2014 Team USA

Yesterday, (March 21, 2014) Team USA captain, Mark Wilson, announced the squad of 8, which will be eventually narrowed down to 5, for the 2014 Mosconi Cup tournament.  He has picked a good group of pool professionals, with some having been on past Mosconi Cup teams and some young players that have not.

The team of 8:

Name, age

Shane Van Boening, 30
John Schmidt, 40
Corey Deuel, 36
Brandon Shuff, 30
Justin Hall, 26
Oscar Dominguez, 29
Justin Bergman, 26
Jeremy Sossei, 35

Having announced the potential team members this early will hopefully give them time to evaluate the 5 guys that will best work together toward a common goal of winning the Mosconi Cup.  It has been five years since the USA won the Mosconi Cup and were getting left in the dust compared to Team Europe who worked together so much better as a team.

I feel like Mark Wilson has made huge leaps already by naming the potential team members early and making plans to pick the five based on who he feels will bring a good attitude and work ethic.  In years past, Johnny Archer was the team captain, but he also played, which I feel hurt more than helped.  Team USA also did not get together before the tournament to practice, build team unity, or put together a plan.  I feel confident that if Mark Wilson does this and brings a solid, unified team to the 2014 Mosconi Cup, even if we don't win, it will be a huge step in the right direction.

So look for Mark Wilson to narrow this squad of 8 down in the coming months before the November showdown in Blackpool, England.

The 4 Types of Pool Practice

As I see it, there are 4 different types of practice in pool.  I will break down each type of practice and give my opinion on why each is good or bad.  Regardless of what you've heard about bad practice is bad, sometimes "bad" practice isn't all that bad.  I'll explain later.

Here are my 4 types of pool practice, in order of less desirable to more desirable practice types:

1.  Individual, relaxed, non-focused.
2.  Partner/Group, relaxed, semi-focused.
3.  Individual, structured, focused.
4.  Partner/Group, structured (or semi-structured), focused.

Now for the break downs:

Individual, relaxed, non-focused

In this type of practice, maybe you are at your favorite pool hall killing some time or at home playing (if you have a table at home).  You are not bearing down trying to pocket each shot, trying to run racks of 9 or 10-ball, nor are you concentrating on technique, aiming, or cue ball control.  You're just playing pool for the fun of playing.

Why this is important.

You may be thinking, "Shouldn't I be playing somebody as good or better than me to get better?" or, "Playing pool without focus and determination will make me play worse."  You need to occasionally play just for the fun of it.  If you're constantly pushing yourself and practicing hard, you will get burned out and frustrated.  You might even fall into a slump.  See my article about dealing with the slump.  You will definitely get better by practicing hard, but eventually you will reach a point where it's not fun anymore.  A bad day of playing pool will turn into a bad week, month, etc.  You might also be surprised when you relax and not worry so much about running racks or a high run in Straight pool, that you will fall into stroke easier than you might think.  Now, I'm not saying it will happen to everybody, but I've noticed over the years of playing that after practicing hard for a while, then going to play pool in a more relaxed mindset of enjoyment of the game, I shoot pretty good without concentrating hard.

The flip-side.

If you are a serious pool player, should you do this all the time?  Absolutely not.  Taking a relaxed, just-shoot-for-fun mindset will not improve your game much over time.  You have to put yourself in a more concentrated, focused mindset of practice to see improvement.

Partner/Group, relaxed, semi-focused

This type of practice is similar to Individual, relaxed, non-focused, except as the name suggests, you are playing with a partner or group of players.  This is also an important form of practice in that you are playing in a more relaxed, enjoyment of the game mindset, only with another individual or group of players, which adds an important factor...competition.

Why this is important.

You may have noticed instead of "non-focused" I used "semi-focused" as part of the practice type.  The reason for this is when you are playing a partner or with a group, there is some degree of competition that goes on.  Whether you are playing a beginner, an average, or a semi-pro player, at least for me, there is some level of "I'm going to beat my opponent until they leave crying."  It happens, don't deny it.  Just know when to ease up or you might end up on the couch if it was your significant other you just tortured on the pool table!!

Remember, HAVE FUN!!  Pool is fun!  I guarantee you the pros do this from time to time.  They play because they love the game not just for a paycheck.

The flip-side.

