Keith McCready's US Open monster stroke shot.

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Most people don't know that Keith was actually a good rider. Good enough to be an exercise boy at Hollywood Park race track when he was a teenager.


I think I grew too heavy to ride exercise when I was about ten years old. I did throw a bunch of exercise riders up on a horse though. I also learned how easy it is to toss an exercise rider over a horse, way over! It is a coordinated effort between rider and trainer or whomever is doing the tossing. First time I tried to do all the work and if the rider hadn't held on to the reins I might have thrown him on somebody else's horse!

I do remember my meeting with Keith, I think his first trip to Greenway in Baton Rouge LA. Exercise riders top out at about 135 and I think he would easily have made weight.

Dayam we were young!

Hu
 

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
didnt know that, but do know that shot isnt hard if you have a good stroke. which he certainly had.
 

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Play him his golf game one time !! See if he’s not a smart player !!! Probably still can bet what you want
You people get ass hurt to much. He didn’t say he could beat him he said he didn’t play smart lol I would have said he played to aggressive when he should play safe but that doesn’t mean I think I can beat him.
 

Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I thought to myself, "self, you can make that" (6.5% percent of the time)

Sometimes there is distortion in the camera but Keith's shot looks like pretty much straight in. If you watch carefully he cheats the pocket so that the ob just brushes the right facing. The cb gets more angle off that straight in shot than it has a right to, but it seems that cheating was enough to create it. Light speed off the rail to brush the right facing!
 

JAM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Transcribed by JAM.

Keith's words: It wasn't an easy shot. I sort of made it look easy than it really was. I had to hit the ball in the right-hand side of the pocket with top right, digging into the cueball a little bit, stunning the cueball, and force-following with the right-hand english. I was sort of lucky to get as much english on the ball as I did. Being on the rail and straight in is what makes the shot tough.

When you have slower cloth, it makes the shot a lot harder than when you have fast cloth. That shot is a little easier with bigger pockets, but those pockets weren't buckets. Me personally, I've played with both wood and carbon shafts, but all my cue-tip high spins and cutting balls when using the spin, I seem to do it a lot better with the wooden shafts than the carbon fiber shafts.
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Transcribed by JAM.

Keith's words: It wasn't an easy shot. I sort of made it look easy than it really was. I had to hit the ball in the right-hand side of the pocket with top right, digging into the cueball a little bit, stunning the cueball, and force-following with the right-hand english. I was sort of lucky to get as much english on the ball as I did. Being on the rail and straight in is what makes the shot tough.

When you have slower cloth, it makes the shot a lot harder than when you have fast cloth. That shot is a little easier with bigger pockets, but those pockets weren't buckets. Me personally, I've played with both wood and carbon shafts, but all my cue-tip high spins and cutting balls when using the spin, I seem to do it a lot better with the wooden shafts than the carbon fiber shafts.

Absolutely great to be talking about a shot and have the person weigh in that made the shot! Watching video things can seem far different than they were in the moment. I was watching some extreme cut shots in another match and thinking how much easier they looked when somebody else was making them!

Jennie, always great to see you posting and very nice to channel Keith in this thread. Keith, fantastic to have you posting with your own personal "word to text machine!"(grin)


Thanks for the above! Nothing like hearing it from the man himself. I actually made the shot several times after reading his description of it. Nothing like making it , with one chance, in a match like that.

That is the thing. Not too hard to make most shots after you are able to try it over and over and dope out how to make it work. Making it the first time for all of the marbles, that is a different story! My percentage should be pretty high on most any shot after fooling around with it ten minutes or so. One time, first time, with the game pressure and the eyes of the crowd and camera on you, that is a different story. We used to call it a hero move circle tracking. Making a high risk move with a big reward. If it works you look like a hero, if it doesn't work there is going to be a lot of bent steel and you will look like a moron!

Hu
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Transcribed by JAM.

Keith's words: It wasn't an easy shot. I sort of made it look easy than it really was. I had to hit the ball in the right-hand side of the pocket with top right, digging into the cueball a little bit, stunning the cueball, and force-following with the right-hand english. I was sort of lucky to get as much english on the ball as I did. Being on the rail and straight in is what makes the shot tough.

