Cue Sport Group

Archive for the ‘Trick Shots’ Category

Once all your billiard fundamentals are correct and you find yourself shooting with a straight cue, then you would need to master the stun stroke. This shot is so important because it renders you a reference for a cue ball positioning. This shot will produce a stop shot. The ball stops as soon as it makes contact with the object ball.

There are factors that influence this shot would be a blend of the following: force, cue tip location, quickness, and follow through. There is also an infinite number of combinations of these variables that lead to a stop shot. Play with all these variables until you reach the point that you can manipulate each one and have some cue ball position. You have to measure your follow through with just a tiny force or just only a 1” of follow through with a big force that would produce a stop shot.

Photos via billiardclick.com

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If you have seen Rocky Lane take a shot or any of his famous tricks, then you will know how ravishingly talented this man is. Rocky is considered to be one of the best 9 ball players of the world and also one of the world’s best trick shot makers. He is also known with the name ‘The Technician’ who holds an amazing world record. He has his very own DVD and website. He is truly a 9-ball player of professional qualifications.

He is also known for mentoring various up and coming players in the field of billiards and has recently made news with his mentoring work with Charlie Nguyen. He also offers free coaching on selected evenings at a local pool near the place where he lives. Here are some of his well known accomplishments:

• 1976 National New Zealand 8-Ball Champion
• 1979 National B Grade Snooker National Champion
• 27 year break from Cue sports, for educational attainments towards a career
• June 12, 2002 FCC Hong Kong Runner up 8 Ball Champion
• October, 2002 4th Place, 9-Ball Borneo

And many more!

Photos via billiardsforum.info

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Known as the Ambassador of Pool and the Grand Master of Trick Shots, Paul Gerni has started playing pool since he was 6. And with all those years of experience, everything really paid off. He has also written a lot of booklets on pool and about 200 trick shot articles for various billiard and pool magazines in countries like USA, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Denmark, Spain and Australia. He is also the broadcast host for Pool Around the World which announces chosen pool events and other tournaments.

He has been hailed as the Professional World Champion of Artistic, Skills, Trick & Fancy Shots for 22 consecutive times which makes him hold the record for the longest championship winning streak in all kinds of professional sports. He was also the International Challenge Cup Champion for 15 consecutive times and made him defeat other pool trick shot artists all around the globe.

Photos via billiardsforum.info

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One of the world’s greatest trick shot players in billiards would have to be Jamison Neu. He is known to be one of the most competitive masse shot makers. He is so great at it that he has a lot of variations of masses shots which were named after him. He was born in North Carolina, USA and he is often called in the billiard world as The Gentleman or Mr. Masse.

He has achieved the following accomplishments all throughout the run of his career as a professional billiard player:

2005 World Masse Champion, World Stroke Champion, Masters Masse Champion, Currently ranked at #1 in Stroke and Masse, 5^th at 2005 World Championship, 6^th 2004 World Champion, etc.

Jamison performs his trick shots all over the US and he is the only person to ever make Masse shots twice in his first 8 tournaments. He is the highest scorer ever that was recorded in Masses with just one missed attempt.

Photos via billiardsforum.info

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It is important for anyone who wants to play snooker to learn also how to do a break off shot. This is one of the secrets to get a successful game going. If you think that you can win right from the very start of the game, then you should break off and learn how to influence the game.

To do this, you must know the correct style and learn everything you need to know about the game to assure you of a win. The back end of the triangle has the red which you should aim as the target. You must come back to the same side of the cue ball to the point nearing the yellow or green.

To hit the red usually happens during the first shot as you learn how to break off. To hit the second red would really make the pack wider and only few players can do that. Make your snooker break off shot something that can render you angles to the cue ball right from the sides.

Photo via ehow.com

No matter how great your tools and equipment in billiards are, you are still in deep trouble if you are unaware of how it is to pocket balls. Every professional player knows how to pocket balls. And they have mastered this through practice.

Many say that one of the main reasons of the missed shot is confusion. The player gets quite confused with where exactly to aim. And this is not just due to bad cueing. This is due to stress according to experts since the brain rushes into receiving so much information when the object being targeted is already in view.

Hence, what you can do is to improve on your game consistently. Every pro would only tell you one thing: the primary ingredients of success are consistency and practice. Without doing such, then you surely won’t have a wonderful game. For a better shot, just imagine there’s a line coming from the center of the targeted pocket and going to the center of the object ball.

Just imagine the visuals you get when you play billiards in the computer.

Photo via maniacworld.com

Are you aware of the four most common shots done in the world of billiards? Well, here we shall reveal it to you:

1. Starting at the beginning – the simplest shot

This is about striking the cue ball in a method that will send it in a very smooth movement right to the target ball, without overspinning. So to do this, you must strike the ball above the center.

2. Take it up a noach!

This is a bit more difficult since you would force the cue ball to roll farther ahead after the target ball has been struck.

3. The stop shot

The concept here is to force the cue ball to move only a little as possible after even hitting the target ball. Strike it then just below the center so that it will just slide across the table.

4. Come Back Here

This is forcing the cue ball to come right after the target ball has been hit.

Photo via billiards.about.com

The three rail shot in billiards is not that easy for anyone to easily learn. But here are some steps that you can start off with:

First, it is very important that you figure out first the position number of your cur ball. Then count from the corner pocket right at the foot of the cue ball by the corner pocket at the head.

Second, you must find the number of the diamond that is connecting right into the corner pocket, exactly where the object ball is sitting. As you count for the object ball, you must count in full numbers. Since it could be a long rail, you must shoot through the diamond. So you should draw an imaginary line going through the diamond number 3 and shoot right at the spot on the edge of the rail.

Finally, you should really shoot hard since you have to hit three rails and make sure you have sufficient momentum to make contact with the object ball.

Photo via online-pool.com

Masse shots are considered to be the amazing pool shots that seemingly defy the law against physics. In a typical masse shot, the cue ball is hit with a great amount of spinning that the ball comes out of a straight line and follows the path that is curved. The ones who are good at this would be the professional trick shot artists or the ones that are considered to be artistic pool players.

But can you be able to make these shots with a masse cue? Well, not necessarily. There are fancy shots that might be too complex to master but does not always require that you need a special cue. All you need to understand is the law of physics, which is F=ma.

If there is much needed force, then you should use more massive cue. So if you are really interested in masses, then you need not buy a brand new cue just to perform these.

Photo via billiardclick.com

If you want to practice trick shots, you need to do the exact shot on the same exact billiard ball configuration to perfect your technique while analyzing how the shot works. To be able to do this, you need to setup and position both the object balls and the cue ball by tracking the balls’ alignment even in clusters. You can use the center-to-center lines of two balls or the tangent line between two balls as well as having these as reference points on the table. You can also make a diamond intersection or ½ diamond increments to make smaller adjustments. Lastly, you can tap the balls gently into place that will create a small divot in the cloth that you can find later because the balls are frozen. Having the shot videotaped can also help you analyze the missed shots.

pic via downarchive.com