So there's usually a flip-side to most things.  Like I mentioned in the previous practice type, don't fall into a habit of always going out with a playing partner or group of players to just "knock balls around."  You need concentrated, focused practice time more than relaxed, play-for-fun practice.

Individual, structured, focused

OK, now we are starting to get serious. If you want to improve your game, this is where you need to pay attention.  Having individual, structured, and focused practice WILL IMPROVE YOUR GAME.

Why this is important.

What this type of practice means to you is different for everybody.  There are countless ways to practice.  Maybe you know your technique needs work, maybe you are having trouble with a particular cut shot, or maybe it's your bank shots that need more practice, whatever it is, you need the individual time on the table where you are really concentrating, bearing down, and giving focused effort.  By structured, I mean set up a shot that is giving you trouble and shoot it until you can make it 8 or 9 times out of 10, or play the ghost in 9-ball until you reach an obtainable goal for yourself.  Tell yourself, "Today I'm going to practice (insert shot, game, position play, senario, etc. here) until I master this goal."  Whatever it is, practicing with an intense, focused, and structured effort and you will improve your game.

The flip-side.

The only real down-side to this type of practice is that sometimes it might be hard to gauge your improvement...which is where the last type of practice comes in.

Partner/Group, structured (or semi-structured), focused

This last type of practice, in my opinion, is probably the best type of practice, provided you can find a practice partner(s) that is good for you.  Finding a good practice partner who is around your playing speed or slightly better WILL IMPROVE YOUR GAME.

Why this is important.

Practicing by yourself with concentration, structure, and focus, is good, but it's lacking one thing, competition.  Find a practice partner who is as serious about improving their game as you are yours, and you will have struck gold.  Not only will you have the competition factor, but another person (or persons) to split the table cost :)  You will not get bored racking for yourself over and over, you will have a "bar" to gauge your playing, and someone to potentially learn from to further improve your game.  Sometimes you shoot a particular shot a certain way, while your partner might shoot it differently...the different approach to the shot might come it handy down the road.

The flip-side.

About the only thing I can think of is if you have found a good practice partner, just make sure it's understood from the beginning that the relationship is for practicing and improving each other's game.  I wouldn't let the competition get to the point where a friendship is broken.  Nor would I play each other for money.  It should be a positive, beneficial situation, with the goal being to improve each other's game.

GO FORTH AND PRACTICE!!!!

15 Draw

I got bored today and decided to come up with a new pool game.  If nothing else, for practice.  I call it 15 Draw, since you use all 15 balls and a pill bottle to draw your next ball.  As you will see in the rules below, it is a game of randomness and creativity.

Here is the table layout I chose:

General rules of the game

Object of the game:  The object of the game is to pocket all 15 balls in the lowest number of shots.  The player with the lowest score at the end of the game wins.

Determining opening shooter:  For more than one player, a numbered pill shall be drawn from a bottle to determine shooting order.  Player with the lowest numbered pill shoots first, player with the next lowest numbered pill shoots second, and so on.

Called shots:  All balls are called shots unless it is blatantly obvious in which pocket the shooter is trying to make the ball.

Arrangement of the balls:  All 15 balls are to be arranged and ordered as diagrammed above.

Opening shot:  Incoming player shall draw a numbered pill from a bottle to determine first ball to shoot.  Once the opening ball is determined, player shall have ball in hand*.  Ball in hand only applies on the opening shot, or after a scratch or ball jumped off the table.

Legal hits:  Player shooting must hit the cue ball once, causing the cue ball to hit an object ball.  The object ball must then hit at least one rail after contact.  If an object ball is frozen to a rail, the cue ball must hit at least 2 different rails after contact, or the object ball must hit a different rail from which it was frozen.

The shooter is not required to hit the ball drawn by numbered pill from the bottle.  For example, in the diagram above, if the shooter legally pockets the 1-ball and stops the cue ball where the 1-ball was, then draws the 4-ball as the next ball to shoot, the shooter is not required to hit the 4-ball in the next shot.  The shooter may hit another ball first to get position on the 4-ball.  As long as the object ball was legally contacted and rules of a legal hit followed, then the shooter may continue until the 4-ball is legally pocketed.

A ball pocketed that was not called shall be spotted as closely as possible to the original location of the ball illegally pocketed before the next shot is taken by the player at the table.

