Key Media New York, Inc. presents a Tallman Entertainment Production.
Fundamentals to FANTASTICS.
We're here live from New York with four-time world champion Steve Mizorak, the master.
And joining Steve, the always exciting two-time ladies world champion Ava Mattia.
And to make things complete, the coolest nine-ball player of all, the 1992-93 nine-ball champion,
Johnny Archer.
Join us now as these pool greats give you insight on how to play your best pool.
The location, New York's Upper West Side, one of America's finest clubs, the Amsterdam
Billiards Club.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the best pool instruction you'll ever see.
And now, here's Steve Mizorak.
Welcome to the Amsterdam Billiard Club, one of New York's hot spots.
We're here to make a video, Fundamentals to FANTASTICS, trip shots, fundamentals, all
you need to know about how to play pool.
With me, Johnny Archer, the 92-93 world nine-ball champion, and pool's leading lady, Ava Mattia,
and me, the Miz, the master.
Watch it.
The most important part of any sport is to start out with the correct basic fundamentals
from the very beginning.
The first thing I like to cover is your stance.
Having the correct balance as you shoot to become as comfortable as you can be is very
important in a stationary sport like pool.
Golf would be very similar to where you're standing in one place when you're executing
the shot or the stroke.
And the first thing you worry about is your feet.
It's hard to tell anybody how far this should be between your left and your right foot,
since everybody is from a different height.
Everybody goes down different levels on your shot.
So that's pretty much individual.
But the main idea is to keep your feet sort of in an outside corners of an imaginary box.
And then some players tend to want to bend one leg slightly.
Some prefer to have both legs straight.
That varies.
And that's pretty much up to you what you feel more comfortable with.
The main thing is that you're nice and balanced.
You have the balance in the center of your body.
Then from there, you bend over toward the shot, adjust your feet according to where
your bridge hand is.
And the thing to watch for here is a lot of people tend to lean forward into this and
put a lot of weight in the front of the bridge hand.
That's going to throw your balance off a little bit on your stroke.
So it's much better if you keep more upright, just have the weight in the center of your
body.
Just put your bridge hand nice and loose down on the table and follow through.
There are a lot of different various bridges when you play the game of pool.
And I'd like to run through the more common ones with you.
There's five different main bridges that you need to deal with mostly.
The first one would be what I would refer to as the beginner bridge.
The best thing I can explain this is to make a fist on the table, take your thumb and sort
of put it right against your hand.
Take the four fingers and spread them out to where you have a nice, comfortable base
for the cue stick to lay on, like this.
The second bridge would be the professional bridge.
And here you pretty much start in the same way, only this time you take your forefinger,
wrap it around the cue stick and have it meet with the thumb and the middle finger to sort
of form a loop around the cue stick that keeps it in place.
So when you follow through, you follow through straight ahead instead of when the cue having
a tendency to sort of go up in the air.
So shooting at the two, it would look like that.
In cases where the cue ball is close to the cushion, the idea is instead of holding up
your hand up on top of the cushion like this, you don't want to be shooting down on the
cue ball.
So what you do is you take your thumb, put it in the center of your hand like this, and
put, again, the forefinger around, make a loop around the cue stick to sort of keep
it in place.
Just let the cue rest right on the cushion like that.
Going from there, when the cue ball is very close to or right frozen onto the cushion,
the idea is, like I said earlier, to keep the cue stick as level as you can to the table.
So you don't want to be jacking up like this, and you still need to be able to see where
the ball is heading.
So you just lay your hand down and sort of form a line right here between the hand and
the thumb like this.
And lastly, many times there's a ball behind the cue ball to where you can't make your
regular bridge, and this is where you sort of need to get way up top on your tippy toes
up here.
You need to make sort of a tripod with all four fingers nice and firm into the bed of
the table like this.
Pull your thumb again up next to the hand to where there's a nice groove for the cue
stick to go through, like this.
The main part about the bridges is that it's a nice, firm, comfortable bridge to where
the cue ball isn't moving side to side at all.
And finally, the mechanical bridge.
Obviously, since the table is nine feet long, there are going to be situations where you're
not going to be able to comfortably reach the shot.
Here's where we use the mechanical bridge.
The idea is to put the cue on the bridge, sort of move it up toward the cue ball, about
the same distance, maybe a little farther away than you normally would with your hand.
