I don't just shoot pool...

I shoot other things too.

Photography has been a life-long hobby for me, dating way back to my early years - long before I picked up a pool cue.

Some of my shooting involves lead and ear protection and well, but we'll write about that another day... today is about photography.

My first camera was a Kodak Brownie Holiday. And no, I'm not that old, this particular model was discontinued before I was born. Like many things back then, that camera was a hand-me-down... and it was pretty sturdy so it held up to the abuse that it invariably received from me being a young kid.

I had two jobs growing up - a paper route for the Sacramento Bee, and an after-school job at a local drug store doing odd things like receiving and pricing products, stocking shelves, and so on. I remember saving money for quite awhile for a better camera (along with a flash and additional lens or two) as well as my dad driving me all the way down to San Francisco (about a four or five hour drive) to buy my first 35mm SLR, a Minolta XD-5. Definitely money well spent.

That camera was a huge leap forward for me and really helped kick things off in my hobby. I was on the high school yearbook staff and took (and developed, using the school's darkroom) numerous pictures around campus. I took sports pictures that were published in the local newspaper. My classmates voted me "most likely to become a Playboy photographer" senior year. I didn't become one (yet?), but I have done a good bit of model photography and have always felt some form of photography is something I could "fall back on" someday.

I also dabbled in other interesting areas during high school: holography, and high speed photography. I successfully built apparatuses (apparati?) for physics projects to experiment in both of these areas. To this date, my mom has a picture on her wall that I took of a shattering light bulb, frozen in time after being hit with a hammer. Harold Edgerton was one of my heroes back then, and it felt great to be able to pull off something on par with his work!

WTF does this have to do with pool, you say? Well, I'm still taking pictures these days... and pool happens to be one of the many subjects I enjoy shooting.

I've had people tell me that "all pool shots look pretty much the same" but I wholeheartedly disagree. Besides the variations in stances, bridges, etc. there is a ton of emotion in the game (duh?) and that's always something I try to capture when I can. Darren Appleton is fun to shoot for example because of all the crazy faces he makes while he's deep in thought. They're sometimes a challenge to catch... they're often fleeting glimpses, and you need to be zoomed in well enough to catch the expressions. You obviously can't use flash and the lighting often isn't very good when they're standing up away from the table lights.

I also take the opportunity to study good form. This shot of Hunter Lombardo is an example of good stance and alignment. His left forearm is dead spot-on vertical as it should be (and so is his thumb, actually). It looks like he's gripping fairly tightly which is a little surprising - but it probably isn't as tight as it looks, and I don't know where exactly he is in his shot routine either. He's got a fairly level stick, and is down about as far as he can get (heck, it actually looks like he's worn a groove in his chin).

PBIA Master Instructor Tom Simpson used Hunter as an example of someone with good mechanics, and I can definitely see why! Tom also made a point of saying that you don't necessarily have to be a "chin dragger" like Hunter to get good results. There are pros and cons for being down so low as well as being up a bit higher, and being so low isn't ideal for everyone.

While watching the match between Darren and Hunter (US Open 10-ball), my mind wandered back to my "junior Harold Edgerton" days and I decided to take a stab at shooting some break shots. The lighting was good (they were on the TV table) so I was able to use a reasonable shutter speed to capture the action. Back in the day, Harold (and I) used a triggered strobe light in a dark room for the exposure because, with the right equipment, the flash of light was far quicker than virtually any mechanical shutter could be. The goal with those shots was to completely freeze something that was happening in a split second (like a light bulb exploding). Again, I couldn't use a flash, but in this case I wanted to see some motion!

As luck would have it, my very first attempt turned out to be one of my favorite shots! Check it out - the cue ball hasn't hit the rack yet, but the blurred image of it is actually overlapping the 1-ball. Hunter broke from the right side of what would be "the box" if they had a box (they didn't) so the cue ball was coming from that side of the table. If it's not in contact with the 1-ball, it's damn close.

It didn't take long for the engineer in me to realize that I could theoretically measure the speed of the break shot... based on knowing the diameter of the cue ball, length of blur, and shutter speed. I'm not sure how calibrated the shutter speed is on my camera, but it was supposedly 1/50th of a second for this shot. Using that, I came up with something in the neighborhood of 18 mph, which I think is a reasonable number - not blistering fast, but respectable for a well controlled break like Hunter was doing.

