Acknowledging Our Struggle & Loss, To Move Forward Stronger & Optimistic First and foremost let's acknowledge that all of us (meaning the entire world) have been living through history the last 2 years. A global pandemic with over 373 million cases & 5.6 million deaths, holy cow. It has come with insane challenges to our way of life ... quarantine, shut downs, travel bans, mask mandates, testing, vaccinations, boosters, full hospitals, hoax conspiracies, political division,

3 Seconds not only makes pool cue cases, but they also now make the 3 Second Flex Fine Fit Five Finger Glove! In the world of billiards, there are many creations of the billiards glove. Billiard glove creations run from a minimalistic form to the max, shooting with a welding glove. Billiard gloves are for those who get sweaty hands, which cause a sticky stroke. From pro-level to extreme amateur, we all need a little extra glide from time to time.

Thursday, Jan 13, 2022– We at SPM (Sneaky Pete Mafia) would like to take an inside look at three of the “Influencers,” not meaning manipulators of billiards, but contributors to the whole of pool: Lil' Chris, Neight Mindham, and Andre Schickling (Sharivari). And the game will never be the same. These three powerhouses, rising up in the world billiards community in recent years, each a member of the 2021 'Pools Power 15' list to acknowledge influential contributors in billiar

The 2020 edition of The Derby City Classic is once again going to be perhaps the most entertaining event of the year. The venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, Indiana is always spectacular. Numerous tables, top of the line vendors and stellar match play sets the scene for one of the pool’s greatest stages. If the tournament continues to live up to all the hype, the individual who makes the best decisions will have a fighting chance to lift the all around championship t

It was the winter of 2001, and I was 25 years old. The local poolroom in Campbellsville, Kentucky had just been sold and the new owners were starting to put together one of the more competitive 9-Ball tournaments in the state. Pro-player John Brumback had just won the October edition of the event and in November, I finished 2nd to Derby City Classic champion, Shannon Daulton. Mike Blevins and Anthony Beeler Photo by Cameron Beeler As I returned in December, the city of Camp

By Calvin Post of CJP Billiards There are a lot of things here in pool that are just straight myths. I see on a lot of groups these typical round table discussions on the same worn out topics with hundreds of wrong opinions. I want to cover some of controversy and provide factual statements. You can’t buy a stroke. No matter wood or carbon fiber, and no matter Low Deflection or High Deflection the price and material of the shaft doesn’t make you a better player. All low defle

By Dominic Esposito aka The Drill Instructor Another fabulous installment from The Drill Instructor this month! You can have the pool game you desire. I will show you how to drill in good habits. Shots will appear in your mind and disappear quickly into the pockets. The Tip Kick System can Make a Tough Kick Shot Simple This month I want to teach you the first part of my Tip Kick System . The shots as diagramed in this article include the kinds of workouts I used to turn pro

The 2020 edition of The Derby City Classic is once again going to be perhaps the most entertaining event of the year. The venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, Indiana is always spectacular. Numerous tables, top of the line vendors and stellar match play sets the scene for one of the pool’s greatest stages. If the tournament continues to live up to all the hype, the individual who makes the best decisions will have a fighting chance to lift the all-around championship t

Depending on what you are looking for in the wide variety of pool cue shafts, it is essential to find the one you are most comfortable using. It can be tough to decide on the best shaft for you and your playing style with all the options out on the market. It is choosing between a standard shaft with a straight maple and differing tapers. Or the laminated shafts, mainly composed of different sections of wood cut into pieces that are then glued tighter in other formats and th

As we progress as a billiards community, our tech constantly improves. We are always trying to get the slightest edge that we can at any given point. The blackout jumper is the full carbon fiber jump cue from Jacoby. The cue has all the same specs and feels as the original jumper but with one extreme change. The entire pool cue is made from carbon fiber and has a new carbon fiber handle with the same specs, just a tad lighter. It comes standard with a 13mm brown phenolic brea

The ability to separate what you are seeing and thinking about is a powerful skill for pool players! The good news is that your perception and attention span are two separate brain functions. Pool players who say they can’t visualize often let their sight cloud their visualization, especially when fixating on the shot that is in front of them. If you think about scratching in the side pocket or getting hooked behind a cluster as you stare at the cue ball you ARE visualizing a

Back in 1999, Rack and Cue Billiards in Campbellsville, Kentucky was the setting for the state’s 9-ball Championship. Players like John Brumback Shannon Daulton and Stan Shuffett were all regulars in quest for the title. At that time, I was beginning to learn more about the little intricacies of the game, such as mechanics and advanced fundamentals. One topic I was particularly curious about was the grip. Mike Blevins was from Somerset, Kentucky and he was an incredibly di

By now, you are probably questioning what a picture of a boy in a swimming pool has to do with learning how to play pool. Have you ever heard the story about the little boy that wanted to learn how to swim? His parents took him to the local swimming pool and enrolled him with an instructor. After a few weeks, he had learned the basics of swimming and could perform a few strokes. His parents cheered and clapped, but the boy thought that he could still do better. So he kept goi

With the advent of the camera phone we have been taking pictures and videos like crazy. Streaming directly from phones and tablets. In most cases we prop it up somewhere where we can see the most Focused target. It goes without saying that it’s important to get the right angle. As we grow and find new ways to display our phones it’s important to go back to the basics of keeping it simple. The pocket tripod fits a lot of the criteria of all that we need in a very simple and sl

Monday, August 23rd, 2021 -- I talked with Brad Swain in a recent interview about his new cue sponsorship, partnership with Sneaky Pete Mafia, and his involvement in billiards instruction. Triple certified American Cue Sports (ACS), Professional Billiards Instructors Association (PBIA), and Set Pause Finish (SPF) billiards instructor Brad Swain and Sneaky Pete Mafia (SPM) are teaming up as SPM seeks to diversify and expand billiards news and coverage; SPM endorses Swain to p

The tip tool So as you play more and more you will find that your tip layered or single piece or synthetic will start to glaze over. This is a natural process of you hitting the cue ball over and over and the chalk getting ground into the tip as each time you hit the cue ball you compress the tip just a little bit more every time. That's just the nature of the beast. There are so many tip tools out there to scuff and shape your tip and keep it consistent and hold chalk to the

KEYS TO A FIT MIND! Go ahead! Buy books. Do drills and play for hours, but remember: Physical practice can't make up for a weak mind. Call it mental toughness; it is a soundness of the pool player’s psyche that's as vital to tournament wins as sound mechanics. There are four keys that a pool player must master in order to attain a sound mental game. 1. Become a Pressure Player: Varner and Sigel are famous for it. Mental toughness: “running out” when it matters most. "It's h

Sensory pool is about playing in the present moment and staying connected to the feel of shots– not what happens after the shot is struck or the mechanics of the stroke. This is a far more effective way to play than using mechanical stroke thoughts or thinking about the score of your match. Most pool players I work with usually have an issue of “thinking too much” while down on the shot. They’re focused solely on the consequences: “if I make this shot then, maybe I’ll win…or

Grady “The Professor” Mathews once said, “Pool is 70 percent mental.” Over the years, you have probably made enough poor decisions to believe this is true. Why, then, do we associate our playing ability with physical skill? Honestly, some players are more definable by the way they think than by the way they stroke the cue ball. Take the big breaker who crushes the rack but throws a temper tantrum every time he scratches: Yes, he’s got a powerful stroke, but before long his em