Fouls:  A foul occurs if the rules of legal hits above is not followed.  Shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.  Cue ball shall remain in place for the next shot.  If the shooter scratches the cue ball, a 2-point penalty is assessed, unless the object ball was made in the called pocket, in which case, only a 1-point penalty is assessed.  The incoming player shall have ball in hand* for the next ball.   A cue ball jumped off the table is a 2-point penalty, unless the object ball was pocketed in the called pocket, in which case, only a 1-point penalty is assessed.  The incoming player shall have ball in hand* for the next ball.

*See rules of Solo game vs. Multi-player game for rules of ball in hand.

Solo game

1.  Draw a pill from the bottle to determine first ball to shoot.
2.  Give yourself ball in hand anywhere on the table for the opening shot.
3.  Shoot the ball that was determined by drawing a numbered pill.
4.  Record the number of shots it took to legally pocket the ball.
5.  Leaving the cue ball where it came to rest after legally pocketing the first ball, draw another numbered pill from the bottle to determine next ball to shoot.
6.  Repeat Steps 3 to 5 until all 15 balls have been legally pocketed.
7.  Total the number of shots it took you to pocket all 15 balls.

If you foul by scratching or jumping a ball off the table, assess a penalty as described in the general rules of the game and give yourself ball in hand anywhere on the table for the next ball as determined by a pill drawn from the bottle.

If a foul occurs by not following the rules for a legal hit, then the shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.



Multi-player game

1.  Draw a numbered pill from the bottle, player with the lowest numbered pill shoots first.
2.  Following the same general rules for the Solo game, draw a pill to determine first ball to shoot.
3.  Opening player has ball in hand behind the headstring.  If the first ball to shoot, as determined in Step 2, is behind the headstring, player must shoot past the headstring, legally contacting an object ball or rail before hitting an object ball behind the headstring.
4.  Shoot until the object ball is legally pocketed in the called pocket.  Record the number of shots it took to pocket the ball.  The object ball made by player A is then spotted as close to the original placement of the ball and player B has ball in hand behind the headstring.  Player B shoots until the object ball is legally pocketed in the called pocket.
5.  Continue drawing numbered pills to determine the next ball until all 15 balls have been pocketed.
6.  The player with the lowest score for the game wins.

If a foul occurs by scratching or jumping a ball off the table, assess a penalty as described in the general rules of the game and incoming player has ball in hand behind the headstring for the next ball as determined by a pill drawn from the bottle.

If a foul occurs by not following the rules for a legal hit, then the shooter is assessed a 1-shot penalty for each occurrence of the foul.


Let me know what you think.  I've got a few more games I've made up and I might post them some other time.

TAR 39: The Last One

Justin Collett of The Action Report announced they would no longer be doing challenge matches between the top professional pool players.  The Action Report was started in 2007 and had put many matches together in the 7 or so years since starting.  I unfortunately only got to watch 3 matches starting with TAR37, a rematch of TAR #1 (Corey Deuel vs. Shane Van Boening).

TAR39, the last one, was a matchup of Shane Van Boening vs. Efren Reyes.  I was really looking forward to this one as they were playing One Pocket, Rotation, and 9-ball.  I was really excited to hear Rotation was being played one of the nights, since I've never really seen it played, much less by the great Efren Reyes.

One Pocket

Efren had to be the favorite for this event.  He had just gone undefeated at the 2014 Derby City Classic One Pocket event.  It was not to be.

Efren won the first game and Shane won the next two.  Efren won rack 4 to tie it at 2 apiece, but that was it.  Shane won the next 9 games and defeated Efren by a score of 11-2.  It was not clear whether Efren was tired mentally, physically, or just having a bad night, but he was missing balls and coming up short on shots.  In a rare sign of frustration from Efren, on the last rack he sold out and broke the balls wide open.

Rotation

The Rotation event was something I was really looking forward to watching Efren play.  The rules were Filipino Rotation.  Corey Deuel was commentating alongside Robert "Cotton" Leblanc for the first half of the match.  Corey understood the rules, having played before.  It was definitely interesting to watch.  If your opponent plays safe and you get hooked behind a ball, you could spot the ball and give ball in hand behind the headstring to your opponent.  It is an aggressive game.  You don't get rewarded for playing safe in Rotation.

