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Massey's Bag of Tricks-The Jerry Orbach 3 Ball Shot the Hard Way
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 04:20 PM EST

Massey's Bag of Tricks

The Jerry Orbach Shot the Hard Way

By Mike Massey

"The Jerry Orbach 3 Ball Shot the Hard Way" is a long name for a trick shot, so I must explain why I named it that.

I've been very fortunate to be involved with some fundraisers with Mr. Orbach, and o­nce he told me about doing a TV program with the late Minnesota Fats. Here's the way the story goes: Jerry and Fats were both guests o­n this popular TV show around 25-30 years ago where they played a game of 8-ball. Jerry beat Fats, and then he played a trick shot similar to the o­ne I have diagrammed, except that the 3 ball was placed near Pocket "X."  Jerry made the shot o­n his first attempt, and afterward, he told a friend about the program and how he beat Fats and made the trick shot.

Later that same night, his friend was watching the same program o­n TV. Everyone but Jerry's friend thought that the program was live. Jerry's friend bet someone that Jerry would beat Fats, and then he gave the guy a chance to get even by betting him that Jerry would make the trick shot o­n his first try.

The new version that I have come up with is a little more difficult, but with some practice and the right equipment, you don't have to be a top player to make it. Set the 1 and 2 balls up as diagrammed.  The 2 ball is frozen to the cushion and is about o­ne-half inch from the point of the side pocket. Place the 3 ball in the jaws of Pocket "Z."

Place a straight house cue against the rail with the butt stuck into the corner of Pocket "X." You might have to place a piece of chalk as diagrammed so the cue ball won't catch the point of Pocket "Y" as it rolls down table to pocket the 3 ball. Place the cue ball as diagrammed, about 2 1/2 balls' width from the cushion. To make the shot, you must shoot hard with lots of left-hand english o­n the cue ball. You want the cue ball to hit as close to Pocket "Z" as possible so it will go long enough to hit the short rail as diagrammed. This is not a real difficult shot unless the rails are dead or the bed cloth is really slow.

When executed properly, the 2 ball will bank cross-side, hitting the cue and jumping into Pocket "Y." The 1 ball will go straight into Pocket "W," and the cue ball will go around the table four cushions into the butt of the cue stick and hug the rail to go up table and pocket the 3 ball. 

Good Luck!

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest pool trick shots from the newest memeber of the BCA Hall of Fame-Mike Massey.

Pro Pool Workout-Controlling the Arena
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 04:07 PM EST

Pro Pool Workout

Controlling the Arena

By Bob Henning

In the last column I talked about controlling the table and how a contest between advanced players is essentially o­ne of who will take control. Since both players know how to control the table, the match is often determined by who can take control first.

In pool, the issue of control begins with being able to control the destination of the object ball. A player has to first learn how to make the shots. o­nce that skill is fundamentally established, however, the issue of control evolves to o­ne of controlling the cue ball. When that ability is essentially mastered, the issue of control moves to controlling the table. o­nce that concept is understood, a player's perception of control moves to an even wider and broader framework. He is able to "see" the contest in terms of who is controlling the playing field. 

This is a tricky thing to see because the playing field, or arena, as it can also be called, includes more than just the players, the table, and the equipment. It also includes the spectators, the tournament director, the bleachers, the television cameras, and everything else that is part of an event. It includes the expectations of the spectators, the fears and hopes of the players, the clash of destinies, and everything else imaginable.

I know this sounds airy-fairy, but there is truth to it. The arena is not simply a collection of people and things. It is a context. It is the context in which the people and the things show up. It is the context in which the contest takes place. If o­ne can affect the fabric of the context, o­ne can control, to some extent, the outcome of the contest. Instead of being just a participant, the controlling player becomes an author of a happening coming into being. Let's look at a couple of examples.

At the Glass City Open, Earl Strickland was in a match with Troy Frank, and most of the spectators were watching that match or o­ne of the other three or four taking place. Frank was at the table, in control, when a spectator got up from the front row and hobbled across the room to the concession stand, got a bag of chips, and hurried back. A few minutes later, Frank took the chair and Strickland came to the table. Instead of shooting, he started ranting about potato chips and greasy hands. "Why don't you go and get yourself some chips?" he directed to Frank. "Why don't we just pass out chips to everyone?"

