In the early 1970’s Willie Mosconi came to our campus to give us one of his exhibitions. Everyone played 14:1 or 8 ball in the Student Union game room then. Willie picked a friend of mine, John, to play him in a game of 14:1. A number of times when shooting the break shot (always a middle break) Willie would shoot the cue ball in such a way that after hitting the object ball (and making the object ball) the cue ball would jump off the object ball into the middle of the rack breaking it open. It was truly magical to me. I never did learn how he did it. I asked him after the game how he did it, but his answer was unsatisfying (either he didn’t want to say or it was so natural he couldn’t explain it.) Can you explain and demonstrate how he did it.
Excellent video. I have your book on straight pool, but nothing beats visual examples with commentary. Thank you! Are you ever coming to the Tampa area to do seminars or lessons?
Hey Shortstop. Any tips on the same foot placement every time we take a shot? Anything wider than shoulder width, I dont have my shoulders turned enough. If my feet are exact, I play well. Problem is I cannot be looking at my feet all the time.
I'll give you one quick example. Watch Eklent Kaci playing 10-ball. Notice that before each shot he stands fully upright with his feet together behind the cue ball. To enter the shot he steps forward with his left foot, right foot remains in place. This is an extremely well-rehearsed move that puts every part of his body into alignment in a fraction of a second. He never looks at his feet because he has rehearsed this move to never HAVE to look at his feet. Most pros do the same things, its just that Eklent is a very big guy and very obvious with this movement.
I disagree for semantic reasons with the frozen rule and the that general rule for a legal shoot take precedence over frozen ball rule. Ie. …the tip of the cue must make contact with cue ball ….the cue ball fails TO CONTACT with an object ball. This means going from non contact to contact ie..a taking place over time not a static condition in contact and remaining in constant contact until acted by an outside force. Newton laws of motion state that an object has inertia which must be overcome to move. Thus if your stroke were steady enough you could make the cue tip make contact with the cue ball and not move it stop the cue stick there and say for 2 seconds and then continue your stoke . This is exactly what happens in the real world according to Planck because time is digital not analog like Zeno thought.
Truly a comprehensive look at the game of straight pool, just in time, as our group has been thinking of playing more of this game... Thank you for a great presentation... Vince
There was a great self evaluation method based on str8 14-1 and willie mosconi's record. That was on the early 00s. I still looking for the rating charts... you were getting a nice rating based on how many balls you potted.
Can the safety at 1:01:30 be used as an opening break? It seems like a more powerful shot than the standard break. Maybe it's harder to get two balls to the rail?
Love your info. Question on frozen ball. Normally when the Cue Ball is frozen to an Object Ball you can legally shoot through (shoot straight through). Is this a different rule in Straight Pool as you're describing 10 minutes in?
In my example the object ball hit another ball while cue tip was still in contact. I could have been more clear. See rule 6.7 at link below. If touching you can shoot "through". www.poolbilliards.co/rules/wpa-rules-of-play/fouls/#6.6
If for any reason a player intends to do a hard break in order to set a full open table, a break cue can be used or you have to do that with your playing regular cue like with the jump shots ?
