Billiard Coach – Mike Fieldhammer

BCAPL 9-Ball Challenge Wrap Up

Posted on 09. May, 2008 by Fieldhammer.

Tyler Edey from Alberta, Canada won the 9 Ball event yesterday playing nearly flawlessly. I lost my first match on the hill and ended up drawing my Colorado teammate on the loser’s side. Won that one and another one to finish one out of the cash.

Out of 172 players, the final rounds were very exciting for me since three of the top six finishers were from Minnesota, including my good friend Demetrius who finished second to Tyler. There was a lot of great pool! See full story at InsidePoolMag.com.

Started scotch doubles today. Samm and I lost our first match, but have won our next two. We hope to be playing most of the day. More updates to come.

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Like Teaching a New Trick to a Dog

Posted on 03. May, 2008 by SammD.

And no, I’m not referring to “teaching an old dog new tricks.” That’s a different article.

About three years ago, I was teaching Vegas, my white lab, to “wave” on command. Following the guidance of a book full of doggy tricks I had purchased, I could sort of get him to do it. He struggled a bit, gave me that tilted-head look of confusion, and just tried to get the treat from my hand. We worked on it for about 45 minutes and I just let him go play.

The next evening, I called him over, had him sit in front of me, and along with the waving hand gesture, I said, “wave.” Well, low and behold, on his very first attempt, he was waving. Without any assistance from me at all, he had remembered everything we worked on and was waving on his own. Nowadays, all I have to do is make the hand gesture and a little white paw comes creeping up.

Not to compare us with dogs, but I couldn’t help noticing an uncanny parallel after a difficult practice session the other day. I’d recently been struggling with my stroke hand inadvertently inching slightly back on my cue whenever my adrenaline starts pumping. I don’t always notice it when it’s happening. I just notice something feels a little off and I miss the shot.

On Monday afternoon, I had a three hour practice session where, before every single shot, I checked my perpendicular to make sure my hand was in the correct spot. Initially, it felt so awkward, like I was way too far forward. I didn’t care. I forced myself to shoot it anyway. Most of the time, I would make the shot. Sometimes, I was so flustered I would screw something else up.

I struggled. Admittedly, I was frustrated. I felt so inconsistent and wasn’t even sure if I was making any progress at all. I finished my practice feeling a bit deflated and left with my tail between my legs.

On Tuesday night, I screwed my pool cues together, determined to get to the bottom of this. As usual, I threw some balls out and just stroked some shots in to warm up; with some big powerful strokes. It was like a miracle. Everything I was forcing myself to so consciously do the day before was all happening on its own. I could see the shots. My stance and stroke hand all fell right into place. It was effortless.

I was thrilled. I had made progress. Forcing myself to the brink of madness the day before wasn’t all for nothing. Like Vegas, I had successfully learned a new trick. I absorbed as much as I could on the first day and when I gave myself a break and returned to the table refreshed, it all sunk in.

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Why does it seem like I play worse in the summer?

Posted on 03. May, 2008 by Fieldhammer.

Reader Question:
Why does it seem like I play worse in the summer?

Billiard Coach Answer:
Table conditions…due to the weather

Humidity! One challenging aspect of cue sports is coping with the weather. Sure, it sounds strange that an indoor activity like pocket billiards has anything to do with the outside climate, but changes in the weather can have dramatic affects on the way we must play our game.

In the summer in the Midwest, we can have a high relative humidity. An outdoor temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit may sound great, but not if the relative humidity is 80 percent. That is sticky, uncomfortable weather for humans. The pool rooms do their best to run air conditioning units to keep the pool room air cool and comfortable, but even so, the moisture in the air is many times greater than it would be in the middle of winter.

You may know that cooling moist summer air will cause water to condense on the air conditioning units and need to be drained away. This is because the air is cooled to a lower temperature that its dew point and the excess water is removed. The air does however retain moisture. In contrast, warming winter air which is already dry raises its dew point and actually feels dryer than unconditioned air. This will cause evaporation which is why your skin feels dryer in the winter and may need lotion.

What does this mean to a pool player? Pool table cloth such as Simonis has a very high wool content which has a great affinity to moisture. In the humid summer months, cloth can feel wet and slow because it’s holding onto moisture grabbed from the air. You may have the sensation while racking the balls that the wood rack is difficult to push along the cloth. It may feel sticky just as a t-shirt sticks to a sweaty body. In the winter, the dry, heated air will draw moisture out of the pool cloth.

These ‘wet’ table conditions in the summer play havoc with our pool game. The tables play slower and stingier. You must stroke the cue ball a little harder and with more spin on a wet table to accomplish the same action as you would on a dry table. The rolling balls have more friction because of the water trapped in the bed cloth. They also drag more on the cushions they rub before going into the pocket. This is why you must shoot balls more accurately in the summer. It is much the same as new slick cloth versus year old worn and dirty cloth. It is always easier to ‘slip’ in a shot on brand new cloth if you brush the rail before it goes into the pocket. Dry cloth is much like slick new cloth and moist cloth behaves more like dirty, worn cloth.

Moral of the story: Don’t expect to play quite as well on a steamy summer pool session. You may be dealing with difficult table conditions. Be aware of the extra demands for accuracy and stroke, and play the game as well as the conditions allow.

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Exercises from the P.A.T. (Playing Ability Test)

Posted on 02. May, 2008 by Fieldhammer.

The Playing Ability Test, better known as PAT, was devised by internationally-recognized coaches in Europe over the past three years. The system has been endorsed by the World Pool-Billiard Association as a credible internationally standardized program for objectively identifying the overall abilities of students so that areas needing improvement may be pinpointed. Students may compare their performance ratings with the other students around the globe through the PAT Website at www.pat-billiard.com.

As an ACS Instructor/Coach and PAT Examiner, I find each of the ten areas tested challenging. I’ve shown diagrams of two classic drills that have been modified for the PAT. In the first diagram, start with ball in hand along the third diamond from the head of the table. You must shoot the 5 ball first. Pocket the ball in the corner and play the cue ball to scratch in the same pocket. It may not hit the 7 ball on the way to the corner pocket. One point is scored for pocketing the object ball and one point for the cue ball scratching. It takes a very accurate stroke to complete both parts of the shot. Shoot the 3 shots on the right side of the diagram then the 3 balls on the left side of the diagram beginning with the 10 ball. Maximum score for the exercise is 12 points.

The second classic drill is shown in the second diagram. Arrange the balls in an ‘L’ and shoot them in order into the corner pocket. Begin with ball in hand, but after your first shot you must play from the position you’ve left yourself for the next shot. Maximum score for this is ten.

Test yourself, or contact me if you’d like more information on the PAT.

Schedule a private lesson or group clinic with Mike. He can be reached via www.billiardcoach.com or by phone at 612.802.0519. Billiard Coach, LLC is a member of the Billiard Congress of America. Mike is a certified PAT examiner, a Billiard Congress of America Certified Instructor, and an ACS Certified Coach/Instructor.

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