If you try to run the figures yourself, remember you should be measuring the distance from the center of the cue ball at the beginning of the blur to the center of the cue ball at the end of the blur because you're trying to figure out how far it traveled in 1/50th of a second. Or measure the entire blur and subtract out one cue ball diameter. Measuring the entire blur would be incorrect.

The second shot I have here is slightly after impact, showing the relative energy imparted on all the balls. The cue ball and 1-ball are in the air, the 2-ball and 3-ball have the most energy and are quickly speeding away (they were on the corners per a proper 10-ball rack). The 4-ball and 9-balls were between the 2&3 and also have a lot of energy, although not as much as the 2&3. Note that this was not the same break as above, so some of the initial ball positions were different. I believe this one was an Appleton break. If I remember right, Darren usually broke from nearly the same spot that Hunter used.

Spot on the Wall... for the Win

Yesterday I was in a 10-ball tournament, a monthly "tour" tournament hosted by the local Vegas Billiards Buzz. I drew a very solid competitor in the first round, the winner of the previous month's tour event, so I knew I'd have my hands full. In one of the early games of the match he didn't have a very good shot on the 8-ball so he banked the 8 around the 9, freezing the cue ball to the back of the 9-ball. A damn nice lock-up safety, leaving me with the approximate layout shown:

Obviously no direct shot at the 8-ball. The 10-ball took away the natural one-rail kick and even minor variations that might have been available with English (and of course being frozen to the 9-ball complicates the whole English proposition in the first place). I considered a two-rail kick off the head rail, but awkwardly bridging over the frozen 9-ball? Ummm... no. I considered a two-rail kick just past the 10-ball, but I wasn't crazy about that option because it was one of those just get a good hit and hope for the best options... and my opponent was very capable of running the remaining three balls unless I got really lucky with the final positions after the shot. The natural angle for that two-railer was flirting with the point of the corner pocket as well.

I didn't see any reasonable options for tying up balls with an intentional foul.

WTF.

I did NOT want to give this one up without a fight.

At some point I noticed that even though the 8-ball was a fair distance from the corner pocket, it was either on or near the natural three-rail kick line... so I started to consider a three-rail kick. Like many people, I've played with three-rail kicks from time-to-time, so I had a reasonable feel for them - especially on tables like the Diamond bar-box I was playing on. I don't recall ever trying one from this shallow of an angle before, though.

Enter the "spot on the wall" or "distant point" method. I have no idea who first came up with this, but it's been discussed by numerous people including Dr. Dave Alciatore, Bob Jewett, Robert Byrne, and others. One of Dr. Dave's write ups on the technique can be found here.

I've only casually experimented with the technique, but I knew this was a golden opportunity to try it out for real. I called the 8-ball in the corner (due to the handicap against this opponent, the called 8 was a money ball for me). I picked a line that I felt was a good "known" three-rail line for me... looked up to find a spot on the line (the edge of a chair back on an empty ball stool by the bar). I side-stepped over to lock in on the line-of-aim through the center of the cue ball, approached the table and got into my stance on that line. I stroked through the cue ball with slight running English and watched as it came around three rails to hit the 8-ball perfectly, dropping it near center-pocket below me. For the win. Booyah!

As you might imagine, this generated quite a buzz from the bystanders... I was able to pull out isolated comments like "wow, did you just see that?" One person I didn't know even came up to me after the end of the match (several racks later) to tell me it was the best shot he's seen in a long time.

It always feels good to hear comments like that of course, and I suppose that's why some people watch pool - to catch the occasional thriller; somewhat like watching hours of cars going around a track waiting for an occasional exciting wreck.

English as a Lifestyle

OK, I seem to be continuing this trend of getting fewer posts up than in the past, but I'm sure it's just a phase I'm going through - LOL.

Truth be told, I've been extremely busy and playing pool nearly every night of the week lately. It's been a good run - but during this burst of activity, other parts of my life have fallen behind a bit. I haven't been able to concentrate on focused practice and drills. I haven't been to the gym in who knows how long. Normal around-the-house 'stuff' is falling behind a bit. My kids don't recognize me anymore (unless they want money or food).

