Posts Tagged ‘snooker’

Billiards: Quite Old, Quite Fun

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Billiards is an old sport, with its beginnings stretching all the way back to the 1400s. Hundreds of years ago the sport of billiards was actually known as “balliards.” In fact it was referred to under that name in Edmund Spenser’s Mother Hubberd’s Tale. The name was originally derived from the simple fact that it’s played with a type of balls.

Billiards probably will not be, any time in the near future, a first choice for many young people of of the modern age as a source of fun with the availability of the blinking, whirring easily-attainable entertainment available to all of them in the comfort and quiet of their cozy homes with video games and television. Because these games can be utilized within the bedroom it often allows people to effectively alienate themselves from the world that exists outside their home. Herein lies much of the beauty of the sport of pool: socialization is required.

However, billiards requires a form of intense, often difficult to achieve meditative focus that is simply missing altogether from the digital games and other forms of on-demand, instantaneous, engaging entertainment that exist in this day and age.

Billiards requires dexterity. In order to play pool one must learn how to manipulate not just your fingers to form the various styles of bridges, but also the arching of the back, , the positioning of the shoulders, the angle of the elbows, and where to grip the billiard cue. There are a wide variety of other aspects of the physiology of billiards that can only be developed through successive iteration, and with the assistance of professional tutoring. The appropriate body positioning may be consciously observed, but true mastery doesn’t occur until it’s a matter of strictly muscle memory. Muscle memory is the capacity for your body to effortlessly remember where to grip, and how to move to perform a given set of actions.

Pool is challenging, but this increased challenge is part of what makes it enjoyable. A good player must be able to cope with changing environments from the quiet of a household basement to the noisy pub where perhaps a few people have had quite a bit too much alcohol to drink. Practices that necessitate larger amounts of focus to engage in often need greater amount of initial energy input to build up to even a novice level of competitiveness, but as the challenge increases so does the amount of pleasure that may be derived from the practice there of.

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categories: pool,billiards,snooker,cue sports,table sports,cuesports,sports,recreation,entertainment,fun,hobbies,hobby,history,focus

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Straightening Your Billiard Shot

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Unbeknownst to many amateur pool players basic issues with physiology can deeply interfere with a person’s game, particularly their stroke when making contact with the ball. To have success at at increasing your skill level in the sport of billiards you must fix any substantial physiological problems to better your game.

One commonly experienced issue is back problems. If you find bending over puts you in any kind of pain you may need to consider visiting some sort of back specialist like a chiropractor, or another variety of doctor that is professionally and appropriately diagnose disk or other various back issues. If you have already done so, and the issue still continues to mess up your game of pool… do not despair!

There are a just a few fundamental tips for pocket billiard players that may, in fact, improve their capacity to handle the weight of their cue or stance, as well as the variety of sometimes awkward angles that taking a billiard shot can put an individual’s body into. One very simple thing that most pool players can do is simply get into the gym on a regular basis. Workouts that work the back can truly be of substantial assistance.

Just a few examples of common back exercises include: seated rows, pull ups, and even push ups. The pull ups and push ups are particularly useful to the billiards players because they use your own weight. This reduces the chances of personal injury which can keep one out of that billiard hall altogether. Detrimental injuries must be avoided at all costs, so consider investing in a personal fitness trainer.

It’s also critical to the sport of pool that you have a comfortable pair of shoes with good arch support. If you’re not averse to a change of shoes you might consider, at the very least, purchasing a couple of Dr. Scholl’s pads for your existing footwear.

The game of pool is a delightful table sport enjoyed by many thousands of people around the entire world. Billiards has stood the tests and trials of time and endured for many generations, and will almost certainly continue to do so. Do not ruin your chances at having a lot of fun. Please follow the advice of your doctor before initiating any particularly strenuous fitness routine.

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Discovering Your Billiard Competition

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Pocket billiards is an staggeringly competitive game that takes the investment of great sums of time to master. It is best not to start off playing making the assumption that the challenge of the game will be easy, because most often, as luck would have it, it will not be! One of the greatest hurdles most amateur players will face is being able to find the appropriate level of competition that will help ensure they progress rapidly in their skill level, instead of stagnating at the beginner skill level.

