Billiard Coach – Mike Fieldhammer

Team Support

Posted on 15. Aug, 2010 by Mike Fieldhammer.

Team Support.  The sum can be greater than its parts.

My most recent memorable  experience is winning the BCAPL National Team tournament in Las Vegas in May.  The five man squad sardonically named “Who Needs a Billiard Coach?!” fought through a field of 674 teams to take the top prize of $11,000.  The whole event was an exhilarating ride for me, propelled by the support of my team:  Brian Haffner, Jared Bailey, Dustin Morris, and Jesse Engel.

A photo collage I framed and presented to each teammate. Click for larger view.

Team chemistry is a phrase that is tossed around, but is just one piece of having a successful team.   Chemistry implies that there may be many elements blended into a concoction of a cohesive team.  Perhaps one of the most important elements is the support of one’s teammates.

Our team was successful l in believing  in each other and affirming each action our teammates made.  Examples of this blind trust are as follows.  For example, if Dustin played an unsuccessful combination shot in an effort to continue his run instead of shooting a solo ball in a different pocket, Jesse said, “Good try, you’ll get another shot this game. Your opponent isn’t getting out here.” We never took issue with a shot or a decision made by a teammate.  Or if Brian missed a jump shot instead of kicking the ball which would have been my choice,  I didn’t say “Why didn’t you kick at it?” Placing a seed of doubt in his head or shaking his confidence could be the beginnings of a skid in his and the team’s performance.

Players on our team tried to sweat other teammates matches whenever possible.  Caring enough to watch and root them on is an obvious sign of support. Even during a team match, I could hear Jared’s voice say, “Good shot Fieldhammer!” and it would further my resolve to win that game knowing he was spurring me on.  Players on our winning team are selfless. We cared about our own performance only as it related to the team goal of winning matches.  Never was heard, “Well, I got mine” when a player came to sit down after winning a game.

At its best, unconditional support for one’s teammates can be a catalyst to launching the team to heights unattainable by the five as individuals.  Each of the five players on the team made sacrifices for the sake of the team. The team goal that we all had in mind became a truly satisfying achievement that became much sweeter because we shared it with teammates who gave and received support.

See all the PoolSynergy crew’s Support Articles here:

http://forumghost516.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/pool-synergy-volume-10-support/

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Derby City Classic is different somehow

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by Mike Fieldhammer.

2010 is the second year in a row that the Derby City Classic has been held at the Horseshoe Casino just across the Ohio river from Louisville, Kentucky. It felt strange last year, but this year feels even weirder. Virtually all the Euro killers are absent. Big names from the US skipped the banks and might skip the 9-ball. Why? Some huge tournament in Germany. The World Team Championships or “WTC” promises $100,000 to the winning team of 4 players. I’ve heard there are already teams from 51 different countries entered in the event that begins January 30. Players from Europe that didn’t make the trip to Derby include Mika, Ralf, Neils, Marcus, and Thorston. Yes, Toasty lives in Florida now and Mika in NYC, but they were in Spain for a wicked Predator 10 ball event and just couldn’t fathom flying back to the US for a short stay then turning back to Europe for the WTC.

Word is amongst US players is that Shane, Johnny, Rodney, and Corey won’t even play in the Derby 9-ball event because they fly out in just a few days. This is crazy stuff for the 12th annual Derby City Classic. Is this sinking in? All of these players mentioned so far are recognizable by their first names. And Derby has been along with Barry Behrman’s US Open 9-Ball Championships the flagship pool tournament in the United States. What gives?

I guess the World Pool Association didn’t mind scheduling their WTC on a conflicting weekend with the DCC because Greg Sullivan didn’t sanction his event with the WPA. It seems to me that there is a list of criteria that needs to be done to gain the WPA stamp of approval, but maybe it was too much of a headache or maybe the nature of the blind draw and re-buy every round doesn’t comply with WPA regulations. Too bad, because in my opinion it would have been worth the hassle to ensure all of the world’s best players could attend this year’s DCC.

I know that in the last few years there is great gambling action on the first weekend in the TAR pit and other tables at the event. My impressions this year were that it was VERY quiet the through the first few days. At the Executive Inn, you could barely find an available table at 1 am to play on. This year some evenings at 10 pm you have your pick of nine footers.

I think the final number of entries for the Banks was 356 players. It is generally over 400. The One-Pocket event might have been just shy of 300 players and it seems that many of the first round losers might not even buy back in. Consequently, rounds are running quickly and with time to spare. This could be seen as a good or bad thing. Players here know to expect a long wait to play their first match and an even longer wait to play their second. This year Paul Smith and Ed Scott have done a nice face lift to the tournament draw software. Next round match draw times are posted on the scrolling update page and there haven’t really been any postponements as in prior years. The tournament web page is thankfully available in the Horseshoe guest rooms this year, a massive improvement in convenience over last year.

The best thing about this year’s event is that the Filipinos are here. Once again I’ll say that every player deserves a chance to see Efren play one pocket in person. It is as close to a spine chilling pleasure in billiards as you can get. All the Pinoys play fantastic one hole and they are here in numbers. Alex, Jose, Rudolfo, Fransisco, and of course Efren. Watch them if you can.

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Qlympics! Part Deux?

Posted on 28. Aug, 2008 by Fieldhammer.

Holly from CueSports International (Mark Griffin’s company) has released this:

U.S. New National Championship Series

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Updates from the U.S. Open

Posted on 02. May, 2008 by Fieldhammer.

I’m currently at the 2007 US Open 9 Ball Championships in Chesapeake, Virginia where the room is chilly but the pool is HOT!

Even though the tournament room is kept so cold you can almost see your breath, the weather outside has been in the gorgeous high 70s and the pool is smokin’!

It’s Day 5 at the event and the long hours have kept me from posting sooner.

I’ve been busy taking tons of photos for Inside Pool and helping out on the set of the Inside Pool Xtreme Press Box where they’re reporting live twice a day.

Here are some highlighted photos I’ve taken so far. The rest of my work can be found at the Inside Pool Magazine Photo Gallery.


My own results were not as thrilling as I’d hoped. I lost hill-hill to a very solid Canadian player, Tyler Edey (who still happens to be on the winner’s side). I played steady and neither one of us made very many mistakes. When it was 9-9 we each missed the 9-ball. He gave me a shot after the break on the 1 ball and I ran the rack. In the last game of the match, I failed to make a ball on the break and Tyler maneuvered through nicely for the win.

My second match was against Charlie Williams on the TV Table. I’ve never experienced that kind of heat or pressure before. Due to the actual heat from all the lights, the table played extremely tough. The pressure of being on center court made the pockets play even tighter.

Even though the match was earlier in the day and the stands were fairly empty, it was still just as pressure packed.

The most memorable out of that match came when Charlie played a safety on the 8 ball while down 9-8. I shot a jump bank with my full cue leaving me a tough back cut on the 9 ball in side, which I made to tie it up 9-9.

I felt I could’ve won that match had it not been my first time playing on the TV Table. A couple mental errors and a few tight strokes due to the pressure were all that stood between me and winning that match.

Not that I’m done with the competing part of the tournament my main focus has been on taking tons of photographs as well as filming some instructional segments with Samm. These finished products will include a series of several two to three minute instructional snippets called Xtreme Instruction and can be found on InsidePoolMag.com.

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