Speed Pool on Tonite
- Thread starter Nostroke
- Start date
Nostroke said:
Thanks for the reminder, I have been wanting to see this.
Nostroke said:
DiminishedStrokeMan,
Actually I heard that he was the worst of the 4 speed pool players technically. He did however exhibit a monster break, pocketing multiple balls on the break while squatting the rock - a HUGE advantage in this game (the other competitors were using a more traditional medium speed pool break, and just squatting the rock without making balls; so that they could start as quickly as possible).
Turns out to just be one more form of pool that can turn into a breaking contest (Yukkkk, I'd rather watch straight pool).
Most observers agreed that if contestants were required to start with 15 balls on the table, Luc would be a heavy underdog (I of course have no idea or expertise in the matter; let me know what you think after watching).
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Nostroke said:
Geeez, I'm going to have to take a nap.
I get up at 4:30 am, so I usually can't make it that late. I love watching Luc play.Thanks for the heads up.
Got the trusty ol VCR ready to roll. I missed taping the Chal of Champions last month
I'm looking for a copy on VHS if anyone has one.
I checked the listings and they are not showing it again this month.
I'm looking for a copy on VHS if anyone has one.
I checked the listings and they are not showing it again this month.
I have seen Luc Salvas shoot in the Skins and a Chal of Champ, man is he Fast.
I would love to see him play a race to 9 with Kid Delicious. LOL
I would love to see him play a race to 9 with Kid Delicious. LOL
I watched the finals, and Luc did not seem to be 'squatting the CB' at all, on the break (he also scratched three times, on the break). He did, however, play lots of stopshots, which allowed him to beat The Ginger Wizard, and claim the $50K. I wonder if Dave will lose his sponsors, now that he lost the title? Probably not, but I thought he was a bit over the top in his antics on t.v. jmo.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Williebetmore said:
Luc is no slouch. The reason I would have bet on him to begin with is that he plays incredible snooker as fast as you see him playing pool.
I saw most of the final Luc V David.....It was a lot of fun to watch, and Luc looked extremely competent at the table. Clearing a rack of speed 8 ball in under a minute is no small feat......
David was a bit hyped.... I did see him break the world record for 10 consecutive racks.....something like 8 and a half minutes.... Broke the old record by more than 10 seconds...wow!
McCue Banger McCue
David was a bit hyped.... I did see him break the world record for 10 consecutive racks.....something like 8 and a half minutes.... Broke the old record by more than 10 seconds...wow!
McCue Banger McCue
I caught the finals on TV yesterday, and what you say about the break being a huge advantage is incorrect.Williebetmore said:
Sure, Salvas might make an extra 2-3 balls on the break over Pearson, but because the balls are spread so much more compared to Pearson's break, Salvas was forced to move the CB greater distances, which dilutes the advantage of balls made on the break. If Salvas makes less than 2 balls on the break, then his big break is probably a disadvantage.
I noticed the way Pearson was breaking. He was using some sort of cut break where he would hit the one ball off center such that the CB would rebound off the side rail and back into the stack. I guess the strategy behind this is to stop the CB as soon as possible, and have the most options for stop shots with the CB being in the middle amongst all the balls.
But you can definitely tell that Pearson was technically the superior speed pool player. Speed pool seems to be all about making as many stop shots as possible, and choosing the correct patterns such that you maximize the amount of stop shots while minimizing the distance traveled by the CB.
The reason why Salvas won against Pearson was not his break, but because Salvas was the superior shotmaker. I think he only missed about a half dozens shots the entire match, which is completely ridiculous considering the speed at which they play. On the other hand, Pearson was missing balls left and right, adding huge amounts of time. If Pearson had the same shotmaking skills as Salvas, I believe Pearson would dominate him.
I thought watching speed pool would be the biggest joke, but after watching a match I was surprised to grow an appreciation for it. It adds a whole new dimension of strategy to pool along with the speed aspect, but still requires the precise pocketing abilities. It was pretty entertaining to watch, and I wouldn't mind watching it again on TV.
I got to watch most of it last night. Man that was Nuts!!! I have never seen anything like that before, except on that show with Brooke Burns, Dog eat Dog. They had a Speed pool guy on a few years back, and they had some kind of contest to see who went to the next round or something.
We liked watching it, my Wife kept clicking back and forth on the commercial breaks from her favorite show, Greys Anatomy
We liked watching it, my Wife kept clicking back and forth on the commercial breaks from her favorite show, Greys Anatomy
good exercise
about halfway through the 2nd semi finals.. i decided to record the show and try a little speed pool on my table... not keeping any time (since i didn't have a stopwatch handy)...
i noticed it was quite a good work out running around the table... it was fun.... I couldn't shoot very well. i first few racks took over 2 minutes, and my best was probably around 1:30 or so.. (i'm guessing here) (straight pool rack only)
i'm thinking about making speed pool part of my exercise routine, in case i don't make it to the gym for the day!
about halfway through the 2nd semi finals.. i decided to record the show and try a little speed pool on my table... not keeping any time (since i didn't have a stopwatch handy)...
i noticed it was quite a good work out running around the table... it was fun.... I couldn't shoot very well. i first few racks took over 2 minutes, and my best was probably around 1:30 or so.. (i'm guessing here) (straight pool rack only)
i'm thinking about making speed pool part of my exercise routine, in case i don't make it to the gym for the day!
I thought it was VERY entertaining. I would have liked to see Ronnie O' Sullivan and Jimmy White in this event in addition to Luc Salvas and Dave Pearson.
Look forward to the next one!
Look forward to the next one!
I'm not sure how the snooker players would fare. It would certainly require a massive change in strategy. Ronnie certainly plays fast, but he also moves the cue ball a lot. I saw a video recently of him trying to quickly pocket balls on a pool table in an attempt to beat a car that was racing around a track. He was not nearly as impressive as those two last night.
I just want to add by my count, most of the time Salvas did not make multiple balls on the break.
Also it seems to me that there is a lot of room for improvement in this sport. Many of the players were continually confused on what ball to shoot. When they had ball in hand, oftentimes they would just shoot any ball and have to wind up moving the CB all around within a shot or two.
I would think with experience, they would recognize a better spot to to place BIH where they could get at least 4-5 stop shots on an open table. Not that i could, I'm fried. I put a paper plate in the Toaster Oven yesterday.
Also it seems to me that there is a lot of room for improvement in this sport. Many of the players were continually confused on what ball to shoot. When they had ball in hand, oftentimes they would just shoot any ball and have to wind up moving the CB all around within a shot or two.
I would think with experience, they would recognize a better spot to to place BIH where they could get at least 4-5 stop shots on an open table. Not that i could, I'm fried. I put a paper plate in the Toaster Oven yesterday.
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Nostroke said:
No-man,
Were they showing the entire matches (wasn't it supposed to be 12 racks apiece for each match?)? Luc made 3 or 4 balls on the rack I viewed. I watched only about 5 minutes in the middle of the show (one rack each for Luc and JL); couldn't stomach much more of it (fairly lame, like the trick shot stuff - just too gimmicky for my taste).
Anyway, at least you didn't put the tin foil wrapped pizza in the MICROWAVE like my cousin did.
It was nice to see something different than 9-ball on ESPN, but I agree with Willie. It was just a little too far into that gimmicky area for me to enjoy it. I think so often when pool is broadcast good production values and interesting television is often confused with gimmicks.