2017 Jay Swanson Memorial Tournament

I played in the 2017 Jay Swanson Memorial tournament this past weekend and had a lot of fun. I'm trying to find myself to see where I stand at playing this game. What I mean by that is in the past I have played in tournaments and didn't do that well and others I did very well and won. It's not because I'm not any good. It's because I get in the way of myself mentally and give up.We all have been there before! Here is a tip from a pro player I recently spoke too. If you play the match like you have to win or you just have to win the tournament. You put all kind of pressure on yourself. So next time you play a match or tournament just have fun and don't worry about winning or the score. To preform well you need to minimize the pressure you put on yourself. This is what I did this past weekend and I actually played well and had fun. I needed to remember to have fun playing pool. That's what counts anyway! Gotta love what you do to be good at it. Here's a few pictures from this past weekend. Thanks for the great weekend CSI International, On Cue Billiards, fast and loose designs

 

      

Match Mind Set

I'm alway thinking about this game and how it affects me as a pool player. The other day I was playing in a tournament and I had played and stayed at the pool hall for 15 hours. And as the night went on I grew tired and weak minded. All I thought about was getting some sleep at that point. The next day I reflected on how the tournament went for me and all I thought about was my mental state during a particular match. I had started out in a race to seven and I was shooting good. I was up 3-2 so far and was feeling pretty comfortable. I think thats pretty important to feel comfortable and settled into your environment even before you play an event. Maybe go there for a day or two before and play for awhile.
Before I knew it! It was 3-3 and my thoughts were "here we go a hill hill match". So I took a break and washed my hands to break my opponents momentum. It seemed to work so I though and before I knew it was 5-3 his favor. All I could think about was negative thoughts like shaking my opponents hands and saying things to myself like "not sure if I can catch up". Now it's 6-3 his favor and its getting worse. He's on the hill now and ready to win. But then he missed a simple shot. And I ran out the rest of the rack. Sometimes that's just enough to shift the match in my direction. I started to gain my confidence back with the next break as I made 4 balls. Then the table was mine to win. Now the score was 6-5 and I noticed my mind set had shifted to positive thoughts on winning. I think a combination of good safety play and positive mind set I was able to win that match 7-6.
The match took a total of two hours to play and to say the least it was a grind. So reason I wanted to share this story of my match with you. Is because the next time your in a match go into it as if your gonna win. Keep positive throughout the entire match even if your behind and never give up. I think that's how champion players come back and win their matches. I was recently watching the world nine ball championships in Dubai. And Darren Appleton was playing a player from tiawan on day three. His race was to nine, finding himself down 7-1 in an impossible come back. Well he did just that! Like a true champion and here is the link where you can read about it.
http://thepoolscene.com/international-pool-and-billiards/day-3-report-2014-world-9-ball/
It's pretty inspiring what you can do if you believe in yourself.


- Posted by John Ferguson

Practicing Speed

There are so many amateur players out there that shoot shots to hard or to soft or even not hard enough. Even some pros can struggle with this as well from time to time. From my experience the speed to which you hit the cue ball can only be taught to you with experience and playing a lot. How can you really teach someone how hard or soft to hit the cue ball. I think it's some what of a feel shot more than anything. One of my favorite players Efren "Bata" Reyes plays pool with grace and elegance. He knows just how to hit the cue ball to get perfect position. If you watch him play a match you can almost see the speed of his cue ball. I watch Shane VanBoening doing the same thing in his matches. That nice and deliberate stroke. Knowing how hard and slow to hit the cue ball for position and making the game look very easy. Professional and just good players figure out this thing we call speed. Most amateurs don't know this even exist because we don't talk about it much. Here's a few of my shots that I like to do and practice that helps me.






Example: Hard speed: Hit the cue ball top left English and go three rails behind the 3 ball for position.
I like to practice this shot because it comes up a lot in games. And i get the feel for how hard to shoot the ball.






Example:Soft Speed: Place the cue ball on the spot and the one ball on the diamond. Use center ball and lag the cue ball towards the one ball. And gently hit the one ball. After awhile trying this you will get the idea how soft to hit it.
"The only reason I do this shot is to get the feel of hitting the cue ball soft. Some player just hit the ball to hard."
So to sum it all up the next time your practicing or playing a match pay attention to detail. On your speed,position,safety play,patterns ect.
Here's a good example from Joe Nichols from Break Time Billiards

View on YouTube

Racking the Balls

I just wanted to take a few minutes and talk about racking the balls for yourself or your opponent. This actually came up tonight and several times before and I feel like I should talk about it to help my fellow APA pool playing friends to improve their game.

