The WPA world rankings have been updated to include the recently concluded 2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championship. The first public release of these rankings is posted at the URL below:
http://www.trickshottim.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=99
The official WPA site hasn't even been updated, so we're ahead of the curve here, even if the event happened more than two weeks ago. Oh, yes, the high tech world of trick shots.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships
The 2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships were held this past weekend at the annual Super Billiards Expo. It brought together some of the best trick shot pros in the world along with some new faces, including 14 year old Iulian Cernatischi and 15 year old Ignacio Block from Argentina. It was also one of the largest fields we've had in recent years with 36 players.
I started off pretty hot with a total score of 70 after trick/fancy and special arts, winning the special arts medal along the way. That was good enough for 1st place, but things quickly went downhill from there. I wound up in 8th place after the preliminary round and had to face 9th place Jamie Moody in the playoffs. It went back and forth, but I pulled out the victory in the end which earned me a shot at Andy Segal in the next round. I kept it close but threw away a few points here and there and ended up losing by nine. My final position was 7th, which is solid but not spectacular. Andy went on to win the tournament for the 2nd year in a row, beating Nick Nikolaidis in the final.
I started off pretty hot with a total score of 70 after trick/fancy and special arts, winning the special arts medal along the way. That was good enough for 1st place, but things quickly went downhill from there. I wound up in 8th place after the preliminary round and had to face 9th place Jamie Moody in the playoffs. It went back and forth, but I pulled out the victory in the end which earned me a shot at Andy Segal in the next round. I kept it close but threw away a few points here and there and ended up losing by nine. My final position was 7th, which is solid but not spectacular. Andy went on to win the tournament for the 2nd year in a row, beating Nick Nikolaidis in the final.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Star Wars
I find it amusing that someone with an Iranian IP address thought it was worth their while to visit my pool trick shots page and give the first page of shots a 1-star rating!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
2012 World Championship Sign Ups Announced
The sign up process for the 2012 WPA Artistic Pool World Championships has begun. I can't find the documents anywhere on the internet, but they were emailed to a list of players and promoters. If you're interested in signing up for this tournament, let me know. It will be held at the Super Billiards Expo, March 8-11, 2012, in Oaks, PA.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Pool Synergy: Practice - What Works For Me
This month's Pool Synergy is hosted by John Biddle. The topic is about practice - what works for me.
Practicing trick shots isn't always about setting up the same shot and hitting it over and over again until it goes in (and making sure the camera is rolling when it does!). In fact, it involves certain principles that can carry over to your typical pool games. I'm going to write about two things that have helped me practice more effectively: focus and relaxation.
When I was practicing for the 2010 Ultimate Trick Shot Championship, I knew I only had a couple hours each day to practice. Instead of trying to practice everything I wanted to each day, I broke it down and focused on certain skills each day. For trick shots, this broke down into something like one-handed jump shots, one-handed multi-cue jump shots, masse shots, stroke shots, fouette shots, backward jumps, contortion jumps, speed shots, and juggling shots. I would cycle through these as my practiced progressed and build up a base skill level for each one. For typical pool skills, this could include straight in shots, shooting off the rail, stop shots from different distances, and so on. It was faster learning by dedicating larger amounts of time to certain things rather than doing everything for a little amount of time.
Another thing that has worked well for me is knowing when to take a break. It's certainly frustrating when you're trying to get better but you're obviously not. While there's much to be said for perseverance, you also need to know when you reach the point of diminishing returns. I've given myself headaches, literally, trying certain shots or skills for hours on end. Now, when I feel myself reaching that point, I turn to something else. Usually I'll turn to straight pool or speed pool to break the monotony. It takes the mind off whatever was going wrong and speed pool, at least, gets the heart pumping again. But sitting down for a few minutes or taking a quick stroll outside can accomplish the same effect.
Hope these tips can help you as much as they helped me. Keep a narrow focus while you're at the table, and know when to let off when things get too intense. Let me know if they work or don't work for you (and perhaps why). Happy shooting!
Practicing trick shots isn't always about setting up the same shot and hitting it over and over again until it goes in (and making sure the camera is rolling when it does!). In fact, it involves certain principles that can carry over to your typical pool games. I'm going to write about two things that have helped me practice more effectively: focus and relaxation.
When I was practicing for the 2010 Ultimate Trick Shot Championship, I knew I only had a couple hours each day to practice. Instead of trying to practice everything I wanted to each day, I broke it down and focused on certain skills each day. For trick shots, this broke down into something like one-handed jump shots, one-handed multi-cue jump shots, masse shots, stroke shots, fouette shots, backward jumps, contortion jumps, speed shots, and juggling shots. I would cycle through these as my practiced progressed and build up a base skill level for each one. For typical pool skills, this could include straight in shots, shooting off the rail, stop shots from different distances, and so on. It was faster learning by dedicating larger amounts of time to certain things rather than doing everything for a little amount of time.
Another thing that has worked well for me is knowing when to take a break. It's certainly frustrating when you're trying to get better but you're obviously not. While there's much to be said for perseverance, you also need to know when you reach the point of diminishing returns. I've given myself headaches, literally, trying certain shots or skills for hours on end. Now, when I feel myself reaching that point, I turn to something else. Usually I'll turn to straight pool or speed pool to break the monotony. It takes the mind off whatever was going wrong and speed pool, at least, gets the heart pumping again. But sitting down for a few minutes or taking a quick stroll outside can accomplish the same effect.
Hope these tips can help you as much as they helped me. Keep a narrow focus while you're at the table, and know when to let off when things get too intense. Let me know if they work or don't work for you (and perhaps why). Happy shooting!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
dot nxt
After getting back from Vegas, I showed off some trick shots for pool.com at the .nxt conference for two days. It was mostly setting up shots and having attendees shoot them for themselves, but it was pretty cool. I had to keep coming up with shots that other people could make which was a bit challenging, especially when you don't know the person's skill level or calibration. You can tell someone to hit it hard, but is their hard really you're soft? It was on a 7-ft Brunswick with a slate top, so I was able to bang out some jump and masse shots too. I had a lot of fun and think most of the other guys did too. It seemed like the only interactive booth at the show.
Friday, August 26, 2011
2011 Ultimate Trick Shot Tour Championships
Just got back from one of the most competitive pool trick shot tournaments of the year. Unfortunately, I was unable to defend my title and finished in fifth. I started off slow, losing my first two matches to Jamey Gray and Steve Markle. I rebounded to win against Dave Nangle and Gordon Hedges though, then lost to Andy Segal and finally beat Bruce Barthelette to finish off the preliminary round. I had the same record as Dave, but finished ahead of him based on the tiebreaker and squeezed into the playoffs. I played Florian "Venom" Kohler in the quarterfinal and lost 7-6, missing my last shot which would have forced him to shoot again. Oh well, lesson learned. Good to have some stuff to practice after the World Cup of Trick Shots.
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