Take the left hand, put it on the bridge, leave it firmly on the table.
That way you have a firm bridge, so when you stroke the ball, it's not going to go left
or right, back or forward.
And you shoot nice and comfortable.
Keep your elbow high.
You want it about parallel with your shooting arm to where you have a nice stroke to where
you can really follow through on the ball.
This way you're going to shoot down into the table.
It needs to be nice and level, like that.
Now it's my turn to talk to you about the grip and the stroke.
Most good players grip the cue at the back of their cue with three fingers.
They add the two at the back, okay, very lightly.
Your tension is in these three fingers.
So it gives free movement to your wrist so that the stroke can flow smoothly.
Now when you're stroking, your arm is supposed to swing back and forth like a pendulum, straight
back and straight forward.
And make sure the cue stick goes through the cue ball as you're stroking, as cue track
will show you.
The stroke is very important so that the cue ball can go through the object ball with a
good amount of speed.
Watch the cue tip go through the cue ball.
I even hit the cue ball twice that time.
That means I had a very good follow through, but you're not supposed to hit it twice.
One more time.
The back of the cue, three fingers.
Don't grip it too tight because if you grip it too tight, you're going to be too stiff.
Get down, stroke it like a pendulum, straight back and forward.
Remember, cue track will show you this.
And watch how straight the cue tip went towards the cue ball.
This is how to get a true firm stroke as cue track will show you a little bit later on
in the video.
Okay, I'm going to talk to you a little bit today about the equipment that we use on the
tour.
But of course, everybody knows about the chalk.
Well, there's a lot of different ways you can chalk the cue, but really what you want
to do is you just want to rub it a little bit lightly across the tip, turn your cue
a little, and you want to get it on the sides of the tip.
You don't want to go like this or you don't want to go off to the side because that's
just not going to make the chalk stay on the tip and it's going to mess the chalk up.
And then I was going to talk a little bit about my cue.
Now this cue has a little bit of rosewood, has ivory, so steel joint.
A lot of players play with a steel joint that you don't see in the pool rooms that you go
to back home.
Okay, and then the tip itself, you know, it could be made of leather, rawhide.
And then the ferrule, I have an ivory ferrule in my cue.
So that's why I don't break with my cue.
I have my own break cue because the ferrule will crack itself.
So that's more or less the cues.
So if you go to try to pick out a cue in your own pool room and you roll it across the table,
you can see how this cue here is very warped, you know, it doesn't roll straight, whereas
you can see my cue, it rolls really straight.
Well, that's a little bit about the equipment.
It'll help you pick your cues out, how to chalk your cue, you know, it'll help you play
a lot better.
You might say, what is all this stuff that I have on the table?
This is high tech.
This is what we call the most advanced shooting system in the world.
We have a cue, very fancy, very ornate, a lot of ivory, a lot of maple, bird's eye maple,
stainless steel.
And you might say, well, what do we have two cues for?
This is a break cue.
When we play nine ball, in order not to ruin the tip that we have, we bring a break cue.
This break cue can serve as a regular cue.
It can serve as a break cue or even more high tech, it can serve as a jump cue.
We break it down into parts.
Some people only use the shaft to jump a ball.
When we get snookered behind another object ball and we want to hit the one or we want
to hit the two, we use this small cue.
As you could tell, it's about three quarters the size of the original.
Something new.
A new bridge.
You might say, well, it looks like a piece of pipe to me, but it's not.
This is a bridge that I call the stretch.
I especially like to use it because it can reach almost any portion of the table.
Now, suppose your cue is not long enough.
Let's take another part of the stretch.
We attach the cue extender to the back of the cue.
Place it in and you can use it the same way.
Ten foot cue, ten foot bridge.
You can reach any shot on the table.
You can jump balls.
You can break balls and you still have your own cue.
This is what we call high tech.
Try it.
You'll like it.
Everybody has a lot of trouble with aiming, so I'm going to try to help you today with
aiming.
It's a big thing to aim straight through the cue ball onto the object ball.
I'm going to start today with a break.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to just draw an imaginary line from the cue ball to
the one ball right there in the center of the one ball.
Then I'm going to try to make my cue stick go all the way through the imaginary line
to the one ball.
That's the way you start.
Now, I'm going to help you with your straight shots.
Everybody has a lot of problems with the straight shots.