And so it goes in the life of a Pool Hall Junkie!

Truth be told, I've enjoyed this burst of activity, and I think it's done my game some good. I don't begrudge any of it, and I don't feel like I've 'lost control' or burnt myself out. In some ways, it reminds me of the Fartlek training I did back in my high school years (hey, I didn't name it, only did it... and no beans were harmed).

I picked up some new experiences, played in new leagues, and met new people. All good things for my game!

Starting next month, I've decided to consolidate my league play a bit to free up some nights for other things like deep practice (The Talent Code) to focus on improving specific areas of my game. I've identified several areas that need attention, and put together a plan that should address them quite nicely. I'll be discussing the elements of my plan in future posts over the next couple of months.

Back to my recent burst of pool hall activity - one of the "new" things I did was join a 10-ball league. I've played in a couple 10-ball tournaments before, so it's not a completely new game to me... but this is the first time I've played it in a league setting. I've noticed that 10-ball has improved my overall game a bit. The called-shot format has forced a bit more discipline upon me... especially since you can only call one ball and one pocket. While playing 9-ball, I occasionally take shots that involve two or more balls through caroms or billiards. Often, I'd take such shots knowing the odds were good that I'd sink one or the other, or maybe both and any of the possible outcomes were fine as long as I made a legal hit and pocketed a ball. When you have to call one and only one ball/pocket, you're forced to look at the shot more critically.

The break is a little different in 10-ball too, but I'm happy to report that I've done a pretty good job of sinking balls on the break more often than not.

There are only two weeks left in the season, and it's been a great experience. I really like my teammates, and it's given me exposure to players I've never played before as well.

One such player I played last week. I had to spot him a game on the wire, so he's somewhat less average on the average hack scale than I am.

Um... have you ever picked up on something with an opponent that made you simultaneously cock your head to the side in WTF-type amazement, try to keep a straight face, and get eye contact with teammates to see their reactions? Of course you have! Well, at least some of you have.

This opponent seemed to be seriously enamored with English. Overly enamored. Terribly, dreadfully enamored.

Prior to most shots he'd stand upright, studying the shot... then say something like "1.5 right" to himself... get down on the shot and shoot it. I must say I usually ignore what people are saying to themselves at the table, and so it took me a little bit to pick up on this... but once I did, I found myself being drawn in with serious jaw-dropping WTFifness!

He was using English on just about every shot. Worse, it became apparent that wasn't just using English for position on the next shot. After missing a not-too-difficult bank into the side pocket, for example, he made a remark to his teammates along the lines of "I didn't get enough English on that one, I needed one and three-quarters tips of right and just couldn't get it."

And his teammates nodded silently.

WTF?

That shot in particular could have been made with a center ball hit... or pretty much anything in the vertical plane (draw/follow) and/or varying degrees of right or left English. Sure... some choices may have led to a scratch, but he wasn't explaining away a scratch... he was explaining away a miss! Bizarre. And even more bizarre that one of his better teammates didn't point that out to him at some point (he does have a couple of really good players on his team).

Numerous other thoughts came to mind: how was he "calculating" the needed amount of English for the shot in the first place? Was this method calibrated for his tip? His cue? The cue ball? His stroke? Was he even remotely aware of the numerous factors that affected the applied spin on the cue ball?

Anyway, it was entertaining.

Sure, there are differing opinions on the use of English, but personally I try to follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) as much as possible. I cue in the vertical plane of the cue ball whenever possible, and try to set up for natural position if I can. Of course that's not always possible. Yes, I use English here and there to get better position on the next shot. On occasion, I screw that up pretty badly which brings me back to Earth!**

The use of English for the sole purpose of sinking an object ball (via spin-induced throw or cue ball to object ball spin transfer) should be a very rare thing, in my opinion.

The bottom line is English introduces all sorts of additional variables into your game that can affect aim: throw, deflection, swerve, and squirt to name a few. Worse, some of these effects vary due to other factors such as ball cleanliness and so on... which introduces even more inconsistencies into your game as you travel from venue to venue!

** Ironically, I screwed up shape badly on the final 10-ball of this match with overzealous use of English... but managed to recover, thank goodness.