Competing against a bunch of newbie players all the time is an excellent way to ensure that you yourself also remain a novice. One of the most important things even a brand new pocket billiard shooter could ever do is to make sure they have new and challenging players they can compete against and that they can get tips from, and the most time honored methods of doing that is, in fact, to join a billiard league.

Almost all local pub with more than three billiard tables will, of course, have some type of organized competition at the pool and billiard table. Your job is to either ask around and find out when the real competition comes in via word of mouth, or by giving Google or Yahoo a search. A nice choice of keywords for these purposes would be “pool league” combined with your state.

Often you’ll be genuinely shocked at the number of pool leagues you can have in just one small city. Another, perhaps surprising, place to find out where ranked or organized games of pocket billiards are being engaged at would, in fact, be your city’s billiard supply. They may not offer anywhere to play a game of pool within their store, but they will have the appropriate social connections. Even if you are not currently intrigued with the idea of making a purchase of a cue, this can be a marvelous place to start, and believe you me, they’re used to it!

Whenever you do find the pocket billiard league you have been seeking, make sure to make friends and socialize. Often the very best advice on pool technique comes after the game, and the only way your competition is going to offer that help you need is if they like you. Offer to purchase just a few rounds of alcohol, or maybeeven invite a few of the more skilled players out to eat before the next tournament. Individual players will truly always be the greatest type of resource you can possibly have at refining your pool shark skills.

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Pool Doesn’t Have To Break The Bank

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Pool and billiard cues and shafts can be found at a wide variety of price points and levels of workmanship. Most hardcore pool and billiard players playing more than every now and then will most often have a preference to get a billiard cue stick, and perhaps even more importantly, a billiard cue shaft, of higher performance levels. Whether you choose a Meucci cue, a Predator pool cue stick, or the high performance shaft now released by Lucasi, Mcdermott, Predator and Meucci is largely your own preference, and often determined by the ideas from within the league you are competing in, or just generally the individuals you’re playing billiards with.

Whatever billiards brand you do decide to purchase, one fact is absolutely for certain: the higher performance pool cue sticks and shafts can sometimes be priced exorbitantly. For that reason budgeting your money really well can indeed make a lot of sense in the long run. Spend some time doing your homework before going out and making that big buy to make sure you don’t end up spending more than is required all because you got on the line with an extremely skilled salesman or saleswoman.

One fantastic tip for making sure you’re not spending way more than is necessary is to look around for discounts before you make the leap to a new pool cue or cue stick shaft. Make sure to verbally ask around, particularly at your regional billiard leagues, to find out whether or not said leagues actually have discounts with a particular billiard distributor.

If you are in the US armed forces, you might, indeed, take into consideration the idea of asking billiard players that you know are also in the armed forces where they purchase pool products. Chances are they have already done the necessary research, if they’re serious players, and can point you in the right direction for discovering a billiard supplies store that will give you a discount.

As mentioned previously, it’s a good plan to have a really clear picture in your head of what style of billiard cue stick you are seeking before you ever even walk into the store. If you can manage to do this before hand and you also make sure that you are actively saving for it you’ll probably make a more long-term minded purchase. One last tip to be of use: look around on eBay. eBay is notorious for having great deals, but consider yourself warned: sometimes buying new billiard cue sticks from eBay can void the manufacturers warranty.

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Predator Pool Cues, Still Popular

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

Predator cues have become very popular among billiard players in the last several years. This is actually a worldwide phenomenon, as a matter of fact, there is not a locale in this universe at this point in history where a person can walk into a pool hall and manage to not find someone playing with a predator cue. If you asked most professional players which cue they prefer it is quite likely that a few brands will get brought up, and among them will be Predator.

The manufacturer of predator billiard cues hasn’t somehow managed to stay in business during hard times in the pool and billiard industry, but, in fact, been able to continue to flourish. It is very little talked about but a very obvious and self-evident fact that pool is no longer as as popular as a form of entertainment as it was in the decades in the past. Video games, the internet, and all types of other blinking and flashing attention grabbing technologies have supplanted the huge sums of time most people used to spend every weekend in billiard rooms.

The father of a good friends of mine who happens to be a bit older once said to me: “You do know what being quite skilled at billiards is an indicator of, right?” No. What? “A wasted youth.” Needless to say he was very very skilled at pool, and this never ceased to amuse me after having heard him say that.