He continued for a few minutes until every eye in the place was o­n him. Even though most people couldn't make out what he was saying, they were straining to do so. He was pulling the strings like a master puppeteer, like he has successfully done so many times before. The entire arena was responding and reacting to him. He didn't move to take a shot until Frank was laughing, uneasily, in his chair.

It's absurd to believe that Strickland, who has dominated the most mentally tough pool players in the world for almost two decades, is so weak that he could be distracted by a bag of potato chips. Even so, almost everyone has an opinion about his outbursts, and most consider them a character fault. But have you ever noticed that he o­nly acts like that when the other player has control of the match. Have you ever noticed how often he ends up with control of the match after such an incident?

There are other ways to affect the context of the arena, and not all of them are considered negative. In the same event, for instance, every game won by Steve McAninch, the local favorite, was received with wild and enthusiastic applause by a large group of spectators. Their activity turned heads and impacted the unfolding of the event. It continued throughout the tournament as McAninch continued to win match after match. Eventually, he defeated Johnny Archer after a confrontation between the two of them forced tournament director Scott Smith to proclaim a non-talking rule. That, by the way, is another example of controlling the playing field.

There is o­ne other kind of control in pool, and I'll be addressing it in the next column. It's the o­ne where the most value is realized and maybe the o­nly o­ne that really counts in the final evaluation. It's called self-control.

Good luck & good shootin'!

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This is Your Captain Speaking-Starting All Over
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 03:52 PM EST

This is Your Captain Speaking

Starting All Over

By John W. Loftus

Last month I wrote about a shot I made o­n the 8 ball. I got to wondering how many of us miss the 8 ball (or 9 ball) shot when it counts and how to correct it. Even a few of the best players I know have missed straight-in 8 ball shots. I know a shooter who will run down to the 8 ball with ease and then miss that shot almost 30% of the time, depending o­n its difficulty.

Now, it might be possible that we miss the 8 ball as often as we miss any other shot. We merely remember missing it more often. But from my experience, I just don't think so. We have trouble with pressure shots. These are shots that if we make them, we know the game is over, and it might be two or three shots before the 8 ball. But we can't practice these shots, because they arise during an important match.

I think our problem is that o­n pressure shots, we tend to think different thoughts and do different things. That's why we miss them. o­n o­ne extreme, we think to ourselves, "I gotta make this shot. I'd better not miss this o­ne." o­n the other extreme, we ease up and think the game is as good as over before we shoot. We either excessively worry about the shot, or we take it for granted, and consequently we do different things with our routines and our strokes.

The best suggestion I know of to help us o­n pressure shots is to treat them the same as any other shot. This is easier said than done, but o­ne way to help us is to adopt the advice of my wife Gwen. It's this: Start all over. Let me explain.

When we first get a chance at the table after the balls have been broken, what do we do? We survey it. We look for a particular sequence of shots that is the best for our skills. Sometimes this initial surveying will take a while, but after that initial surveying, we tend to do less and less of it after each subsequent shot as we proceed to run out. But think about this. In 8 ball it gets harder and harder to run out with each successive shot, primarily because we have fewer balls o­n the table, and our opponent has obstructing balls we must navigate around. But with each successive shot, we tend to take less time thinking about how we will navigate around the table. We ease up as we go when we should give successive shots more thought.

How can we correct this? Adopt Gwen's advice. Start all over after each shot. Consider it a new game with each successive shot. After all, it's a new table. This won't always require the same thinking time, but sometimes it might. If you do this with each shot, you won't be doing anything differently when you're o­n the pressure shot, and you might even have a better leave o­n that shot than if you had rushed through your shots.

When you're o­n the 8 ball, consider it the start of a new game, not the end. I had a friend who broke a rack and nothing fell in. He looked at it and challenged me with a bet to run out all of my solids, sink the 8 ball, and then run out all of the stripes. It wasn't a hard rack to run, since he busted them up well. But when I was o­n the 8 ball, it was no longer the money ball. When I was o­n it, I was thinking of the shape I needed for my next shot. I treated it as if it were just like any other shot. And I ran the whole rack of balls.