Tonight I was playing an opponent and I won the lag. He proceeded to Rack the balls and I always check the rack to make sure that I'm getting a good rack. I think very important that you have a good rack to ensure that you have a better chance to make a ball on the break. If you make a ball and get a good layout at the table you possibly can run the table and win. So I looked at the rack and the top ball had a 1/4 inch gap between it and the ball next to it.
I asked him if he can tighten the rack for me. Apparently he didn't like that. But what you have to understand is that it's very important for the three balls have to be touching and the balls surrounding the eight ball should be touching the eight ball. This will ensure that you'll have a greater chance making balls on the break. Of course you can look for gaps in the rack as well but I'm talking about racking for yourself and others. Give your opponent a good rack and he will give you one too. It will only improve your attitude and game. I'm gonna post some videos and instruction below for you to watch so you can understand what inn talking about. Hope this helps your game.
This "Razor" Ray Schultz on the APA Website answering a question from a fellow APA player.
Can you tell me what to look for to see if the balls are frozen or not in the rack so I can get the most out of my break? – Golden, MS
Check the rack after the person racks the balls. You might have to shadow the balls with your hand to see if the balls are frozen. Most of the time it is impossible to freeze all the balls so look for the head ball and then look for the eight ball or nine ball to see if they are froze to the two balls behind the head ball. – Ray
Here is one of my favorite proffessional pool player and instructor Max Eberle talking about inspecting the rack and making sure it's tight.
Max's 8 Ball racking instruction
This is another great video of why you don't want your opponent to give you a loose rack. Because the looser the rack the balls won't spread as far giving your opponent an edge.
How to rack eight ball
So as you can see sometimes understanding why we rack the ball the way we do gets better results. I think a lot of amateur players forget to make sure the rack is tight. So they can make more balls on the break. I just keep getting attitudes from players that want to give me a loos rack and to be honest it's really not fair. So I hope this helps and if you want to find out about more about the rack you can get Joe Tucker's " racking secrets"
Joe Tucker's Book
it's a great book and I recommend it. I'm always trying to improve my game and yours.
- Posted by John ferguson

Playing with the APA

One night I decided I was going to join the "APA"American Pool Players Association. But I didn't want play on bar tables. I was used to playing on the big tables and didn't know how that was going to impact my game. So I called my local league and went down to shooters riverside. It was real easy to join a team and start playing. The amazing thing about my journey with the APA is that I could play pool and hang out and meet some amazing people. I pretty much have been on the same team since I started. I am 9 in nine ball and an 7 in eight ball.
Everyone kept asking me to try to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championships.




So I went to Stix Billiards in Rancho Cucamonga ca, and played in the event and won the qualifier to go to Tampa Florida and play at Strokers. My journey there was an exciting one to say the least. As we were descending into tampa it was very beautiful and I was ready to play. I knew I had people back home cheering for me and that meant a lot to me. They ran the event like the professionals that they are and made me and all the players feel welcome. When I arrived at Strokers I started to warm up and adjusted to the new environment since I've never been there before.




The day started with the play at 10:30 am and we were off to races. The tournament board looked even crazier than have ever seen but it was cool.




There were a total of 128 players in all. But I knew I could work the field. I was playing against the top amateurs and short stops in the country. And I have to tell you it wasn't easy. Going to the event was such an exciting experience especially if you love pool.








On the second day the event I had my mind focused and ready to play and win. The other players played there hearts out as well. I felt I played very focused and was happy with the way I preformed. Brian Parks of Bakersfield CA had won the Championships the third time in a row. But I got news for him I'll be back next year to do it again. When I finally got knocked out i decided it was going to take the rest of my time and enjoy Florida.




And I can't believe all this started when I was sitting on my couch and decided I was going to get out and meet new people and play some pool. All I can say is thank you to the APA for putting on such a prestigious event like the U.S.Amatuer Championships.
And if you love pool like I do, I would recommend joining a league. And start having fun!