Billiard Coach – Mike Fieldhammer

Thirty-One Tips: 31. Please purchase something from the Billiard Coach

Posted on 31. Jan, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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Tournament talk, results, and lively discussions.

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Dear Readers,

I sincerely hope you’ve grabbed some educational, inspiring, or entertaining material from this month’s series of articles. If so, please consider taking a lesson, buying some pool gear, or tossing a small donation my way. I’m available for lessons/coaching by appointment and I’m compiling a list of some special deals on cues for a February Blowout Sale. Please contact me if you’d like me to email you a private preview of some of the bargains coming up.

Maintaining this blog and the forums takes time and money. I’m happy doing it, but I too must make a living. Thank you to all of my clients who’ve taken a lesson and/or bought any products from me. I hope you’re happy with your purchase. If you are, please pass along the news of your experience to someone you know. Referrals are very important to my growing business.  Thanks again.

To wrap up this month’s marathon of articles, here’s a piece I authored for the American Cuemaker’s Association.

Thanks for tuning in,

Mike Fieldhammer

Why buy an American made cue?

© 2010 Mike Fieldhammer, BilliardCoach.com

America has a long tradition of cultivating craftsmen and artisans.  Modern cue making innovations were pioneered in the United States and we have a rich history of woodworkers, machinists, and players veering course and developing into full time cue makers.  The American Cuemaker’s Association celebrates the craft by honoring the year’s best achievement in cue building with annual awards at their banquet each March. Players and cue collectors around the globe reap the benefits of the ever advancing art and science of cue making. Beauty, performance, and artistic vision meld with a magical quality to become the wand that pockets balls with beautiful precision.

Cue makers who belong to the ACA deserve a pat on the back and a buck in their pockets for keeping players in top gear. The association was founded in 1993 by a group of guys whose goal is the same now as it was then.  In essence, they wanted a trade association for American cue makers that meet a high standard of quality in their cues and conduct business in the highest ethical manner. As many players who have bought cues from an ACA member can attest, the process and the product can be exhilarating and a source of pride and joy to use for years and years. The technical prowess of an ACA member is a certainty.  Other trades have a system to signify proficiency and experience with terms like apprentice, journeyman, and finally master craftsman.  One could think of the ACA as those cue makers who have reached the master craftsman level.

Samsara 8 point pool cues.

Some cue wielders relish the chance to spec out a weapon of exacting details to bring out their best game.  “I’d like a strong taper, ivory ferrule, lizard wrap, 3 shafts, and 19.3 ounces please.”  Others have a certain look as their primary concern such as certain color veneers, white with brown spec linen wrap, and a Hoppe ring, with no rubber bumper. No matter what your preference is, you’ll probably find just the right artist for your dream cue within the ACA.  Meeting face to face or by a series of phone calls and email exchanges, ACA members take pride in their customer service and will be happy to have you contribute to the design process.

Follow up service can be just as simple and pleasurable, if necessary.  ACA members have a reputation of taking care of their customers.  Discuss the warranty with your ACA cue builder. They are members of the ACA because their product meets a certain build quality that is reviewed by a panel of cue experts. This is one of the criteria each member has passed to gain entry into the ACA.

After the sale, follow up is also top notch. Decide to change the weight or get another shaft as a spare?  No problem. ACA cue makers are likely to be within a couple of time zones of your local time and are easy to reach.  Shipping and delivery times are generally reasonable and you don’t have to worry about the cue being subjected to a transoceanic flight or boat ride.  Since wood still breaths and moves, minimizing environmental effects is important.

ACA is kind of a better business bureau for cue builders.  You can bet that members of the group have been making cues for many years. Even freshmen cue makers in the ACA have probably been making cues for ten years of longer.  The craft is so specialized that it can take years to attain a reputation and the skills to build a product worthy of entry into the American Cuemaker’s Association. Similarly, it is likely that your cue builder will be around for many, many years to come.  Making a living building cues is just as difficult as making a living playing pool, yet most ACA members do it as career.  Passionate, experienced, and highly skilled, these elite cue makers have found a way to make their love of cue making into a lifelong devotion and way of life.

Brand new Limited Series Samsara D-12. In Stock.

“Made in the USA” and “Buy American” are slogans and bumper stickers that have been floating around for years.  In these days of economic crises, they ring as true as ever.  Think about cue makers in the following statements. “When you buy goods made in the USA, you help keep the American economy growing.” This certainly applies.  Even more true when you think about many Cuemakers  who started in another’s shop and eventually spun off to become a well known solo craftsmen.  Or the tradition of passing the cue shop down to the next generation of sons and daughters.

“When you buy only American-made products, you insist on a higher standard.” Also true, ACA cuemakers raise the bar for cues made in the USA and around the world.  If cuemakers disappear across the country, quality could slip as the competition dwindles.  Buy American and help keep your friends and neighbors – and even yourself – earning a living wage. Imports won’t have to strive for high quality to complete.

Next time or any time you think about buying a new cue, consider buying American.  American Cuemaker’s Association, that is. You’ll be supporting a rich history of American craftsmen dreaming up revolutionary designs for essential equipment to pocket balls in a centuries old game. In return, you’ll get a cue that will have the ACA member stand behind.  It’s their profession.

