Organization of trick shots
There are a number of trick shot formats and tournaments that try to appeal to different audiences, with different purposes. Each of these have their own advantages and disadvantages.
1. Dr. Cue's Artistic Cup, Pool Room Cups, and Shootouts. One example is the tournament BigTruck streamed a couple years ago. These feature a fixed program of high make rate shots, split in to 8 disciplines, designed to attract new players to the sport. These are also typically held on 7-ft tables, which Tom Rossman dubs the great equalizer, helping bridge the gap between a new player and a pro. This champions the 'everyone can, is, and will be a winner' mentality.
2. APTSA (Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association) and WPA-APD tournaments, including the World Championships. The tournament held at the Super Billiards Expo is in this group. These also feature a fixed shot program but with more difficult shots than above, also split in to 8 disciplines. These are the highest level 'open' events that anyone can enter.
3. Ultimate Trick Shot Tour, including the Championships held at APA Nationals. The individual tour stops are open events, but the Championships are invitation only to fit into a given time frame at Nationals. These are 'freestyle' events where players can challenge with shots of their own invention. There are shot categories, and players are not allowed to choose too many shots that fall in to any given category. These events showcase players' creativity and skill that exceeds what is found in the fixed shot programs above, but strictly limits props to pool-related items only.
4. Trick Shot Magic and World Cup of Trick Shots. These are invitation only events that are produced for TV. There is a fixed program, but players are allowed to submit shots each year. Shot selection is also governed by category rules.
The biggest money is obviously in TSM and WCoTS. TSM was not held this year, but WCoTS was and it was just broadcast on Sunday. I'm not sure if the 'tricky shot' evolution came about because the producers thought it made for better TV or if players needed more of an advantage against those with less dexterity. The money is a big motivating factor to come up with some of these though, to give players advantages. Am I proud of being able to shoot balls while bouncing a rubber ball into a cone? No, and I would be fine if they removed all of those shots from the program in the future.
Nathan's correct in that the evolution of trick shots has increased rapidly in recent years. Their are many players responsible for this evolution, including Eric Yow, Florian Kohler, Steve Markle, Andy Segal, Nick Nikolaidis,.... the list goes on. This evolution probably played at least a small part in the retirements of Mike Massey and Tom Rossman from competition, as Mark mentioned. Stefano Pelinga quit APTSA events a while ago though, but has not to my knowledge officially retired from all competitions. Nick still plays in all competitions as well.
The fact that Andy and Bruce are APA league operators (Jamey Gray is not) bear no relevance to any of Mark's arguments. The APA sponsors the UTS Championships which Andy and Bruce help organize and run.
As a player and someone in a position to affect a little change, I would be more than happy to hear constructive suggestions for what you would like to see in a trick shot tournament or production.
There are a number of trick shot formats and tournaments that try to appeal to different audiences, with different purposes. Each of these have their own advantages and disadvantages.
1. Dr. Cue's Artistic Cup, Pool Room Cups, and Shootouts. One example is the tournament BigTruck streamed a couple years ago. These feature a fixed program of high make rate shots, split in to 8 disciplines, designed to attract new players to the sport. These are also typically held on 7-ft tables, which Tom Rossman dubs the great equalizer, helping bridge the gap between a new player and a pro. This champions the 'everyone can, is, and will be a winner' mentality.
2. APTSA (Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association) and WPA-APD tournaments, including the World Championships. The tournament held at the Super Billiards Expo is in this group. These also feature a fixed shot program but with more difficult shots than above, also split in to 8 disciplines. These are the highest level 'open' events that anyone can enter.
3. Ultimate Trick Shot Tour, including the Championships held at APA Nationals. The individual tour stops are open events, but the Championships are invitation only to fit into a given time frame at Nationals. These are 'freestyle' events where players can challenge with shots of their own invention. There are shot categories, and players are not allowed to choose too many shots that fall in to any given category. These events showcase players' creativity and skill that exceeds what is found in the fixed shot programs above, but strictly limits props to pool-related items only.
4. Trick Shot Magic and World Cup of Trick Shots. These are invitation only events that are produced for TV. There is a fixed program, but players are allowed to submit shots each year. Shot selection is also governed by category rules.
The biggest money is obviously in TSM and WCoTS. TSM was not held this year, but WCoTS was and it was just broadcast on Sunday. I'm not sure if the 'tricky shot' evolution came about because the producers thought it made for better TV or if players needed more of an advantage against those with less dexterity. The money is a big motivating factor to come up with some of these though, to give players advantages. Am I proud of being able to shoot balls while bouncing a rubber ball into a cone? No, and I would be fine if they removed all of those shots from the program in the future.
Nathan's correct in that the evolution of trick shots has increased rapidly in recent years. Their are many players responsible for this evolution, including Eric Yow, Florian Kohler, Steve Markle, Andy Segal, Nick Nikolaidis,.... the list goes on. This evolution probably played at least a small part in the retirements of Mike Massey and Tom Rossman from competition, as Mark mentioned. Stefano Pelinga quit APTSA events a while ago though, but has not to my knowledge officially retired from all competitions. Nick still plays in all competitions as well.
The fact that Andy and Bruce are APA league operators (Jamey Gray is not) bear no relevance to any of Mark's arguments. The APA sponsors the UTS Championships which Andy and Bruce help organize and run.
As a player and someone in a position to affect a little change, I would be more than happy to hear constructive suggestions for what you would like to see in a trick shot tournament or production.
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