Why Can't I Shatter My 9-Ball Break Shot?

Another pool myth explodes on our site today. I'm asked, "How do I smash a 9-Ball break shot, because if I could, I'd run the simple rack that's left most every time?"

Can you really run 'em all out if you had the monster break stroke? True? Myth? Fantasy? You decide:

Why I Can Shatter My 9-Ball Shot!

Photo (c) Matt Sherman, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Get On The Pro Skill Drill Bus

I'm scheduled for a follow-up with Dominic Esposito, Mr. Pro Skill Drill Instructor for pool and the inventor of the Jesper Jump Cue.

He comes highly endorsed and highly recommended by me personally. I'm the author of a pool book and DVD, so is he. I have a pool website, so does he. I am a regular columnist for a top pool magazine, so is he. If I'm paying good money to pick his brains for a few excellent hours of pool instruction, you know he's highly knowledgeable.

But we all need a refresher in the basics sometime from someone we respect. And we all love tips of insight, like Esposito's recipe for massé aim, shared with you in today's feature called:

A Pro Skill Drill To Bless You, Not Distress You

The Jester Jump Cue

Photo courtesy of The Drill Instructor

To Tap Or Not To TAP Your Pool League?

"Matt,

My wife and I are currently members of 2 APA teams and have been for several years.

We have experienced the Las Vegas trip to the nationals and found it fun. As you know the inherent problems of the APA I don't need to repeat them. I am currently looking into the TAP league as a player and as a league operator and would like to know what you think of that league.

Thanks, George"

Great question, George. There is no perfect pool league, and there are some rules and other quibbles that make people for or dead set against the American Poolplayers Association or "APA" and its league. I've discussed some of those problems and tried to balance the good and bad of it before.

Bearing in mind, therefore, that operating a league effectively can be a headache and a trial, the TAP league staff really care about our sport. Their passion makes all the difference and I suspect they will be an even-faster growing tour/league in the years ahead.

I also like the up-and-coming American Cue Sports (ACS) league. So much so that I'm working with a local club to do a hybrid league blending some of the best of the ACS rules with that of the Billiards Congress of America (BCA). I started a thread on this new local league in Florida with me, Donny Lutz and other fine participants and teachers participating, online. For you and for those interested, I'm pleased to provide some contacts or perhaps we can set a conference call to discuss these issues and keep best promoting the game of billiards.

New Local Pool League, TAP Or What-Have-You, I'm Game

Photo (c) Matt Sherman, licensed to About.com, Inc.

I Tried A New Jump And A New Break Cue And Report On My Findings

Got a good question today regarding the purchase of a jump break cue. That had me thinking about seeing The Drill Instructor, Dominic Esposito, at a pool clinic this week.

Dominic, along with other super-cool pool dudes like Donny Lutz and Carl Oswald, was recently named to "The Top 20 Pool Instructors" by Pool & Billiards Magazine, itself a fast up-and-coming pool publication with a powerful staff of instructors aboard.

How would you answer Matthew Lim's question regarding a new jump break cue?

"Matt,

Hope this message finds you well.

Want to get your opinion on jump break cues. I've been searching for all the info I can get on them online but still can't answer my questions.

I prefer a heavy cue to break but a light cue to jump. So if I were to buy a jump break, what would the ideal weight be?

On most retailers' websites you can choose the weight of the jumpbreak but I suppose this is for the whole cue. What is the weight of the thing with the bottom part pulled off then?

I notice popular cues like the Stinger, BK2 and Sledgehammer all still feature phenolic tips. Aren't these illegal under BCA?

On my belian wood - I got hold of a cuemaker in Bali and he told me belian is not good for cue making because the wood naturally secretes a type of "oil" slowly over the years.

That's what makes this wood 'waterproof'. This also means any inlays, joints and finishing will have a hard time staying bonded to the wood!

Regards..."

Buying one hybrid jump break cue will save you some dough, which leads paradoxically to my question:

Photo courtesy of The Drill Instructor

Will Forte, Go Home?

Comedians Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live fame recently lampooned pool on TV in their clever skit. Our links include the SNL video of Forte as the dumbest pool commentator you'll ever meet, watching a thinly veiled (but far less attractive version of) Gerda Hofstatter duke it out for pool glory.

As Forte explains, he actually knows nothing about professional pool but his dad got him the job on ESPN TV.