If you can do what I help you with today, you'll be very consistent.
What you want to do, you want to draw a straight line from the cue tip to the cue ball to the
nine ball into the pocket and stroke right on that line.
A lot of people have problems with their long shots, and I'm going to help you with that
now.
What you want to do, you want to basically do the same thing I've been talking about
with the break.
You draw a line from the cue ball to the object ball into the pocket.
What I help you do this is aim it with your cue stick.
You really need to take your time with this.
Into the pocket, get down, really keep your head down.
Draw the line, and you want to use the cue stick to go all the way on the line to the
object ball.
Keep your head down, and that's how you make your long shots.
The
first shot I'm going to cover is the stop shot.
All that really is is a transfer of weight.
I'm going to shoot the cue ball with center English, or just below center.
The cue ball actually slides across the table, it doesn't roll, slides across the table,
takes the place of the two, and the cue ball should stay right in its tracks.
Another shot to use for position would be the follow.
The follow is probably the most natural thing that your cue ball can do.
Because it's natural for the ball to roll forward, obviously.
After hitting the three ball, we're going to find our imaginary line, pocket the three
ball, and how we're going to concentrate on the cue ball is to hit as high up on the cue
ball as you can, with a nice follow through, with a nice smooth stroke.
Just by using those two, you should be able to get pretty much anywhere on the table you
want.
And now I'm going to talk a little bit about the draw shot.
It's one of the most difficult shots in pool.
The reason people have a lot of trouble with this shot is because they elevate their cue
and try to hit it low like that, or they hit it too low and they scoop up under the cue
ball.
Well, all you really have to do is get level with the cue, level on the table, okay, straight
through the ball, and you really don't have to hit it too hard, okay?
A lot of people have problems.
They think, you know, they want to hit the ball real hard to get it to draw back.
You really don't have to do that.
It's just a real smooth stroke.
Now, you get it to come back farther, and you stroke it a little bit harder.
Okay, now to come on back with the shot, you just really stay low, hit it a little bit
lower.
Okay, and this time I'm going to use the 10 ball to shoot instead of the cue ball.
The reason I'm going to do this, I'm going to make it come all the way back to the other
end of the table, and now you can see the rotation on the 10 ball as it comes back.
Stay low.
You have to have a lot of confidence in your stroke to really be able to shoot this shot,
and that's how you make the draw shots.
Now I'm going to show you about the cut shots.
Instead of doing it on the table, I'm going to take you to the chalkboard.
So what you want to do, you want to basically do what I've been showing you.
You want to draw a line from the pocket to the full ball, you put your tip behind it,
and you come behind and draw a line from the cue ball to that spot.
You want to hit as close to the spot as you can.
Now I'm going to show you how to do it on the table.
Do the same thing, put your tip behind the full ball to the pocket, come behind, look
at it, draw a line from the cue ball to that spot.
You want to stroke straight on that line.
Put your head down and stroke straight, and that's how you make the cut shots.
And now I'm going to show you about bank shots.
This is a difficult part for me and a lot of the other pros in the game of nine ball.
So basically what you want to do is exactly what I was showing you before, except now
you want to draw a line from the rail to this pocket in an angle, and then you want to shoot
right at that line with the nine ball and then the cue ball behind it.
So now I'm going to come over here and show you on the table.
You draw a line from the rail to the pocket at the angle, and you want to hit straight
on that line.
And always remember, keep your head down and stroke straight through the shot.
That's how you make the bank shots.
Johnny spoke to you before about aiming.
Now when you use English on the cue ball, you have to compensate.
You have to judge.
You have to be your own judge.
I'm going to hit the cue ball, hit the left side of the three ball, and spin it in the
hole.
Watch what happens to the cue ball.
It's going to go to the bottom rail and spin off to the left.
That's using left-hand English.
Very simple shot.
Now right-hand English.
With all of these shots, you can position the cue ball any place you want on the table.
This time I've substituted the cue ball for the 11 ball, just to show you the spin.
After the 11 ball hits the cushion, it's going to spin to the right and come back down towards
me and the white ball will spin in the hole.
You don't want to make the white ball because that's a scratch.
But this time we're improvising.
Now that's right-hand English.
The little tips, the high, the low, the draw, the follow, will teach you how to play better
pool.
In this video, if you watch it further, you'll learn the best.
