Luther Lassiter S.I. article

Back to Whimpy's advice........When I spent the first little bit with a very knowledgable individual in billiards, he said I could be one of the best in the world because I hit balls naturally thick. Says something ..........
 
At one of Fred Whalen's 14.1 championships that he held during multiple years in the L.A. Elks Club (throughout the 60's and early 70's), a friend of mine was a volunteer scorekeeper for many of the matches.

He saw Lassiter in the practice room during one of his breaks and asked Wimpy what his favorite 14.1 breakshot was. Lassiter replied: "Son, any shot on the table is a good breakshot if you get the right angle on it. Try them all till you've got 'em cold, 'cause you never know when you might have to settle for one of them."

Simple, practical and valuable wisdom from a memorable, real gentleman.

Arnaldo
 
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JoeyA said:
Thanks very much. The photos are quite nice, however I think they are merely poses, poor ones at that, unless Wimpy had the most unique grip hand position in the world. Maybe he was trying to portray the stance illustrating his weight on his left foot then his right foot. That may be well and true but the position of his grip hand leads me to believe it was poor choreography as far as the grip hand is concerned......but I could be wrong.
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I'm curious, what about his grip hand position looks unique to you?
 
branpureza said:
I'm curious, what about his grip hand position looks unique to you?
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In the bottom "Stance" photograph, Lassiter's tip is two to three inches away from the cue ball. His forearm is not perpendicular to the floor, his grip hand is pretty far forward and by the time the cue tip hits the cue ball, he will be driving the cue tip into the slate without even trying, UNLESS he is dropping his elbow big-time like Coach Lee Brett.

I guess I think the grip hand is too far forward for where the cue tip is located. Even if the cue tip was right at the cue ball, his forearm would still be far from "perfect form". I think it was a posing photograph instead of a shooting photograph for those reasons.
 
krupa said:
Thanks for the link.

I can only speak for myself, but when I miss it's usually from overcutting the ball.

-matthew[/QU If you notice almost all misses are over cut, even among A,AA and pro players. I don't know why they call it the pro-side?
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JoeyA said:
In the bottom "Stance" photograph, Lassiter's tip is two to three inches away from the cue ball. His forearm is not perpendicular to the floor, his grip hand is pretty far forward and by the time the cue tip hits the cue ball, he will be driving the cue tip into the slate without even trying, UNLESS he is dropping his elbow big-time like Coach Lee Brett.

I guess I think the grip hand is too far forward for where the cue tip is located. Even if the cue tip was right at the cue ball, his forearm would still be far from "perfect form". I think it was a posing photograph instead of a shooting photograph for those reasons.
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Joey, a lot (majority) of the old time players had a forward grip, stood more upright and did not carry their elbow high. These are all contrary to modern methods. But they got the job done. Which goes to show that endless practice at doing something wrong can yield excellent results
 
Beautiful article, I'd like to get a copy of that edition of SI to see the pictures he is referencing.
 
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