Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Progress is not linear. It comes in fits and starts. Two steps forward, one step back...
Over the past couple of weeks, my challenge matches have been mostly victorious. Occasionally, I have a "learning experience".
It is said that we learn more from our setbacks than we do from our successes.
I try to learn from all experiences, every shot, every game, every match, every opponent, every day.
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Major table improvements
Last week it all came together... I have been planning major improvements for some time.
For starters, I have wanted to reduce the clanging noises created by the metal hangars for the bridges and rack. What a racket they make!
So I removed the bridge hangars entirely. And store the bridges on the wall. What a relief!
The rack hangar was a more interesting challenge. First of all, I needed a way to store both the wood rack, and the Sardo rack, and to keep noise to a minimum. This was accomplished with a custom Fast Mikie design which works very well. See photo below.
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The inside of the wood rack area is lined with rubber, which deadens all sound. The brackets for the Sardo rack are also lined with rubber. The entire unit is attached using existing holes that were for the old metal rack hanger. This way the table remains completely unmodified and can be fully restored to original.
Now, for the piece d'resistance! My ever-growing library of pool books & DVDs was stored under the pool table, on the floor, but it was constantly getting disorganized, and was a bear to vacuum around the mess. So my solution was to design another Fast Mikie exclusive.
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These shelves are completely detatched from the pool table itself, and hang suspended from the major cross-beams on the Gold Crown IV. There are no screws or nails anywhere. Nothing has been done to defile the table. Notice that pool racks are used as shelf supports! One shelf on each side gives perfect balance.
The shelf shown holds my instructional books. The shelf on the other side holds fiction, biographies, DVDs, other trophies, etc.
All the woodwork was done by friend Walter Lilly. Let me know if you want to contact him...
The trophies shown include: Right side: APA 8 and 9-ball team Division 1st. Left side: 2004 California US Amateur championships (undefeated) 2005 APA Masters Division Triple Play MVP (undefeated)
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Victory has a sweet and lingering aftertaste
Victory has a sweet and lingering aftertaste.
Sleep is peaceful after a battle well fought and won. And the morning after brings increased strength and confidence.
I could get addicted to this...
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The Longest Game
Today was a challenge match in preparation for the US Amateurs. The format is both 8-ball and 9-ball. Winner of the lag calls the game, or gets to break first. I lost the lag, he chose the break. I chose 8-ball.
That first game of 8-ball was a killer. We played more consecutive safeties than I can remember ever playing. El Maestro was watching, and he said it was 27 safeties, and he could be right. It felt like a hundred.
My head was completely gone, because on one safety, I hit the 8-ball first, INTENTIONALLY! Of course, that's about the stupidest thing I could do, because it gives up ball-in-hand.
I don't even remember who won that game. I was just happy it finally ended.
I did go on to win the match 7-3. But I need a lot more practice!
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New Balls
Brunswick Centennial vs. Aramith Super Pro
With nothing better to do on a Sunday, I wandered into my local billiard supply store (Billiards and Barstools) and bought myself a new set of balls.
I had been using the Aramith Super Pro balls, and the "measles" cue ball for the last couple of years. Needless to say, they have been getting pretty banged up and grungy and were way overdue for a serious cleaning. But even a day without my balls would leave me feeling like something was missing...
And, I've been wondering if there is any difference between the Aramith and Brunswick product.
So, before I started playing with my new Brunswick balls, I completely vacuumed the table, and cleaned it with Quick-Clean.
Then I got down to weighing each ball and found that eight balls weigh 169 grams each seven balls weigh 168 grams each and one ball was 167 grams. Not exactly the kind of quality control I would have expected!
Next, I got down to some shooting. The Brunswick balls seemed heavier, more sluggish than the Aramiths, but that could just be an illusion. "Feelings" are not very scientific. Maybe I was just looking for a difference. Was it the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? Who knows! And isn't that what the Principle is all about?
What I do know is that the Centennials have richer colors, especially the 7-ball... but, again, that's a personal opinion and nothing scientific.
Something I did notice that was interesting: The numbers on the Brunswicks stripes are in the white but the numbers on the Aramith stripes are in the color.
On to the micrometer test... The Brunswicks seem a smidge fatter. A "smidge" is not exactly measurable using my micrometer, but it's significant, especially considering that I'm measuring dirty Aramiths. I'll have to redo this test after I get the Aramiths cleaned.
More later...
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