You'll learn how to play position.
Three of the most popular games played on the pool table today are 14-1 or straight
pool, eight ball, which is mainly played in the bars and homes, and what we're going to
play here today is nine ball.
Show you how to rack them.
The one goes on top.
Only two balls goes behind the one, the nine ball in the middle, and just follow with all
the rest.
Now, I'm looking for an opponent.
Who else can I pick on but the number one, the world's best, the world champion in nine
ball, Johnny Archer.
Come on over here.
Hi, Steve.
Would you like to play a game?
Sure.
Why not?
Okay.
I'll tell you what.
We usually either flip a coin or we lag.
I'm going to spot you the break.
You need it.
Thank you.
Okay.
I have my own playing cue, but whenever I break the balls, I have a break cue.
So, Steve probably has a break cue, too.
Now, I get my playing cue.
Okay.
We're going to explain the game a little bit to you today, how we play in the tournaments.
Okay.
What I'm going to do here, try to pocket the two ball, try to draw the cue ball over to
this side of the rail, so I can pocket the three in the same pocket.
Now what I want to do, I'm going to pocket the three in the same pocket, put a little
left hand spin and spin over to this, anywhere in this area here, so I can pocket the four
in the corner up by the eight.
Okay.
Now, you can see I come up a little bit shorter and I want to be more over here.
So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to try to pocket the four in the corner and pull
the cue ball anywhere in this area up here for the five over here.
What I'm going to do here is I'm going to try to bank the five ball into the side pocket
and make the cue ball just go forward, maybe a foot, foot and a half for the seven in that
pocket.
This should be the game winning shot if I can make this shot.
This is what happens in nine ball though, usually the first guy to get the first shot
usually wins the game 90% of the time.
So, now I'm going to pocket the seven in that corner, I'm going to try to aim and come out
two rails around the eight and pocket the eight in the right hand corner.
Okay, now I'm going to pocket the eight in the right hand corner, come out two rails
and pocket the nine in the same corner I shot the seven in, a little bit of left hand bottom
English.
I'm not having any fun at this.
This is the, everybody knows you don't need to miss this one because this is the game
winning shot, nine ball in the left corner.
You know this is the game that men and women play on the professional tour, but sometimes
we don't get a chance, it's quick, it's fast, it's made for television.
I wish I could shoot once in a while, winner breaks, go ahead.
Okay, nine in the side for the win.
But we play rates to nine.
If he's on the break, you want to hit the ball a little bit below center, but you want
to hit the one ball as straight on as you can, that's the real key to control your cue
ball.
You don't really have to hit them as hard as you want.
This is getting frustrating, I'll tell you.
Okay, that's whenever you win the game in the tournaments, you make the nine ball anytime
you hit the legal shot.
That's three Steve.
I know how many it is, I can count, a little below center, solid on the one ball.
Now what are you going to do big boy?
You can see I do not have a clear pocket to pocket the one, so I have a couple options.
I can play safe, if I really want to be aggressive, I can try to kick the one in.
That is coming to this rail, hitting the one, hitting the cue ball about right here on the
rail and it could pocket the one.
So that's what I'm going to do is I'm going to try to kick the one because the safe shot
is about as tough as the shot.
So that's usually the offensive shot if you have a real tough save.
Now I'm going to pocket the three, three in the corner and I'm going to try to draw the
cue ball out, shoot the five in the other corner.
Now I'm going to shoot the five in the right corner, try to play the six in this side.
The main thing in nine ball is all the angles.
So if you stay on the right side of the next shot to get to your next ball, it makes the
game so much easier because I can make the six ball from anywhere just about into here
but if I have the wrong angle, it makes it tough to get back to the seven.
So I want to stay on this side of the six so the cue ball will go that way.
I still have a couple of options, I can go forward to that rail and back out or I can
just draw the cue ball straight down into here for the seven.
The main thing is I don't want to get straight in on the seven because you can only go forward
or backwards when you get straight in.
John, let me ask you a question myself from my own personal knowledge.
How many shots do you think in advance?
I try to think three shots in advance.
What I'm actually thinking of is the eight ball from here.
I want to make sure I get the angle on the seven to where I can get to the eight.
Usually the trouble ball is maybe I think more ahead.
I'm confused already.
You see I want to keep the angle on the seven where I don't have to draw the cue ball.