Efren looked a little better in the Rotation event.  He got the score up 9-3 early on Shane and was out maneuvering him, but after the player break, it was all Shane.  At the break,  I believe the score was Efren-11,  Shane -9.  Efren would only win 5 more games after the break.  Shane ran some racks and generally outplayed Efren during the second half, at one point winning 6 in a row.  Final score, SVB-20, Efren 16.

9-Ball

The 9-ball match, I thought, could go either way.  I gave the advantage to Shane because of his big break, but for some reason, he didn't put together any big packs.  Shane might have put together a 2 or 3 pack once or twice and that was it.  Only once or twice did I see Shane come up dry on the break, whereas Efren broke them dry most of the time.  Again, Efren missed balls he should have made.  He even missed the 9-ball.

This match went back and forth to some degree.  They traded games in 2's, 3's, and 4's until the break.  The match was tied at 10 and that's when Shane took over.  After that point, Shane won the next 3, Efren got a couple, then Shane won 5 in a row, eventually winning the match 25-16.

My thoughts on this final TAR match...

I was really disappointed Efren wasn't playing his best.  It was painful to watch him, especially on the One Pocket night, miss balls and get out of line on several shots.  He still made some miraculous shots, but overall, he wasn't playing his best game.  I was very surprised to see Shane win the Rotation match given that he claimed to not know the game.

I know one challenge match doesn't mean a whole lot, since Efren seemed to not be playing his best, but Shane, in my opinion, has proven that he is quite possibly the best men's player right now.  He has one of the most powerful breaks...with control and he can make balls from everywhere.  In the 9-ball match, I can only remember seeing him miss 2 or 3 balls all night long.

Sad to see these TAR matches end.  I really enjoyed watching them and listening to the commentators.

OB Classic Shaft Review

Low deflection shafts seem to be picking up steam over the last few years.  I remember several years back when Predator shafts were the ones to have.  They took pie shaped wedges and glued them together to create a stiff shaft.  Lately, OB Cues seem to be the rage.  I have wanted an OB cue or at least a shaft for a little while now.  I was impressed with the layered technology and the way the shafts are constructed.  Well, I finally took the plunge and bought one.

I purchased an OB Classic shaft (12.75 mm, 1/4" ferrule) with the radial pin to fit a Lucasi Ltd. cue I've had for maybe 3-4 years now.  I was excited after receiving the shaft to go hit some balls.

I first played a few racks of 9-ball with the shaft that came with the cue.  I had been using a different cue for a few months now, so I made sure to hit several racks of balls to familiarize myself with the way the Lucasi played.  As a side note, in my opinion, a radial pin is the way to go.  I have played with many joint types over the years and so far, I have found the radial pin feels like the most solid hit for me.

So after getting a feel for the cue again, I switched out the shaft for the new OB Classic.  It came with, I believe, an Everest layered tip.  When first hitting some balls, the short ferrule threw me until I got used to it, then I didn't even notice it.  The tip is a tad soft for my taste as I usually play with a little bit harder tip.  I will probably get a new tip soon.  The shaft itself needed a light sanding with some really fine grit sandpaper.  After a quick sanding, it was smooth as butter.

My first impressions of the OB Classic shaft was why did I just spend $200 for this shaft?  That is, until I hit some really long, firm draw shots.  You can put some terrific english on the cue ball using this shaft!!  I drew the cue ball back nearly 8 feet after pocketing a ball in the corner, but not only that, it seemed like it required less effort to do so.

After playing with it for about 3 days now, I believe it was a good purchase.  It's not something that is going to completely change my game, but due to the low deflection, will help improve my game over time.

So if you are thinking about getting a low deflection shaft of some kind, I would encourage you to go down to your local pool retailer and hit a few balls with the shaft you are considering or any low deflection shaft, really, to see how it feels to you.

2014 Derby City Classic Diamond "Big Foot" Challenge

Once again the Derby City Classic held the "Big Foot" Challenge.  This is 10-ball on a 10 foot Diamond table with, I believe, 4.25" pockets.  It was an all-star lineup featuring players such as Ralph Souquet, Efren Reyes, Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Neils Feijen, Shane Van Boening, Dennis Orcollo, Earl Strickland, Francisco Bustamante, Darren Appleton, and more.

