever thinking about it.
The Break
Nick uses a couple (or more) of different breaks. One he calls the flat break "where you just turn the hand over." I love this kind of wording because it reminds me of other sports' instruction where the action may not mean anything in the scientific world, but it means something in the sports world. I really don't know what he really meant, but the cue travels in what would be close to a normal stroke path. I guess in his mind, to keep the stick flatter, you don't do certain motions with the hand (like super wrist snap) that you would with a more powerful break. The next paragraph explains.
His other break was what he simply called the power break. Nick sets up low, but he rises the tip. In fact, he said that he specifally want to "break up." I've heard other hard breakers say this. Like previous break thread discussion, he slowly draws his cuestick back, and then fires forward. What I didn't mention in the other break thread was something that I noticed Sarah Rousey doing, but didn't realize other people did. Nick breaks sidearm. That's right. For the powerbreak, he hitches his stroke to snap the wrist. And there's a tremendous wrist snap. It looks like when he does snap the wrist, his elbow cock/hitches to the inside (reverse or inside chicken wing) and he snaps the wrist forward. Sarah noticeably does this. I doubt she realizes it. I doubt Nick realizes it. Bustamante already has that inside chicken wing in his stroke so there's not much difference. However, I'm guessing he also brings that elbow farther inside on the snap portion. This seems to again point to the side armers of the past whom I say did not shoot sidearm just because they played as children. I think they fell into something that was advantageous, from a wrist snap perspective. In the end, if you're trying the wrist snap on the break, and you're trying to fight from having your elbow go to the inside, don't fight it. I think you're wrist wants your elbow to move to the inside.
Do I recommend this type of power break? Hell ya, as long as you realize that this power break is a different stroke altogether. People should master the standard flat break, but if you could master this power break as well, that's a hell of a weapon. Sometimes, if hitting them squarely and firm isn't quite doing it, it'd be nice to go into the bag for something else.
We ended up playing against Nick for several games in 8-ball letting him break every time. I thought it was important to watch him rather than try to beat him. He switched to the power break after his first break came up dry or barely leaked a ball in. He broke them harder than anyone I've seen on a bar box with simply superior control. Most people could run most of the racks that Nick broke, they were so wide open. And, he went through what was going on his mind in the runouts as well as the corrections he was making based on earlier shooting. By the end, if he really wanted to, I could see him break and running out 90% of the racks. His break just was so good. And when the rack wasn't all that runable, he still ran out.
Safety Play
Didn't discuss it much. We were focused in on bar box 8-ball. The players that were there were mostly offensive players, low to high B, and though he did mention safety play in passing and even shot a small amount of safety play, I think he knew intuitively that pattern play 8-ball runouts was more benefecial to the group.
Nick is ready for the IPT tour The guy is happy (he and Toni have a 21 month old son that Nick adores), healthy , and starting to love the game again. He doesn't like the big buckets and short race 9-ball tournaments as too many people can win, players that have no chance in longer races on tighter equipment. Read into that what you want, but the bottom line: players that you think can compete based on what you've seen on TV have less chance than you think .
So, 8-ball on tighter equipment is a welcomed change. He also looks to Allen Hopkins as one of the tougher players, once Allen gets back in gear. Strong words.
I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now.
Fred