I want to follow the cue ball out two rails and I want to go toward the eight with the
cue ball.
I'm going to just draw the cue ball straight out now, straight backwards.
I'm going to take a little bit of a tough shot on the nine, but as you can see sometimes
you can only work with the shot that you have.
Nine ball in the same spot through the C8.
That's nine ball.
In the tournaments the games really go by fast.
The top players, they keep the momentum.
They try to keep it going in their favor for as long as they can.
That's four Steve.
I can tell it's going by fast.
We usually expect a rack during the tournaments.
Usually we just want the one ball froze and all the balls froze.
That's usually what you expect about the rack.
I have a couple options here.
I can shoot the eight, spin on this side of the nine and shoot the nine in that corner.
I can spin back toward this way and shoot the nine in the other corner.
I'm going to like to spin back toward that way because that's going to be a little bit
easier shot to keep the cue ball in control.
Now nine ball in the corner.
Johnny, I'm tired of racking.
I concede the game's over.
You're the best.
Thank you Steve.
Thank you.
Eight ball is probably the most popular game as far as amateur pool today.
The main thing about eight ball to start out is the balls are racked in a triangle.
To start out to break, you would put the one ball on the spot, the eight ball in the center
and try to mix up the remaining balls, stripes and solids.
Since the idea of the game is to pocket one player has the solids, the opposite player
has the stripes.
The eight ball is the only ball you get a point for and that's pocketed last.
There's a game of a lot of strategy, a lot of excitement and we're going to try to demonstrate
a couple of games for you.
Steve, you ready?
I figured I'd give Steve a break and give him the opening break.
Thank you.
Unlike in nine ball, you have to break hitting the front ball.
In eight ball, we don't break hitting the front ball, we break hitting the side ball.
It gives more reaction on the eight ball and there are varied numbers of rules you can
play here, various rules.
In this match here, we're going to play my rules and …
You're going to tell them to me as we go along?
As we go along.
How did I know?
I made a solid.
That means I have to make the balls one through seven and I do have a shot on the one and
all my balls are open and I could possibly run the game here if I get lucky.
I'm going to try to make the one.
Spin the cue ball two rails and come down into this portion of the table right here
for the two or the four.
I'm going to clear the seven.
I'm going to shoot the three ball in the upper corner, bump the 13 a little bit and
make the seven going here possibly for the next shot.
Looks like it's a clear opening.
We shoot the seven, the five, the four in this corner.
The cue ball come back up here to shoot the eight in this side.
The whole key here is to get high enough to be able to shoot the eight in the side because
the eight ball doesn't go in this corner.
So if I stop here, I'm dead.
Right here is a crucial time.
If you miss or screw up on position, you're dead because all your balls are off the table.
The only balls left are the opponent's and he has a clear shot.
Okay, a little bit tough, but I got down far enough where I can back cut the eight ball
into this side.
You always have to call your pocket you're shooting it in because if you make the eight
ball in the wrong pocket, you lose the game, eight ball in the side pocket.
In any game that we play, the break is the whole key.
If you make a ball on the break, you could possibly win, but if you don't make a ball
on the break and your opponent has a table such as this, you're very well going to lose
the game.
Eight ball in the corner pocket.
Remember, you always have to call the pocket you're going to shoot the eight in.
This is a rack where strategy and safety will come into play.
I made a strike, therefore I have strike balls.
I have six left on the table and they're all cluttered.
My object here is to keep her balls tied up with mine and let her do all the work.
Leave this 12 here so that it can block the five from going in here.
Here I have a perfect key ball to break up these balls with the one ball.
One ball is right by the side and most of the problems are down here.
Now I'm going to pocket the two ball in the side over here, trying to find a good angle
to have on the one ball or even the six to where I can come down here and get the five
and the three ball out of trouble.
It came a little short.
I'm going to go ahead and shoot the one ball, try to float the cue ball into these balls
and knock some balls out.
The main thing is I'm going to do that with these two balls because I don't want to leave
myself snookered in this mess down here.
I want to be able to have an open shot of possibly the six ball or the four ball.
These balls are pretty much open.
That's something else to keep in mind when you're playing is to realize and take a look
at where your opponent's balls are at if they have an easy or difficult run out.
I can play a safe also by just shimmying 13 up towards the hole.
