Bill Smith “Mr3Cushion” has been one of the top players in the country for all of his 40 year career as a professional 3 Cushion player. He can teach as well as he played and brings us a great opportunity to this great game. The SECRET of the Half-Ball The Half-Ball Aiming System THE KEY FACTOR in my game’s acceleration over the years is what I’ve learned regarding the achievement of maximum effect and speed with the help of my late mentor and best friend Ernie Presto. Peo

Allowing headphones during league or tournaments has become a bigger conversation among tournament directors and pool players. It wasn’t that long ago a few players were using headphones during practice, and even fewer were using them while playing league or during a local tournament. However, in recent months there has been a striking upswing in use. It appears that more players are seeing a benefit to their game by blocking out peripheral noise and getting into the “zone.”

Sometimes we face a shot with a tentative spirit. In our mind we remember missing that shot. Missing that shot has become a perception and we turned that perception into our mind set. From our mind set we act, we think and we perform. Practice is designed to erase our faulty perceptions about a missed shot. But we have missed too many shots, and even in practice we miss those shots. How do we develop a confident stroke? There will always be that shot that sticks out in our m

I just sat down with the guys of Gaijin Custom Cues, and they want to make a cue to suit you. Robby, Marshall, and Josh are just typical southern guys with a love of the game of pool and non-traditional design. They have a simple philosophy, each of us has a natural stroke and the closer a cue is taylored to the player, the closer the player can stay to the stroke they were born with. Armed with this simple idea, Gaijin Customs was formed. Multiple veneers in the points in v

When you study my concept in teaching you will find that I focus on skill development. I can show you a shot and you will know it before you build the skills for the shot, so I spend most of my workshop and private lessons time on skill development. I want you to return to your home room with increased skills. Here is a safety you will know right away. Can you do it five times in a row? Do you have the speed skills to put the cue ball where you want? https://www.youtube.com/w

It seems like often the best things in my life come to me unexpectedly. When I was in college the local music shop had a bass guitar that I loved. I would go and visit it and sit to play it several times a week for months. While saving up my money to take it home. One day, as expected, I went in and it was gone, to another home no doubt. Years went by when my then girlfriend were out one night at a local watering hole that happened to be featuring a live band. Low and beh

When I first walked into Mafia Mike’s pool hall, a semi-circle layout of tables, evenly measured out in a big open space, thriving with light and vigor a pool Oasis — the place was alive and thriving with people playing pool. It was like coming home. I felt at ease — at one with the game. The pool arena exudes pool, and opens up into a room awash with green. Mafia Mike’s pool hall is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google — but I rate it a 5. It’s a small place, but has a big

Nick Varner’s Hall Of Fame No other player dominated professional pool in the 1980’s quite like Nick Varner. In fact, in 1989 alone, Nick won 11 professional events, which is currently recognized by many as the greatest single season ever recorded in professional pool. During his heyday, Nick won eight World Championships in various pool disciplines. He traveled to the Philippines and is one of the few to defeat Efren Reyes on his home turf. Many pool experts consider him to

When was McDermott Cue founded? Talk to us about the history of your company…Jim McDermott founded McDermott in 1975. Jim had been repairing cues for a number of years, and he had been observing the mistakes that he saw others in the industry making. He decided that he could do it better, so that’s what he set out to do. What he ended up creating were some of the most technologically advanced cues that the industry had ever seen. When he wanted to do something with wood that

A cold breeze and the sputter of snowflakes marked a cold February afternoon back in 2007. Robert Walker, a close friend, hosted a monthly 9-ball tournament at The Billiard Café’. It was a small, old time pool room nestled in the heart of Lancaster, Kentucky’s city square. Even though the pool room was small, local talent was big! Players like Mike Patton, Landon Shuffett, Mike Blevins and Robert Frost lined the room. They were all regular suspects in quest of the monthly

Most pool players lose way too many games because of poor mental decisions. They do not know how to systematically approach each shot and control their emotions to maintain confidence. This article will address three common mental mistakes that pool players make and will also show you how to eliminate them. Don’t Analyze your Stroke: Any thoughts about your stroke during match play are counterproductive to performing well. Whether it is in between shots or during play, trus

The Monk Willie said, “Don’t Miss” if you want to win more games. Players talk to me about missing the winning shot, the key ball or the shot that will open up the run for them. They miss the shot and then see how the table has opened up and they could have run out easily. They complain that they will make a great shot only to miss the next one and there is always that guy in the audience who says, “gee, the same guy shot that one”. When the value of making the shot increase

Hello everyone, This month, we are going to analyze a very interesting follow shot. This shot was recently added to the world championship of Trick shots and is classified as a 10/10 in difficulty. I have to say it is actually both very useful and pretty. Unfortunately, also quite hard. Anyway, this shot definitely finds some applications in the game of 9-ball, and if any of you encounter the same type of shot in a game and make it, it will probably become a great highlight!

During the late 1990’s, I spent a lot of time competing in tournaments at Shannon Daulton’s All-Star Billiards in Somerset, Kentucky. Shannon's tournaments were always popular, and he always had a way of drawing the most talented players in the area. In fact, I can recall one occasion when North Carolina native Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant visited his poolroom. At that time, Bryant was a strong road player displaying powerful offensive skills. One Saturday afternoon, he entered

Ok ladies and gentlemen; Let’s talk chalk. We all need it and there is a ton on the market. Some like one and other like that one brand. I have had the wonderful opportunity to test many of them. There are two names in the industry that stick out more so than any, Kamui and Masters. Taom chalk is a great combination of both of these. I received a little box of two pieces in it that are calendar. This chalk goes on in many layers. When I first I thought I was doing somethi

Jacoby has a breaking cue that will fit your needs. The currently offer three different variations on the break cue. The Heavy Hitter The edge break cue The Feather weight The Heavy hitter is designed for people that have a slower breaking stroke. The cue has a consistent taper on the butt and fits well in your hands. It comes standard with a Phenolic tip and ferrule combo. This cue comes in a verity of weights and going up to 25oz which is an industry standard in the BCA

APA Pool Diaries Entry One The pool hall calls the players to that perpetual sea of green felt that blankets the tables in most pool rooms across the country and around the world. Billiard balls are spheres, and so is the moon, and I hear pool balls colliding in the gargantuan scope of infinite time and space — pool balls rocketing throughout the universe in the form of so many stars, planets, moons, and the mathematical world of geometry, physics, psychology, sociology, and

Champion Sports — Quality Cues At Great Prices (The Cues I Play With) Pool players want a pool cue they can count on for repeatable precision, solidly constructed, smooth in their hands, and a standard they can rely on time and again — shot after shot. Champion Sports has said cues. My cue is one that can be ordered at https://www.championcue.com . It’s an excellent playing cue, and I’ve shot with many. Indeed, I’ve owned several cues from Champion Sports over the years —

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to Facebook, always remember that pool is the buzz! Yes indeed! Pool players worldwide are uniting, networking, and getting the word out about the game we all love, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” And the word is spreading, and people are listening — and we may be entering a new enlightened age of billiards, where all saunter through the kaleidoscope universe cyberspace of billiards pontification, proliferation, pool

The Purse Snatcher is a classic set up shot that can get infuriating when you try it on an unfamiliar table. It was once in the Artistic Pool shot program but has been removed for so long that some of the younger, aspiring trick shot artists wouldn’t even know where to begin. The objective is to bank the F1 ball in (the snatcher) before the F2 ball (the purse owner) and have the cue ball travel three cushions for the D ball. I start with the F1 ball placing it a ball width