One of the best lines goes something like this:

Sudeikis: "Wow, you can really tell what a pro shoots like by the way they chalk their stick, can't you?"

Forte [deadpan]: "No... no, you really can't..."

Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis Take Pool To The Extreme

Photo courtesy of All About Pool

Ready, Aim, But Don't Fire

Yes, your stick is pointed straight and your pool aim technique seems right. Yes, you are indeed aiming right through the center of the cue ball.

But you are still missing shots (consistently) and here's why, and it's probably not what you think, "throw" or "deflection".

The disease is nasty, the cue cure is easy. Check it out.

Get Your Pool Aim Technique Squared

Photo (c) Matt Sherman, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Hopefully, No One Will See The Color Of Money In My Wallet

Though The Hustler starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason is a better film overall, there's no denying the sheer excitement of the pool classic, 1986's The Color of Money with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise.

My recent travels have taken me to L.A., the Cayman Islands and Alaska, but I'm off this week to Chicago, home of State Street, that great street, hot dogs "dragged through the garden", "The Hawk", "The EL", "The Prairie", pizza crusts with walls higher than the rails on a pool table, 4 buildings nosing 1,000 feet or more, and all that good stuff. And of special interest to pool fans--movie locations from The Color of Money.

The magnificent ballroom of the great, final tournament in the film was actually not shot in Atlantic City but in the ballroom of Navy Pier, today without pool tables but festooned outside with rides, games, food and of course, the famous Chicago Ferris Wheel. But it's the real pool action I'm also relishing.

You see, I'm looking ahead to shooting pool just like Fast Eddie and Vincent Lauria at Chris's Billiards (4637 North Milwaukee Avenue) where Newman gets snuffed by a sly hustler, The Gingerman Tavern (3720 North Clark Street) right from the film and also, Fitzgerald's (6615 West Roosevelt Road) which features in several other Hollywood movies, too. All three are somewhat clustered together north and/or west of the City.

• Check Out Our Extensive List From "The Color of Money" and Many Pool Movies Beyond
• Tom Cruise, Pool Shooting Stud
• Walter Tevis, Troubled Author Of The Hustler And The Color Of Money
• The Hustler With Newman, Gleason, George C. Scott, and Piper Laurie!

Photo courtesy of cardmine.co.uk

Who Doesn't Love A Stupid Internet Quiz?

I'm sick and tired of laughing my face off and dumb internet quizzes.

Thankfully, I've provided a whole category of serious pool internet quizzes and questions where About.com readers may respond.

Having said that, however, I could not resist making one foolish one, that actually asks, and then determines in mere moments...

Internet Quiz - Which Pool & Billiards James Bond Are You Today?

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

I Love These Particular Pool Books

Today, it's 5 of the grooviest pool books you'll ever read.

There's nothing like combining the love of a good book with one's love for pool. I'm tempted to write a pool novel just thinking about today's list called...

5 Pool Books To Die For

Photo courtesy of Barb's Billiards Art

Touch The Cue Ball--You Know You Want To

Last night, I showed one of my pool classes a magic stroke trick in using the cue ball properly.

It's a simple trick that will help most players, as many have their cue tip far, far away from the ball at aim time. In your stance, having the tip of your cue stick even an inch away from the cue ball is nearly half a ball's width in distance. That's enough to miscue a stroke vertically or horizontally with unintended if not disastrous results!

The problem is that whether you aim using these items directly or with peripheral vision, the cue ball itself; your cue stick and the object or target ball, having your head high above the table will force poor sighting of the shot line. So, one naturally bends lower to see stick/tip, ball and the other ball in a compressed line of sight... and then the tip is far from the cue ball, but to the player's untrained eye it seems to be close on the ball where it belongs.

The solution is simple. Play a session where you and a buddy or you alone in practice must touch the cue ball with the tip of your cue stick every time before you take the final stroke. Take your practice strokes, reach forward a bit to touch the cue ball (if it moves, it's not a foul stroke, you're on a learning exercise here) and then pause before taking the final backstroke and forward stroke to complete the shot.

Most players will see immediately they are an inch or two if not further away during their practice strokes. 30 minutes' practice should cure this habit with an occasional refresher when and if it crops up once again.

This is like many of my cures and fixes, try it and see. I guarantee you will pocket more balls right away using this method--and less if you regress back to firing at the cue ball from a long distance instead.

• Cue Ball Control
• Cue Ball Positioning/Aligning
• Parallel Aiming A Cue Ball