I got inspired by another thread to write this ode to the broomhandle. I think the most productive week I've ever spent in my poolplaying life was the week I was experimenting with playing with a broomhandle.
A lot of people don't realize what an amazing tool any poolcue, no matter how cheap and crappy, with a half decent tip on it really is. They come to rely on spinning the ball, slamming it in and doing all sorts of stuff that's not natural. They frequently overestimate their ability to get away with these things, and underestimate the difficulty of them. Thus, they miss, get out of position etc on easy layouts. Playing with a broomhandle will teach you to play the speed and the natural angles, but most importantly it will teach you to stay within your limitations, especially for gambling purposes.
Since most people rarely come up against a pure percentage player, people don't realize how strong of an opponent such a player can be. Sure, they may not run out as much, but never missing and selling out is really, really strong, and since many are not used to the style they get thrown off their natural game and rhytm. There was a local player around here that used to come to the poolhall every couple of months or so. He always played straight pool, and he never shot a hard shot. At most he'd run a 40 on you, but he hardly ever missed anything and when he did, he left nothing. He rolled most of his shots in and never, ever did anything remotely spectacular. That guy was a killer to play against. You don't necessarily have to use a broomhandle to play this way (that guy used a regular cue of course) but it can be a shortcut to understand the style, for those that have the right mindset to learn from it.
Warning: Bring your own cheap cueball to avoid the wrath of the poolhall owner!
The broomhandle is the teacher!
A lot of people don't realize what an amazing tool any poolcue, no matter how cheap and crappy, with a half decent tip on it really is. They come to rely on spinning the ball, slamming it in and doing all sorts of stuff that's not natural. They frequently overestimate their ability to get away with these things, and underestimate the difficulty of them. Thus, they miss, get out of position etc on easy layouts. Playing with a broomhandle will teach you to play the speed and the natural angles, but most importantly it will teach you to stay within your limitations, especially for gambling purposes.
Since most people rarely come up against a pure percentage player, people don't realize how strong of an opponent such a player can be. Sure, they may not run out as much, but never missing and selling out is really, really strong, and since many are not used to the style they get thrown off their natural game and rhytm. There was a local player around here that used to come to the poolhall every couple of months or so. He always played straight pool, and he never shot a hard shot. At most he'd run a 40 on you, but he hardly ever missed anything and when he did, he left nothing. He rolled most of his shots in and never, ever did anything remotely spectacular. That guy was a killer to play against. You don't necessarily have to use a broomhandle to play this way (that guy used a regular cue of course) but it can be a shortcut to understand the style, for those that have the right mindset to learn from it.
Warning: Bring your own cheap cueball to avoid the wrath of the poolhall owner!
The broomhandle is the teacher!
