Strange Aiming/Warm-up Strokes
- Thread starter Matt_24
- Start date
Every pinoy player who are in their mid forties now, played this table game where instead of balls, you use 11 circular wooden pieces, on a 4-sided wood table with 4 pocket holes on each corner, talc powder poured all over the surface to make the "picha", the circular wood chips to glide through the surface. When we were kids, "bilyar", pool, was for older kids. We were delegated to play picha-picha. We were trained to aim center on the "picha", the cue chip, and edge off your object chip. When I say, "we" I meant everybody. We were taught that only way you can sink that 2-d piece is aim center-to-edge. It wasn't called cte then, and it worked all the time.
Maybe, that's what Bustamante was implying to, when Dave had the chance to talk to him.
Hey, there's a bunch of mid-40 pinoy players in this forum. I think majority of us were trained to aim that way. It would be nice to hear their side of the story.
Im not sure what your actually saying is the picha the cb and the chip the
objectball if you where playing pool?
I think I've got a link to that method... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=39MuHjSerYQ&hl=en&gl=CA&warned=True&client=mv-google&xl=AdsControl1
This thread exemplifies what makes good, interested players suck at pool, or at least holds back their progress.
I myself was in awe of Bustamante's unconventional, but beautiful stroke, and tried to emulate it at one point. I thought if I could just figure out what he was doing and why, I would possess some great secret to the game, I would understand something the others don't. I see here a few posts of people essentially saying "I understand this little secret bit of playing, it is very complex, and you don't understand it and never will so nanny nanny boo boo".
Everyone has variations in how they stroke the balls, and when a great player has some particularly striking variation, such as the way Bustamante and Basavich address the cueball, or Mosconi's slip stroke, people begin to dissect it in the hopes of discovering some little secret that only they know and it will help their game. In addition, Bustamante looks so cool shooting, there is a big incentive to copy his style and look cool as well. Mike Davis is a top notch player with an equally unconventional style, but I don't see anyone trying to copy it since his stroke looks like crap.
I have some rather unfortunate news for all of you enlightened zen masters of goofy hustler strokes: THERE IS NO SECRET STROKE. There is no secret technique these players are employing to do what they do better than others. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to: hitting the ball consistently, standing still, and following through. They just happen to have a strange way of getting to that point, but on the final stroke, they are delivering the cue straight through the ball at the intended point of contact, and staying still while doing so. All the pre-stroke shenanigans or odd stroking just happen to be their individual style. Many players have some oddities that they are unaware of as well, since they don't see themselves play so often. Maybe you are a good player and think you do nothing odd, while a lesser player is examining the way you move your wrist in the hopes of becoming a knower of secret pool stuff just like you.
Spending your time chasing after some secret bit of technique will not put you head and shoulders above the rest, it will set your game back while you could be practicing something useful instead. I know this is a painful lesson, and it took me some time to acknowledge its truth, since it is much more poetic to think that there are many unknown tidbits of stroking magic that you must venture forth and discover. Work on standing still, lining up, following through, and hitting the point of the cueball you are addressing, and as you grow comfortable with your game, your individual style will become smooth and cool just like Bustamante.
I myself was in awe of Bustamante's unconventional, but beautiful stroke, and tried to emulate it at one point. I thought if I could just figure out what he was doing and why, I would possess some great secret to the game, I would understand something the others don't. I see here a few posts of people essentially saying "I understand this little secret bit of playing, it is very complex, and you don't understand it and never will so nanny nanny boo boo".
Everyone has variations in how they stroke the balls, and when a great player has some particularly striking variation, such as the way Bustamante and Basavich address the cueball, or Mosconi's slip stroke, people begin to dissect it in the hopes of discovering some little secret that only they know and it will help their game. In addition, Bustamante looks so cool shooting, there is a big incentive to copy his style and look cool as well. Mike Davis is a top notch player with an equally unconventional style, but I don't see anyone trying to copy it since his stroke looks like crap.
I have some rather unfortunate news for all of you enlightened zen masters of goofy hustler strokes: THERE IS NO SECRET STROKE. There is no secret technique these players are employing to do what they do better than others. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to: hitting the ball consistently, standing still, and following through. They just happen to have a strange way of getting to that point, but on the final stroke, they are delivering the cue straight through the ball at the intended point of contact, and staying still while doing so. All the pre-stroke shenanigans or odd stroking just happen to be their individual style. Many players have some oddities that they are unaware of as well, since they don't see themselves play so often. Maybe you are a good player and think you do nothing odd, while a lesser player is examining the way you move your wrist in the hopes of becoming a knower of secret pool stuff just like you.
Spending your time chasing after some secret bit of technique will not put you head and shoulders above the rest, it will set your game back while you could be practicing something useful instead. I know this is a painful lesson, and it took me some time to acknowledge its truth, since it is much more poetic to think that there are many unknown tidbits of stroking magic that you must venture forth and discover. Work on standing still, lining up, following through, and hitting the point of the cueball you are addressing, and as you grow comfortable with your game, your individual style will become smooth and cool just like Bustamante.
You're correct.The wooden chips "pichas" are like the cue balls and object balls if you're playing pool. They're like ~2" in dia, and about 1/4" high. All 11 chips are of the same size. (Picha is a loose translation of chip in tagalog.)
i'm 24 I used to play that game before I moved on to pool when i got older =)
That's why I used to be a better shooter (for someone my level anyway). Once I discovered english that's when my shooting went down hill. I used to miscue a lot when I started playing pool cuz I was used to aiming low because of the "picha"
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Man, i thought all the while is that the reason why a lot of pinoys shoot like Bustie is they want to emulate his style. I guess not! (well, a few does!) Pinoy kids were trained to aim below the "picha" level ever since.
The game sounds like it would harder play then pocket billiards.
Also why do they teach you always to aim the center to the edge?
Thanks,,,,