This quote really shows how the times have changed. Ask someone what a wasted youth amounts to today and you are likely to hear references to Microsoft’s XBox, Twitter, or any of the Nintendo consoles, but never playing billiards. Then, how is it possible that Predator has grown? The answer is this: that they have taken segments of the shrinking market that previously was dominated by other pool cue brands.

Predator, the billiard manufacturer, not only manufactures fantastic billiard cues… Predator also produces a number of performance cue shafts. The most popular of these billiard cue shafts are the Predator Z, and the Predator 314 shafts. These high performance cue stick shafts are used by pool players around the globe to to keep an edge over their competition. Thankfully, both the Predator 314 and Z shaft are available not only for Predator produced cues, but also for a wide variety of other makes and models as well.

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On The Sport of Billiards

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

Pool cue sticks come at a relatively wide variety of prices. For the most part a cue within the price range of $30 even up to $130 will come at approximately the same level of craftsmanship. We will call these economy cues. These billiard cue sticks were produced outside of the U.S. with small exception. Upwards of that price point you get into the next tier of cues. Often, these cues are made in the U.S. and have been produced with a greater amount of craftsmanship. Of course, much of the premium paid is likely perception as well, though, as a rule, you will get a better product for having spent a bit more.

As a still amateur pool player, the preferred price range I would try to stay within when buying a pool cue sticks if I were planning on playing at least 1-2 a couple of months would probably be around the $200-300 price point. Beyond that price range most often you will be actually investing in the elaborate inlays. As you climb that price point ladder you will find pool cues with more points in the forearm, more intricate inlays that are very difficult to produce, as well as more exotic woods like cocobolo.

There are multiple forms of billiards as well, and this will probably play a role in your choice of pool cue stick style. The sport of pocket billiards is the most common form of billiards found in U.S. or Canada, for example. Snooker which is played on a table with pockets as well is actually widely considered a unique cue sport from pocket billiards. Snooker cues themselves may be a little customized for the uniqueness of their specific sport. Carom is an different pocket-less table sport, which I won’t get into here.

Interestingly enough, many professional players billiards are paid to specifically play with/endorse certain cue brands. Some of the most important advice a new player in the sport could receive would be to make it a priority to find a billiard league to play with where more qualified opinions on the performance of various cues and equipment can be found.

Many billiard discussion forums also happen to exist on the internet. In these various forums you can find, people generally discuss the rules, tips, billiard product feedback (where to buy), and table events somehow relevant to the sport of pocket billiards.

Check out these other helpful pages: Samsara Pool Cues, and meucci.

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Navigating Billiard Purchase Decisions

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

The pool cue stick a pocket billiard player uses can, in some circumstances, have a huge and varied impact on their play style. There are many product options to select from. Many varieties cue styles and products probably won’t greatly effect play either way you go — but there are some that legitimately affect the physics of the game. Making the choice between a graphite shaft and a wooden one is just a single example. One is extremely stiff, the other a bit more flexible. These are extremely different materials with properties unique unto themselves. They can’t both be , so which one is the best? This, of course, depends on who you ask. It’s probably best to accumulate a consensus of opinions.

A genuinely good place to get a wide variety of opinions on which pool cues to “give a shot” would be the many pocket billiard discussion groups that exist all over the internet. It might be advisable to avoid seeking only the advice of what professional billiard players use: often pro billiard players are endorsed to play with a given product and may or may not have it highly customized to suit their idiosyncratic tastes.

There are also many popular pocket billiard expos (such as the Billiard Congress of America trade show) that can allow you to see some of the cues right off the vendor’s shelf, and most often they will even have a pocket billiard table with a rack of pool balls to let you try the billiard cue out.

Whenever you change a cue or shaft there is a period of mental adjustment that may take a handful of weeks. It may be difficult to make an accurate decision on a pool cue in a single game of 8-ball, which is a problem if you intend to make a purchase decision on the spot.

There are wide variety of pool cue brands to choose from. One example is Predator cues. Predator has created many popular billiard cue stick lines that are popular not just in the U.S. of A., but around the world. Even their name seems to imply aggression, a good game, and ideally… a successful win!

