I pretty much mastered the game.
Any table, any stick, from a high end one to a broomstick, it really didn't matter much.
It was pretty much a given to my opponents that they were about to lose when they saw my bridge hand fall to my side.
It meant that I viewed them as little to no competition.
I'm not talking about resting the stick on the edges of the table either, true one handed shots with no rest.
After you get your muscle memory down to an art for your stroke, the bridge hand can become a deficit IMHO.
Finding the balance on the stick is fairly easy too, by walking it in your fingers until it settles down.
Even when I choose to shoot with a bridge hand, the weight of the small end is so slight it's like it isn't even there.
I once cut a plaster cast off of my wrist just to make a difficult shot.
It pissed my doctor off a little because it was 4 days before he was ready to do it, but I wanted the win, so sorry for his luck
Floppy rolling mangled house stick?
No problem, find the sag in it and let it droop towards the table.
Carving a scratch in it with your thumbnail helps to locate it again.
Once you have that part down, the rest gets easy.
I whooped a lot of butts shooting against my opponents with the big end of sticks too.
Rubber, no rubber, it doesn't matter if you have your control down.
The stick is just a tool that you need to master early on if you really want to win.
I didn't really ever carry a stick of my own early on.
That spells shark to many.
When I did, it was just because I could use it with authority
Eight ball on the break with no scratch?
Too many times to count 'em.
I once pissed my girlfriend off by doing it twice in a row just because I didn't really want to play her.
My break?
Low cue, very hard aimed at the second ball in the rack.
I can determine which side to break from depending on which way the balls are racked.
I always shoot for the side that is facing me.
That's the trick to an eight ball on a break in case you are wondering.
That slight tilt determines which way the eight ball will head, while the low cue keeps the cue ball on the table as it tries to plow under the rack instead of climbing it.
Often it will even back up and take a second run at it if the backspin is hard enough.
I can pretty much guarantee at least one ball on a break no matter how well the balls are racked.
Three ain't uncommon either
I laid waste a guy that thought he was a shark one evening.
He ran the table for 4 hours before I arrived and had pretty much emptied the wallets of all in the room.
He was good, but he wasn't all that either so I put my quarters up and handed his lady my $50 to enter the fray.
$50 in 1981 was about half of what the minimum wagers were taking home a week as a reference.
At the time, I had a Hoffman device in the same left wrist as the aforementioned cast I cut off.
The girl then said, "you think you can beat him with one good arm?"
I said I put my wager up didn't I?
She then laughed at me and repeated, "with one good arm".
He broke and didn't get a single ball off my rack.
Tight, right and aimed with laser precision so it was.
I then ran the table on his ass, snatched the $100 off his drink table, tossed my stick on the pool table and said, "with one good arm" and walked out of the joint
After emptying another guy's wallet one night, he accused me of having the Hoffman device installed on my wrist to enhance my pool skills.
Yeah right, dude.
I modified my body just to kick your ass on a pool table.
It wasn't easy to shoot with that stainless steel garbage screwed into my bones, but I was very determined to not lose my standing either, so I worked around it a little.
Eight ball was what most shot, but nine ball was where I really shined.
It was very easy money.
I never met a combo shot I didn't like.
There isn't an angle on a table that can't be beat either.
One of my favorite shots was a ball in hand shot with the furthest reach of the table too cluttered up with my opponent's leaves to do a proper bank with the eight ball sitting in a corner pocket on the close end of the table.
It really wasn't that difficult to place the cue ball ahead of the eight ball and shoot it with no cue dead on at the corner of the opposite side pocket.
It crossed the line as required and made easy work of what many considered an impossible shot to make.
You gotta love it when a plan comes together
Many times when shooting, I get visuals on the balls that show me where to hit them with tracer-like lines to show their paths.
My eidetic thingy at work I suppose, but who knows, right?
Position, position, position is the most important part of the game to me.
If you can't map a table out from square one when it's your turn, don't even pick up a stick.
I'm not talking about a few balls, I'm talking all of them.
If you make a science project out of a shot, you likely will not make it either.
As a general rule, I shoot a very light hand with tons of control.
Need that masse shot that is both stunning to watch and leave ya sittin' pretty?
Consider the balls like gears and work it out from there.
Easy-peasy after the 50,000ths time you try it
I hated players that played jump ball games, it trashes the felt and often sends the cue ball airborne.
Into people, drinks, you get the picture
Total amateur night slop pool in my honest opinion, but who am I to judge?
Freshly detoothed girlies ain't real pretty or easy to get along with, so why try to make 'em?
Pissed off dudes ain't much better