If it goes in, fine.
If it doesn't go in, it really doesn't matter because I have a safe right here.
Eight ball in the corner.
We are all top pros and we can do this and situations can be reversed.
On any given day, any one of the top pros can beat any one person there is, so don't
think that I play a lot better than she does or Johnny plays a lot better than I do.
It's a given day who's hot that day is going to win.
Unlike eight ball and nine ball, it is a disadvantage to break playing straight pool.
You have to be careful when you're playing straight pool.
You rack them up and you have to make sure that the two end balls or all the end balls
are frozen.
It is the most important part of the break playing straight pool.
Take the white ball, position it as close to the black line as possible and hit the
edge of the one.
Make the cue ball go two cushions here, here, over to this side and back here and make the
five go to this rail, the one go to that rail and hopefully you will not leave your opponent
another shot.
That is what we call a perfect break and straight pool.
There are no balls in the open.
My opponent can't make a ball and he has to play it safe because he has no shot.
But if he does have a shot, he's able to shoot any ball in as long as you call it, it's still
good and proceed to run the table like this.
Now this is the most important part.
I've cleaned off all the rest.
We have five left and you have to pick your pattern in order to get on your break ball.
They call it 14-1.
You run off 14, leave one so that you can break up the stack.
It's the only game you can play without getting a shot.
Five in the corner, four ball in this corner.
Seven in the same corner, 12 in the side and eight in the side.
As you can tell, I have a very simple shot.
I can make the six and go into the rack, break them open all over again and do this for a
long time.
This is how you play straight pool.
The trick shot I'm going to do today is called the Evo Knievel shot.
As you can see, the cue ball won't pass through the five and three so it won't pass through
the rest of the balls.
What I'm going to do, I'm going to use my short cue and I'm going to jump the cue ball
over all these balls like the motorcycle goes over all the cars and pocket the nine ball.
What I'm going to do now is explain a mass eight shot.
This shot comes into the tournaments in our nine ball a lot.
As you can see, I need to hit the one ball to make the nine.
In order to do that, I can't go to a rail to kick at it, so I'm going to use a mass
eight.
I'm going to use the cue ball to come up here and come back down and make a legal hit.
These are the shots you really don't want to try at home.
I'm going to use the cue ball to come up here and come back down and make a legal hit.
Just a few simple trick shots to a major friend.
Take two balls in your hand, the cue ball and an object ball.
Place them along the rail.
Take the 15 in the corner, a very simple shot.
Now take two balls in each, one solid, one strike.
Place them along the rail.
Instead of making the 14, make the six.
Some of you might be wondering how to do that.
Take the tip of your cue, place it on the cue ball and push through, very, very simple.
Now, we set the balls up in a similar fashion and instead of playing it in this pocket,
play it all the way back over in this pocket right here.
Throw the ball back.
We're going to shoot the two straight up the rail and make it go in this side pocket.
Two ball in the side.
Watch the two.
Okay, last two shots, stripes and solids.
Two stripes in my hand, one solid, which is the eight.
We place all three right along the rail, just like this.
We put the cue ball behind all three and for this shot, I'm going to try to make the 15
and the nine go in this pocket right here without making the eight.
Watch the 15 and nine and watch the eight.
Now this shot is a shot you usually shoot in rotation.
One ball in this pocket right here, the cue ball behind the two and the three and the
five and the 12 and the nine and the six.
Now as you can see, the cue ball has no escape and we have to hit the lowest numbered ball
on the table first, which is the one ball.
How do you do that?
What you do is you shoot in the opposite direction.
Shoot into the rail, make it hit this rail, hop over these balls, come over here and make
the one ball.
That's what happens.
Good shot!
.
What I'm going to do is utilize both the jump shot and the power draw.
Have the cue ball jump up, pocket the one ball and the three ball in the corner pocket
before the rack comes down and draw on the cue ball as well. Have it come back here and
make the five ball in the corner pocket.
This is the Wins Benning Alex Cousineau Shot. Balls flying everywhere, every pocket. One
that's even flying high.
Hey, we finished the tape but there are a few more things I think we should
tell the general public out there on the aspect of playing pool. What about practice? How do
you practice?
Well, I try to practice with a person, try to play like a match, race to thirteen, race
to eleven. I usually have my wife there to kind of watch me to make sure I'm keeping
the pace.