Predator is notable and worthy of a quick mention because of the fact that they are originators of the world famous 314 and Z billiard cue stick shafts. These cue shafts are manufactured for a wide variety of billiard cue brands.

Check out these other helpful pages: Jump-Break Pool Cues, and supply.

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The Influence of a Pool Cue’s Spine on the Sport of Pool

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

The cue shaft spine, which is present in all cylindrical articles, refers to the single place in the shaft that bends the least; it is the definite place in the 360 circumference of a shaft that will offer more opposition than anywhere else in the shaft. Typically, the place that bends the most in the shaft is about one hundred-eighty degree – reverse of to the spine.

The exact same shot, performed multiple times, will react differently because of the shaft’s spine. This happens in play simply due to a player turning the cue stick in his hand, actually rotating the shaft’s spine into a another placement with each shot. The pool cue’s deflection may be lessened or intensified in relation to the alignment of the spine as the cue ball responds to the shaft’s stiffness or flexibility at the time of impact.

In England, snooker, which is played on a bigger table with tinier balls and with various shots being thirteen feet away, will visibly manifest the spine of a pool cue shaft. Fortunately, the practice in England stipulates that a flat location be cut into the edge of the cue stick at the base of the butt. Snooker players always keep the flat point in the palm of their back hand when stroking, which insures that the position of the grain and the shaft’s spine will be in the identical position with every shot. This behavior prepares the player to make allowances for the multitude of variations initiated by a cue stick with a more visible spine.

If spine alignment is not considered when mounting the head of a golf club to a fiberglass or graphite shaft, the club will never play reliably. All the clubs in the bag will strike the ball in a different way if the manufacturer does not pay attention to the consequence of the spine alignment. A few materials, such as tubular steel employed in golf shafts, are homogeneous in nature and have a virtually imperceptible spine; despite the fact that other materials, like graphite or fiberglass, have a definite spine.

In the role of billiard cue, nearly all high-end cue sticks, are made with maple shafts that are a good deal more consistent than graphite or fiberglass types. However, every piece of wood will unquestionably have a spine that is demonstrable and patent in the hands of a proficient player.

The stiffer a cue shaft is, the bigger the difference between the most solid and bendable portion of the shaft. Accordingly, the pool cue can respond very differently from hitting a ball with low, high, right or left purely by the position of the more perceptible spine within the billiard’s shaft.

A shaft’s wood fibers can disintegrate eventually and the shaft can lose it’s capability to snap back in time to adjust for swerve. Hence, whilst new the pool cue functions as it ought to but eventually it becomes excessively flexible. One means to thwart this break down, so that the shaft will preserve the correct flex that doesn’t wear down and will keep it’s spring, is to be sure it has six or more side-by-side grain lines crosswise on a thirteen millimeter shaft. This close-fitting grain signifies that the wood was taken from middle of the wood log where the older growth is found. This most aged growth improves the stability of the cue stick shaft. An alternative manufacturing approach is to actually form these grain lines, like what is seen in the Black Dot shaft by Meucci, in which 35 flat maple veneers are laminated as one and then turned round, creating greater than 20 grain lines that run parallel end to end the entire length of the shaft. Further, the tighter grained shaft has a less perceivable spine.

There is a different method that a number of cue stick builders have attempted to tackle the predicament of the spine being skewed. The objective is to craft a spine that is perfectly centered in the shaft, but unfortunately, the very thing they wish to minimize, creates a more definite spine that is off-center. The intention is to cut a shaft into pie pieces and then reconstruct it with the grain radiating from the center. Regrettably, no cue stickbuilder) can maintain the apex of the pie pieces in the middle of the shaft for it’s entire length. Despite the fact that during these shafts being turned round, the ends that are in the lathe will be centered, the middle of the shaft is left to it’s own position. The process of turning a shaft varies, however nearly all manufacturers turn a shaft 4 – 8 times. Turning a shaft multiple times over days, weeks or months is good and permits movement in the wood and stress release to prevent warpage. Each, all through this process being done, the center of the shaft is moved more and more to the wall. The pie piece shafts are constructed from a sole board and then rolled as one and made round with the grain ends divergent. Though one can declare that the pie piece shaft is less likely\probable to warp over time, the point is that the less consistent spine winds up to be off center.