When you have slower cloth, it makes the shot a lot harder than when you have fast cloth. That shot is a little easier with bigger pockets, but those pockets weren't buckets. Me personally, I've played with both wood and carbon shafts, but all my cue-tip high spins and cutting balls when using the spin, I seem to do it a lot better with the wooden shafts than the carbon fiber shafts.
My man Keithly! I really like the way you described the shot. Being able to stun the cue ball may be the most important part, other than hitting a narrow pocket. The stun makes the cue ball hop slightly to the side, thus avoiding following the object ball into the pocket. Being able to do all that on a straight in shot with the cue ball on the rail, plus being under match pressure is what made Keith such a devastating player. He never took the easy way out and always went for the right shot no matter how difficult it was. What was just as amazing is how he did it, almost like he was practicing and having a little fun with the shot. I think Keith really enjoyed most these moments where he could just let it all out and swing for the fences. I can't forget how he would laugh and make a little wisecrack after shooting a shot like this. Maybe something like, "That was harder than it looked," or better yet, he would glance at his opponent and say, "How'd you like it!"

No one else this side of Rafael Martinez ever shot more circus shots and made them successfully than Keith McCready. Keith was an All Star among all stars and they all knew it.
 
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jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Absolutely great to be talking about a shot and have the person weigh in that made the shot! Watching video things can seem far different than they were in the moment. I was watching some extreme cut shots in another match and thinking how much easier they looked when somebody else was making them!

Jennie, always great to see you posting and very nice to channel Keith in this thread. Keith, fantastic to have you posting with your own personal "word to text machine!"(grin)




That is the thing. Not too hard to make most shots after you are able to try it over and over and dope out how to make it work. Making it the first time for all of the marbles, that is a different story! My percentage should be pretty high on most any shot after fooling around with it ten minutes or so. One time, first time, with the game pressure and the eyes of the crowd and camera on you, that is a different story. We used to call it a hero move circle tracking. Making a high risk move with a big reward. If it works you look like a hero, if it doesn't work there is going to be a lot of bent steel and you will look like a moron!

Hu
Hu, you nailed it with your last paragraph. To come with a shot like that at a critical point in a match is a rare skill, even among champion players. Keith probably did that better than anyone else I ever saw. There were other players who could make shots like this but could they do it under pressure, playing perhaps the greatest player of that generation, Jose Parica. I think not. Keith was never intimidated by anyone, and when he was on, he could beat the world! And the world all knew it too.

Ah what as beautiful thing it was to see, when Keith got on a roll. He went through racks like a hot knife through butter, just smooth as silk, without a moment's hesitation anywhere. I saw him bring a lot of very good pool players to their knees, knowing they were playing someone a notch above them. Believe me when I tell you, even players like the Miz and Sigel did not want to draw Keith, especially early in a tournament when he was fresh. He was most dangerous against great players, as he enjoyed beating them just to show them who the real boss was.
 
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You people get ass hurt to much. He didn’t say he could beat him he said he didn’t play smart lol I would have said he played to aggressive when he should play safe but that doesn’t mean I think I can beat him.
No not really ??Keith was a gunslinger big wins and big losses .. not like the nits you see today who always need a lock
 

3kushn

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Agree about pocket size of course, but I think soft tip and shag cloth made draw harder, not easier - soft tips transfer less power and shag cloth rubs off more CB backspin before hitting the OB.

pj
chgo
So what about MAX FOLLOW on shag carpet.
You think the same holds true?
Im thinking there's a difference.

On another note, an instructor asked me to show him my max follow CB tip position. Then he showed me where the Pro's place their tip!

Significant difference. Right on or maybe past the so-called miscue line.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
So what about MAX FOLLOW on shag carpet.
You think the same holds true?
Im thinking there's a difference.
Follow’s different, alright. You can’t get overspin even on slick cloth, so I imagine it plays the same as shag.

pj
chgo
 
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