When you are o­n the 8 ball, consider doing the same thing. It's the start of a new game. Get shape o­n another ball and consider how you're going to run out all of those balls too. If it's the o­nly ball left o­n the table, get shape o­n an imaginary ball.

Okay now. Let's begin … again … and again … and again.

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Beat People With a Stick-Makin' the Money Ball
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 - 03:40 PM EST

Beat People With a Stick

Makin' the Money Ball

By Tom Simpson

In most games, there is a moment when we face the game-winning (or game-losing shot)-the "money ball." In 8-ball and 9-ball, obviously it's shooting the 8 or the 9. In straight pool, it's the final point. We've been there a thousand times, and it's not always pretty.

Because sinking this o­ne shot matters so much, and because the ball just sits there waiting for us to decide we're ready, we have opportunities to get ourselves in trouble. We think of the money shot as something different from the other shots, and the pressure begins to rise.

We allow the pressure to influence how we approach the shot, how we feel about it, and how we shoot it. And guess what? We start to see it as a different shot. It doesn't look like it would if it was just a "regular shot." The pressure to make it-and the potential embarrassment if we don't-distract us from the task at hand.  We get tied up with issues of winning and losing, fear of missing an easy shot and looking like we succumbed to the pressure, self-consciousness because we feel the judging gaze of the railbirds. We desperately try to avoid choking-and, of course, that causes us to choke.

This is a huge, multi-faceted problem, o­ne we're all too familiar with. We've all missed game-winning hangers. We all face the money ball challenge-hopefully frequently. Psychotherapy is expensive, takes too long, and will have our opponents poking fun at us (causing even more stress and pressure). So what's left? What practical steps can we take to deal with those pesky money balls?

Here are a few tips:

1. Try not to break rhythm. We tend to shoot best with a particular cadence (a series of counts or beats that coincide with the various stages of our shooting routine). We also shoot with a certain tempo (how quickly or slowly our cadence runs). How everything works together for good timing and good results is our rhythm. It's okay to slow your tempo for pressure shots, but don't change the action sequence of your cadence. In other words, try to shoot the money ball just like any other ball. Play basic, easy position. Don't hesitate, don't give it special consideration, don't do anything different.

2. No speed, no spin. Okay, you've broken your rhythm and the anxiety is mounting. You still have to make the ball. o­n money ball shots, all you have to do is make the shot and not scratch. o­n every shot except the money ball shot, you have to control angle, speed, and spin. This is why the game is difficult. But now, o­n the money ball, all you need to control is cut angle. Put all of your focus o­n cutting the ball, use no unnecessary spin, and shoot at your natural speed. Your natural speed is the speed your body shoots if you're not thinking about speed-the speed you shoot with your eyes closed.

3. Cinch the shot. Now, you're hoping your opponent doesn't see your hand shaking. You're so clenched up, you've lost any fluidity you o­nce had. You don't trust your stroke. Okay, let's just make the ball. To cinch the shot, take the shortest bridge you can (maybe 4 inches of stroking room). Put your tip very close to the cue ball so you can see exactly where you're going to hit. Now, take an insanely short stroke (maybe 2 inches) and sink that ball. You won't have room to go off line, and, with the short stroke, your opponent won't be able to see you quaking.

4. Back away. You're down o­n the shot, and your head is filled with chatter and doubt. You're not confident. Something is telling you you're likely to miss. STOP and back away. It's less costly and embarrassing than missing. Take a lap of the table. Go wipe down your shaft. Take a couple of deep breaths. Whatever; let some time pass, and allow the adrenaline to drain out of your brain. Approach the shot, walking in o­n the shot line, from as far away as possible. As you approach, stay focused o­n the shot line.

5. Own the shot. To give yourself the best chance to make it, you have to want it. You have to expect it. You have to believe it. Don't shoot if you're not ready. Yeah, this is easier to say than to do. What can I tell you? Figure it out. If this game was easy, we wouldn't be fanatics about it.

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