Each player put up $1,000 with $16,000 added.  The winner got $16,000 and 2nd place $8,000.  I did not get to watch all these matches, but I did watch online via Accu-Stats live stream Sunday night and Monday night (Semi-finals and Finals).

Neils Feijen is a beast.  He handily sent Corey Deuel packing with an opening round defeat 11-2.  He then took down Efren Reyes by a score of 11-8.  In his 3rd round match, he trounced his Mosconi Cup teammate, Ralph Souquet 11-4 to face Shane Van Boening in the Finals.

Shane Van Boening had an opening round match against Dennis Orcollo and beat him 11-8.  He then faced John Morra in a close, hill-hill match that I watched on Sunday night.  It looked like Shane would easily take him down, but with a large lead (6-1, I believe), John Morra came fighting back to eventually make it hill-hill.  Shane managed to get the win.  I also watched the Earl Strickland vs. Francisco Bustamante match.  I really had no favorite between these two, but I figured Earl would have the advantage since he likes these big 10 foot tables with tight pockets and he practices on a 10 foot table.  It wasn't meant to be for Earl.  He was playing good, but Bustamante got a few rolls and defeated him 11-7.  Surprisingly, Earl didn't have a meltdown, although he had the crowd laughing about the bad rolls he was getting.

Shane then faced Bustamante Monday night, which again looked like it was going to be all Shane as he got ahead early 7-3.  Bustamante got the score to 10-8 after Shane missed the 10-ball for the match.  Shane got the win in the next rack.  Final score was 11-8.

The Final was Neils Feijen vs. Shane Van Boening.  Yet again it looked like SVB was going to dominate the match.  Neils won the first 2 games, but SVB took over from there.  Shane won the next 6 games, breaking and running 2, 2 packs and took a comfortable lead 6-2.  Neils capitalized on a Shane miss, but in rack 10, Neils rattled the 10 leaving a tough, table-length bank for Shane.  Shane thought about playing safe, but fired the bank 10 feet down into the corner.  SVB took a 7-3 lead.  The next rack showed just how tough this Diamond 10 foot table was.  Shane got on the 10, but rattled it in the corner pocket.  He left Neils a long, but makeable shot on the 10.  Neils also rattled it, leaving a straight in shot to give Shane an 8-3 lead.

Shane got on the hill with the score 10-3, but Neils wasn't going to go down without a fight.  Shane broke dry in rack 14 and Neils ran out to make it 10-4.  Neils eventually fought to 10-7, but in rack 18 and the final rack of the match, Neils accidentally went off the 8-ball and scratched in the side pocket.  It was over then.  Shane ran out the rest of the rack to take the win 11-7.

I love watching these top players play on this big 10 foot table.  As the commentators said at one point, it really separates the men from the boys.  Banks, One Pocket, and 9-ball is still to be determined at the 2014 Derby City Classic, but after it was all said and done on the "Big Foot", Shane Van Boening is your winner.

Here is the final bracket if you would like to see how your favorite player fared.

http://www.azbilliards.com/tours_and_events/124-derby-city-classic/6069-derby-city-classic-2014-bigfoot-10-ball-challenge/brackets/59-main-event/

Book Review: Pool Wars: On the Road to Hell and Back with the World's Greatest Money Players

While watching Darren Appleton and Dennis Orcollo battled it out on TAR 38, one of the commentators, Jay Helfert, mentioned he had a book about life as a pool player on the road back in the heyday of pool hustling in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  I enjoy hearing and reading about exciting pool stories, so I bought the book to check it out.

I found Jay's book on Amazon, but you can also find it on Jay's website.

The paperback version is about 160 pages of Jay's experiences travelling the country and beyond, playing for money on the road, owning a pool hall, and being a consultant on movies.  I enjoyed the stories Jay had to tell, although I didn't know many of the pool players he mentioned until he got further into the book.  I did know some of the players, though.  Legends like Minnesota Fats, Willie Mosconi, Luther Lassiter, and Cornbread Red.

Overall, I liked the book and the stories Jay had to tell.  During the commentary at TAR 38, he mentioned he might write another book of more stories from his experiences.  I hope he does, because this era of pool he lived is gone.  The internet, video, and smartphones have killed those days.

If you are a fan of pool hustling or want to know what life was like back in those days, pick up this book.  You won't regret it.