Cutest Cueists - Samm "Cherry Bomb" Diep

What is the definition of "cute"? Wikipedia has this to say. Webster's dictionary defines it this way. My definition looks like this:

Samm ("Cherry Bomb") Diep

Any list of Cutest Cueists is incomplete without Samm. Don't let her good looks fool you; she's a fierce competitor, and a winner!

The best part is that Samm's a total sweetie and a good friend.

But wait, there's more!

Samm has a web store where you can get some UNIQUE billiard items, (Samm's Side Pocket Productions) and a personal blog, and a pool tips blog (The Tip Jar), and she teaches pool, does player interviews for InsidePool magazine, and even found time for this Sexy Tie video!

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Cutest Cueists - Rachael Abbink

In the world of pool, you can either play or watch. Sometimes, I like to watch, and when I do watch, it's always more fun if the watchee is easy on the eyes.

In a new series of blog posts, I'll create a personal scrapbook of some of the Cutest Cueists (Cue-ettes? Cuelings?).

Here's the first, and the one who got me thinking about this project.  Why?  I love redheads!

Rachael Abbink

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A lesson with Scott Lee

Two days ago I had a 4 hour lesson with Scott Lee (Internationally Famous Pocket Billiard Instructor and Trick Shot Artist).

He teaches the very precise BCA-approved style characterized by the Set-Pause-Finish system.

My style was developed on my own, by watching others, so it is a soup of intuitive quirks that is completely unreliable.

Therefore it has been my search for consistency that has brought me to Scott Lee. I knew of this BCA system because I had a lesson in it about 4+ years ago, when I got back into the game after being away from it for 40 years.

That first and only lesson up to then was so alien to me that I never even tried it after the lesson was over. I was still finding my way, and didn't want to really WORK at it.

Now, after years of searching, I'm ready to give it a try. I admire and respect the strokes of Allison Fisher and Karen Corr, who both use this BCA style of stroke, and it is impossible to argue with their success.

On the rare occasion where I would try the pause at the end of the backswing, it felt good, and delivered good results, but I never built it into a habit.

Scott Lee's 4 hour lesson was like trying to take a sip from a fire hose. There is so much to learn that 4 hours is barely enough to get the concepts.

Fortunately, he videoed the entire lesson, and left me with a DVD so I can review at will. And he gave me written instructions for drills, which I have added to my Optimum Practice session.

Last night was my first go with Set-Pause-Finish and the associated Personal Eye Pattern and keeping my elbow from dropping. But trying it all at once is like trying to walk down the street and chew gum at the same time while rubbing my belly and patting my head and skipping rope.

It's going to take getting used to. But I think it may be worth the effort.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan - 3rd World Snooker Title

One of my favorite players, bad-boy Ronnie O'Sullivan has clinched his 3rd World Snooker Championship.

Click here for the story and videos.

Click here for some great shots!

Watch Ronnie run the world's fastest 147.

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Traffic check - 6 months

Six months agoI started keeping track of traffic to this blog. Here are the results since then:

According to NeoCounter, that green widget in the sidebar, (Total Visitors by Country): In the last 180 days there have been 16,912 visitors from 109 countries.

For the same 180 days, according to Google Analytics, there were 8,993 Visits, 5,778 Absolute Unique Visitors, 14,195 Pageviews, from 93 Countries.

Why don't the numbers from these two sources agree? I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation that would be too boring to hear, and who cares, anyway?

I'm just amazed that anyone visits! After all, it is my sorta-private pool diary, but it's open to anyone who finds it, in the spirit of sharing. If you find something useful, great! If you have a suggestion, please let me know, I'm always looking to improve my game.

Thanks for visiting!

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Back to the basics

Taking the advice of El Maestro, I got back into the competition scene to get myself "tournament tough" for the US Amateur Championship which is 137 days from today.

Not one to back away from a challenge, I signed up for the toughest tournament
in the San Diego area, at On Cue Billiards in La Mesa.

What I learned from the experience is that I forgot a lot about competing! Although I did win one match, I was knocked out early and had plenty of time to reflect on what I did wrong.

Additionally, after looking at the videos (recorded by Billiard Assistant Dave) I know even more about what I did wrong.

The video clip below shows two "outs" that were successful, before the battery died on the camcorder.

The first out was with ball in hand, but even though the 3 ball was almost in the pocket, the 6 ball was holding it back, so I played the billiard off the 3 to pot the 6.



What I need to do is:
1. Stay down
2. Focus (do not talk to others)
3. Prepare according to pre-match checklist.
4. Never underestimate opponents.

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New license plate - 14pt1 (14.1)

In California, you are what you drive, and what you display on your license plate.

For several years I resisted the urge to get a "vanity" plate, but somehow I fell prey to this one (14pt1).

14.1, or straight pool, is the game I prefer.

I shoot pool because I can not paint, or sculpt, or sing, or dance, or play a musical instrument.

I shoot pool, therefore I am.

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OB1 shaft

Last week I was getting some supplies at Quality Billiards, and some shaft work done by the owner Dave Whitsell, and had an opportunity to try an OB1 cue.

It played very nicely, with a good feel. It reminded me that I had an OB1 shaft at home that I bought many months ago to try, but never found the time for it.

Today, I hit some balls with it and liked it a lot. It gives a definitely different sound to the hit, and feels smoother, even though it has the same tip (Moori medium) as my Predator 314 series 2 shafts.

I should try it for a couple of practice sessions and see if there's an improvement in my scores.