A player must keep in mind that every pool cue has a spine and no cue builder has been able to reliably offer a pool stick with precise radial consistency. A skillful player will know with the response of his equipment and make corrections for the spine of his pool cue. Fiberglass or graphite shafts have the most discernible spine, pie piece shafts have the next, and lastly the natural solid or flat laminated maple shafts have the slightest.

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Pool Table Care – Looking After Your Felt

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

As an owner of a Pool or Snooker Table, you will know that cloth care is vitally important for a good looking table, getting a great game and to keep your damage costs to a minimum.

Table owners can take several steps to look after the felt. This message has some key points for table owners to having a nice cloth and ensure the lasting of games and the table.

A great way to stop dust, debris and other dirt getting on your table is to keep it covered when not playing. Additionally this will prevent any accidental damage to the cloth. It will also stop the cloth from fading over time. We all know that over time your table will accumulate dust, dirt, chalk and more. Covering it will make it last longer, keep those games going and keep your table looking great.

Use a table brush bought from a pool table accessories shop to brush off any dust, dirt or debris. Always brush in the same direction from the D end (top end) of the table to the spot end (bottom end) of the table. Be careful not to scratch the cloth. You can also use a vacuum cleaner on a low suction setting. Once again be careful not to tear the felt. Regular brushing will maintain your table for longer.

Keep well away from using harsh chemical products and sponges on your table felt. These chemicals will cause additional damage or stain your cloth. Always go to your pool table accessories shop and buy felt cleaner – specifically designed for table cloths.

If your snooker balls need a clean do not use any abrasive or rough materials. Use washing up liquid like fairy and some warm water. Always gently dry with a soft cloth after cleaning.

Leather pocket protectors can be cleaned with leather cleaner. Follow the instructions given with the cleaner. The tableframe (wooden or metal) can be cleaned with a damp cloth. Follow guidelines given by the cleaning manufacturer or ask your local snooker table expert.

If you have a tear in the cloth you can search online to find instructions on how to repair it but I would always recommend getting an expert out to recover your snooker table.

Your snooker table or pool table can be enjoyed longer if you keep yourself or friends from sitting on the edge of it, keeping food & drinks well away from the edges. Additionally try to smoke in a different room from the table as the cloth will pick up the smell. Keeping it away from direct sunlight will keep the cloth from becoming discoloured. Try to refrain from letting drunk guests near it – this is the main cause of cloth rips :-) .

Pete S Sutherland – Freelance Writer for numerous British companies. For experienced advice and help with your snooker table we recommend South West Pool and Snooker for – Snooker Table Repairs, and for – Snooker Table Recovering

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What To Consider When Buying A Pool Table

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

When you are looking at buying a pool table, there are several factors that you should take into consideration…

Size – The size of the table relative to the size of the area into which it will be installed is of the utmost concern. You may very well be able to afford any of the standard 7, 8 or 9 foot tables but if it is too large for the space into which it is to be installed it may not be a wise choice. Consideration must be given to the amount of playing space required around the table. Placing a table in a space that allows inadequate space for making shots with your pool cues will spoil the playing experience.

Slate / Non Slate – You need to consider whether or not you want to invest in a slate table top. This is the hard area that lays directly below the billiards felt and is very important for proper ball play. Slate is the traditional table top of choice because it has been for centuries, but that is not to say that there are not other options available to you. Investigate materials like accuslate. This material is technologically advanced HDF or high density fiberboard. What is nice about this material is that it comes with a fairly good warranty and the balls roll well on it. But if you have the money to spend, then you should definitely go with slate since it is the best surface to play billiards on.

Shipping – If your pool table is going to be shipped, verify the billing for the shipment. Many times the shipping charges can be included in the overall price, other times it is calculated separately. This is also an important factor to keep in mind when comparison shopping in order to get the best deal possible.

Accessories – When considering what having a pool table in your home will ultimately cost, you need to consider the cost of basic accessories plus any optional extras you might want to include. The essentials, of course, include pool cues, pool balls, ball racks and cue chalk. Additionally, you will may want to add either a wall-mounted or standalone cue rack or cue claw, bridge cues and cue cases.

Learn More : Pool Tables Yorkshire

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