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Nick Prinsloo has been playing pool for a total of 21 years, 15 years competitively. Originally a pro-level snooker player and instructor, Nick discovered 9-ball and came to the US in 1998, where he has been playing on regional tours ever since.
Lately, Nick writes more about the game than he actually plays. Nick was the Guide for Billiards at About.com for almost four years. Nick's column archive is located here. |
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Lesson 3: Overcoming The Physical Barriers
To excel at pool - or any other sport for
that matter - one needs to overcome the physical barriers by using the power of
the mind. Now, you might ask, what are the physical barriers of pool?
In order to pocket a ball, you need to strike a perfectly spherical white
ball with a long, straight (preferably), wooden stick that has a dome-shaped
leather tip stuck to its front end, sending it in a specific direction so so as
to make contact with a perfectly spherical colored ball. The idea is for that
colored ball to then find its way into a pocket with an entrance a little
narrower than two of these spherical balls placed side by side. Pretty obvious, you might say. But have you ever had a closer look at what a
feat this is? Take two pool balls and make them touch one another. Look at the
area of contact. You have a contact point of less than one fiftieth of an inch
in diameter. {See diagram 1 below.} Pretty small, huh? In order to make a perfect shot, at the moment of contact,
that same contact point has to be perfectly aligned with the point on the white
ball furthest from the pocket and the center of the pocket itself. {See diagram
2 below.} Copyright ©
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