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Words of Wisdom

Jeanette Lee, at 23 years old, and #1 on the women's pro tour, during the 1994 WPBA National Championships in her come-from-behind win over Loree Jon Jones (JL was down 1-4 and came back to win 9-5):

"I've tried playing without ego, and it's so obvious when I'm trying to be humble: all the heart leaves me.

"Sometimes you just gotta go for it and go for it with confidence and know you're going to make it, and know you're a great player."

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Practice Review for April

The Optimum Practice spreadsheet is now online with complete data for the month of April.

It shows only 15 practice sessions, because I missed 4 sessions due to being back in Philly for my father's funeral, but I did get in a total of 33.4 hours practice, pocketing about 3700 balls, averaging 1.7 per minute, which shows me I was taking care of business.

Additionally, I had several perfect drills and achieved several personal bests, and had opportunities for learning through experiments, all of which give me more confidence and knowledge.

Overall, I feel very good about my progress, and I know that continued Optimum Practice will yield excellent results.

I didn't get in very much competition during April. A couple of 8-ball matches with El Maestro, which we split 1-1, and a game of straight pool with Dan S. which I lost 100 to about 93 (?).

El Maestro says I need more competition, so in May I will be heading out of the Fun House to test myself in some tournaments.

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Good, Bad, and Ugly

The important advantage of video recording of practice sessions is that it reveals Truth. For example, the video below, from last night's Optimum Practice session, clearly shows that I do not stay down on the shots on the 5 ball.

I should replay this a lot, and say to myself, maybe scream it, "Stay Down".

I'm thinking I also should focus on a pause in my back swing on these shots.

This is two attempts at the drill, with a pretty picture as intermission, which is sort of like putting lipstick on a pig.

Drill attempt #1 finishes successfully, #2 does not. In both attempts my shot on the 4 is sloppy, but it goes anyway, and the shot on the 5 is horrible because I slipped my stroke and jumped up, but it goes. So much for the "Bad" (or is it "Ugly"?).

The Good is the shot on the 6 in both attempts, which I could watch all day. Top inside english to get nice shape on the 7, which sets up the 8 to get down-table on the 9.

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Video evidence of practice progress

You may have seen this drill before,
but this is almost certainly my best attempt.
Video recorded in last night's Optimum Practice session.




The shot on the 8 ball is the best one of this attempt.
Because I went a bit wide with my position off the 7,
I got almost straight on the 8,
so I really had to hit it very firm,
with lots of top left.
Notice that the cue ball hits the bottom rail
beyond the 9 ball and then the english takes hold
and brings the ball back to the other side of the 9
for the right shape.

A shot like that is just so beautiful,
it keeps me coming back for more.
The first time I saw Tony make that shot,
I thought I was hallucinating!

The shot on the 1 ball is also noteworthy
in that it reflects a change in my stroke
that I have been focusing diligently on.
For years I would jerk the cue stick back on a draw shot,
but notice that here I'm leaving the stick
in the followed-through position.

For the rules of this drill, and other details and video,
click here.

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Gods are smaller in person

I won't bore you with some shot-by-shot analysis of the matches last night. You can see them yourself for free at the IPT website.

But here are a few observations. This was the first time I have seen a live professional pool match, in person (not on TV).

1. Gods are smaller in person. When I arrived on the scene, the first person I recognized was Oliver Ortmann, one of the world's top straight pool shooters. He was burning a cancer-stick in the parking lot. My first reaction was something like: "Is he sick? He looks a lot thinner than on TV. And shorter too."

And then I saw Rodney Morris, and he looked a LOT less imposing than on TV. Same with John Schmidt. In fact, every pro looked substantially smaller than they do on TV, except for Efren Reyes, who looked the same. Go figure.

2. The audience was tortured with some of the hardest bleachers ever. There's a business opportunity in seat cushion rentals! I would have paid dearly for one.

3. Mike Sigel truly is "The Mouth". I extended my hand as he was catching a smoke outside during a break. Just wanted to say hello, and that was all I got out when he lit into a non-stop breathless description of how many racks he ran recently, then missed an easy shot, and then ran another bunch of racks, and kept on talking so much that eventually I just turned around and went back inside, leaving him to bore another couple of hapless dudes who were standing nearby. He just may have a medical disorder. Pathological blatherer.

4. I'm an idiot. I forgot my camera. Duh. For some photos and more/better commentary, check out OMGWTF.

5. The event was in Hollywood, so there were some luminaries in attendance, including TV's Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) and a bevy of beauties looking to be discovered. When you watch the video on the IPT website, and you are looking for me in the stands, among all those famous personalities, I'll be the only one you don't recognize!

6. When you watch the video, some of your more memorable moments will not be about the pool, but instead about the interviewer-babe who was wearing almost nothing. A friend asked me what I thought of her "top", and I had no trouble remembering my primitive, instinctive reaction: "Mommy!" My secondary reaction was equally universal: "Yo... interview ME!" Don't get negative on me about this. I'm a guy. Guys are dogs.

7. When is it inappropriate to shake hands with someone you really admire? In the men's room. In one of life's more awkward moments, I found myself alone in the men's room with Efren Reyes, during a break. He was waiting for a stall to clear out. I had just turned around after washing my hands. There he was. Pool-God almighty. Only a few feet away. All I could blurt was "I know you!". He smiled his Efren smile, awkwardly. Realizing I had probably already said too much, I bolted, awkwardly.

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