Mike Fieldhammer is a full time tournament player and professional billiard instructor. Mike’s team “Who Needs a Billiard Coach?!” recently won the BCAPL National Team Championship in a field of 674 teams.  He also is a cue collector beginning with a Bert Schrager purchased while still a broke college student in 1990.  Lessons, gift certificates, and some collectable cues are available at the Billiard Coach Store.

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Thirty-One Tips: 24. Practice with the Mechanical Bridge

Posted on 24. Jan, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

Spend some time in practice with the mechanical bridge.

Most players I know don’t like to use the rake. I will admit it is one of my weaknesses.  My accuracy suffers as does my speed control. I know how to use the rest, I just need to practice.  Part of the problem is my height.  I’m six feet tall and never use a bridge on a bar table and very rarely require it on a nine footer.  I even have trouble practicing with the bridge on the 9-foot Diamond ProAm I’ve got in my home.  There are only so many shots I can set up.  My idea for an intensive practice session is to find an ocean table and put my skills to the test.  I figure if I really try a challenging table with a variety of rests, I’ll keep interested and probably find the frustration a keen motivator.  Again, the snooker pros are the ones to watch.  Many world class tournaments have five or ten configurations of bridge heads, extensions, and even cues to aid the player reaching a shot.

Cheers,

Mike

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Thirty-One Tips: 22. Chalk To Help Your Rhythm

Posted on 22. Jan, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

Chalk with your bridge hand.

I’ve always chalked this way and was always aware of the differences, but a recent video clip of “Mr. 400″ John Schmidt made the reasons clear. If you use your bridge hand to chalk, it is easier to keep a more efficient rhythm. This technique seems to aid keeping your body and cue inline with your next shot too.  The grip hand doesn’t really need to move off the wrap area of the cue, so you kind of stay in touch with the cue. Getting into your stance can happen in the same motion as setting your chalk down on the rail.  For anyone who has caught a gear running balls, this kind of economical process of chalking with the bridge hand can be like a hypnotists swinging stopwatch- a harbinger of dead-stroke.

As a bonus, chalking this way also stops you from swinging your cue around excessively.  Grip hand chalkers can give a neighbor or a pool table an unfriendly rap with the butt of their cue as it swings about during their chalking procedure.

I’m in Fargo this weekend playing in the excellent Mid-Winter Shootout.  If anyone happens to know the link to Schmidt’s short video clip, please share it in the comments.  It’s worth a couple of minutes of your day.

Thanks,

Mike

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Thirty-One Tips: 18. Take Care of the Equipment

Posted on 18. Jan, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

Give a hoot

Someday, I’ll publish an article on the ultimate table and ball cleaning and care guide. Until then, do your best to help keep things clean.

Put your chalk blue side up, only strike the cue ball with your tip, and use common sense to preserve good playing conditions.  It’s true that pros can adjust to all kinds of table conditions, but they prefer tight but fair equipment.  Our future pool players(beginners) can get easily discouraged and put off of the game because they cannot adjust to tricky conditions.  Help grow the sport by keeping things clean so the next beginner on the table gets a taste of success.

Please help keep our tables clean.

Equipment matters- Cues, tips, chalk, balls, cloth, tables, pockets.  The game is difficult enough under perfect conditions.  We don’t need double tough conditions making the game seem impossible to new players.  These days, pool rooms are helping kill the game by letting their equipment go bad, and buying used equipment from auctions of out of business pool rooms, etc.  or even not air conditioning properly in the Summer to save money on electricity.  These tough playing conditions do incredible damage discouraging players from sticking to the game.  One tough session where they never run 2 balls in a row sends possible players running for the hills or bowling alleys.  I do a lot of work with Peters Billiards, a leading billiard retailer in Minneapolis.  I used to think that it was crazy that they were selling tables with 5 1/2 inch pockets to rec room home players and their families.  Eight foot tables are the de rigueur. Now I realize this easy playing equipment is the best choice for most beginners and their guests. At least they can pocket balls and develop skills that may lead to some family member coming into the pool room looking for a worthy opponent or perhaps to enter a tournament.

For more info on Equipment Matters, see a future article I’m writing.  The information will detail how worn and dirty cloth make the game so much harder.  Chalk stuck in the cloth will soil freshly cleaned and polished balls more quickly.  Dirty balls throw and skid more. They also wear more quickly, becoming grittier and smaller.  All of this friction makes playing the game of pool much more difficult.  Pockets play tighter and the physics of the game become harder to predict.  Bad equipment can make a table play much less forgiving for slight miss-hits and unintentional spin put on the cue ball. All of these things make it tough for capable players, just think how high of a hurdle this puts on the rank beginner!  Stay tuned for more on this topic.  Link will go here when it is written.

Bar boxes can have even more unpredictable challenges for players.  Lousy cue balls and mismatched rails. See “Big Table to Bar Box” for more on that mystery.

The above excerpt is from a huge article I wrote last year.  More thoughts on the sad state of pool can be read here: “How to Fix Pool.”

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