Do you play her?
No, she's more or less just watching out, watching me to see if I keep my head down
or, you know, if my eyes are moving or something. She's watching to kind of be in the corner.
Nikki, my daughter, usually.
She's eight years old.
Yeah, no.
See, you can play pool when you're eight years old.
It's true, it's true. I play with her all the time in the basement, sure.
You can play from eight to a hundred and eight.
I know, that's one of the greatest parts about the game. You know, as far as practice, like
Johnny said, a lot of it is sparring. You find somebody that plays about your speed
or if you're lucky you find somebody who plays a little bit better. And just sort of pretend
you're in a match.
For me, practice is like work, okay? Because once the bell rings and you get in a match,
all the practicing doesn't do you any good.
True.
An old straight pool player by the name of Arnolfio Lari told me, he said, practice for
two acts and then go into the match. Don't get tired. But how about playing a guy like
Buddy Hall? Do you have to do anything special or think of anything special when you play
him?
I have to, I have to keep my mind, you know, clear of what's going on at the table. You
know, because if I start wondering my mind, he'll just run over me.
Who's your toughest opponent?
I wish there was just one of them. All the top players now, Lord John Jones, Robin Bell,
Vivian Villarreal, Marriott Guarino.
And when you play, do you watch the crowd? Does the crowd bother you? You know, I don't
see a camera right next to a putt on the green, but I see a camera right next to a pocket
right in front of me.
Well, I think if you're sitting in the chair or you're shooting a shot and you realize
that the camera is there or that the audience is there, that's a sign that you're not concentrating
the way you should. The key is to completely block out everything at the table.
Sometimes it's tough when you're losing the match. It's tough, but when you're winning
a match.
Exactly right.
Tell you what, sometimes when you're even winning, you sort of feel your mind drifting.
You know, you feel like you're completely in the match and all of a sudden you go blank
and you start getting nervous and everything because you start realizing where you are.
You start losing your concentration.
Good question to ask. What do you think about when you're sitting down in the chair? I know
I think about when the guy is going to miss. What do you think about?
Well, main thing I think about, I think about just trying to get up and pray and then I
get a shot.
Yeah, I try to avoid both those things. I try to just sit and watch and sort of pretend
that I'm already up there. In other words, if they do miss, when I get up to the table,
I feel familiar with it already and I also don't waste a bunch of energy sitting there.
I miss, miss, miss, miss.
When I'm playing in a very, very tough match and say I'm playing a guy like Johnny, I'm
wishing that the ceiling cave in when he shoots. You know what I mean? Anything, anything for
me to get back at the table. I hope he breaks his leg, I hope he breaks his fingers, anything.
I want to get at that table because I know when I'm at that table, he can't win.
What I usually do is I usually just, I mean, I usually wonder whenever I'm sitting down,
I usually try not to even think about the table and not think about the game because
I want to, when I get ready to shoot, that's when I, that's when I want to concentrate
because if I use up my concentration while I'm sitting down in the chair, then I feel
like I'm just wasted.
Well, I think at our level too, concentration is about 75% of the match once you get into
an actual tournament match. Being seasoned enough not to where the crowd bothers you
or a TV camera, and stuff like that's around by playing. I mean, you start out in playing
in local tournaments, get used to 10, 20 people watching all the way up to, you know, a third
of the country watching you on TV. So I think that's the key is to just remember when to
get seasoned, watch, watch what we do, okay? Watch this video, the three of us, what we
have said to the general public out there, watch the video, plus cue track, it'll help
you play better.
Do you use the bridge a lot?
I try not to because I don't, I don't really know a real great way to use it. I don't use
it correctly.
Do you choke? Do you, do you get the old Adam's apple on the bridge?
Never, never happened.
Well, you're one in a million. I mean, everybody chokes.
Everybody does, that's true. I mean, that's part of being a professional player playing
in tournaments and you need to get seasoned and playing a lot of events to where you can
get overcoming.
When we talk about choking, we're basically saying missing an easy shot.
Missing a shot, especially under pressure when the score is eight to eight and you have
a straight long straight in nine ball and you feel like.
Or 149 to 149 a straight ball and you have to sink that one ball.
It's all in your concentration.
But remember, uh, when a pro comes to your town, go watch him play, go see what he does.
Come home, watch the video.
Very important and practice.