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 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

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

There are several powerful exercises that you can do using a mirror. You can use it to break bad habits or to help you visualize a bank/kick shot. For example, if your cue stick is not staying level, it is typically due to inadvertently raising or dropping your elbow. Fixing this bad habit usually requires more than having a coach just tell you that you are moving your elbow. And, a video recording only shows you what happened in the past. You need to know, in the exact

It’s hard to come up with something new in this industry much less recreate something and make it better. What the crew at the Billiard Engineers did was take the micro sandpaper film, they created a malleable silicone handle to give you a better grip to hang onto. It comes with three different grittiness’. This microfilm can be washed and rinsed to be used many times over. Sometimes your hands just get a little too sweaty and your shaft picks up grit and grime chalk from t

Jacoby custom cues have a long-standing relationship with innovation and most of all above average customer service. The introduction of the jump cue over the last 20 years has really changed the face of the industry. Now every other company has a form of a jump cue. Some of them have a specific. Like Marty Carry and Dr. Popper as well as the Black Magic. Those are all in my opinion specialty cues. Now Jumping is a somewhat easy shot whereas perfecting the aim is the diffic

Pool is a game of ups and downs. Most pool players experience a slump at some time or another. Slumps occur when you play below your expected ability for a prolonged period of time. Most pool players do not know why they are playing badly, so they tend to look for solutions in all the wrong places. Sometimes this causes the player’s performance to drop even more. Often, the player falls deeper and deeper into despair. Pool players are often unable to break free from the chai

www.theroadplayer12.com As you know, I am always willing to help my fellow pool players. I have been doing that for thirty-five years. Instead of an article this time, I am going to make you work on your skill development. I have a great exercise for you. Shoot the nine ball and stop right there. It would be a mistake to think this is an automatic shot. There is something about this stop shot that gives players fits from time to time. Build good alignment skills with this sho

The iCue cue ball. This thing is so simple that it should have been invented a long time ago. Three quadrants that make it easy to see where you hit and how that stroke affects the cue ball. I keep one of these in my pool case and love having it on hand to teach others about English and how, what they apply affects the outcome of their stroke. The three different quadrants allow you to see simple apply and get results. The ball itself is an Aramith cue ball that has been las

The DigiCue is well worth the money and as a great price point of around $79.99. Considering the thousands of dollars that we as pool players spend on cues and cases this is a small chip in the bucket and really helps change your game once you understand what it is capable of. Your cue is your weapon of choice when you challenge the table. It’s extremely important that you know how to properly use it. There are a lot of training devices out there and many are gimmicks. Howev

Knowing the 4 main variables that affect bank shots such as contact point, force, English, & collision induced throw are one thing, but training your muscle memory is another. This drill provides my excellent practice routine covering virtually every type of common bank shot on the table. There are 135 total reference shots here. Not only do you train your muscle memory for pocketing different bank shots, but you also must get shape on the next ball. Diagram 1 shows each pos

NO BULL! James Hanshew Jump cue First, of I have to say that is was a pleasure working with James. As far as a cue maker goes he is on my top 10 list for quality. I had the pleasure of doing this product review on his jump cue. I honestly have started to classify jump cues in two different areas. There are normal cues which are for an array of shots but generally not for the super close up shots. Then there is the specialty cue like the Marty Carry, Dr. Popper, Black Magic,

Pool Tables is a newer site, and this is my review of them. This is an interesting site that I stumbled across that gives reviews on cues for all over the place. They are primarily an Amazon store but the reviews that they put out are what impressed me. I would like them to do more reviews on companies like Joss, Jacoby, Mezz, Predator, Southwest, and Balabushka. I think they have a good thing going and always can use the help to get their name out there. http://pooltablesfor