Trick shot

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A trick shot (or trickshot) is a shot played on a billiards table (usually a pool table, though snooker tables are also used), which does something with the balls that would seem unlikely. (The term has recently also been applied to other activities, such as basketball.)

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[edit] Competition

Billiards trick shots are the subject of increasing international cue sports competition, both amateur and professional. There are sanctioned world championships, such as WPA Artistic Pool World Championships and the World Snooker Trickshot Championship, and made-for-TV events, such as Trick Shot Magic and World Cup of Trick Shots, often televised in both the US and the UK and providing enough prize money that some professional players specialize in the discipline.

By contrast with the related discipline of artistic billiards, in which competitors have over seventy pre-determined challenges to complete, trick shot competitions typically allow the players to make up new tricks. However, there are many de facto standard tricks, and serious players have large notebooks of trick documentation which they bring with them to competitions.

In most US-based competitions, each competitor has two chances to successfully perform each trick, and the players take turns challenging each other, with the challenger attempting to perform the trick first.

As a part of both demonstration and competition events, players typically engage the audience by discussing the shots they are about to perform, and by telling jokes and humorous anecdotes.

[edit] Artistic pool

Artistic pool trick shot competitions, inspired by artistic billiards, began in 1993 in the US at an amateur level and in 2000 professionally and internationally.[1] They feature fifty-six pre-set shots to attempt,[2] and include the BCA North American Championship, EPBF European Championship, and WPA World Championship.[1] The tricks are divided into eight "disciplines", including trick/fancy, prop/novelty/special arts, and disciplines for extremes in each of the core cueing techniques.[2][3] The world governing body for this (eventually Olympic-hopeful) sport is the WPA Artistic Pool General Committee, while the largest league and player organization is the Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association (APTSA).[1][4] A high-profile proponent of artistic pool is Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman, a notable professional player and billiards author.[4]

[edit] Objects used

As with other pool and billiards games, trick shots usually utilize a cue ball, one or more object balls, and a cue stick. However, many props can be used in trick shots including bottles, drinking glasses, baskets, coins, ball racks, cue tip chalk, and other billiards-related and non-billiards equipment. Props are used to change the difficulty of the shot or add aesthetic value. As with artistic billiards pros, trick shot artists often have specialized cue sticks for performing particular types of shots, particularly jump shots and masse's [5].

[edit] Common trick shots

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  • "Machine gun" (1): A line of object balls are placed in a row about 4 inches away from a cushion, and the cue ball is shot into the space between the balls and the cushion so as to reverberate between them while traveling and hit each one of the object balls in series, issuing a machine gun-like sound.
  • "Machine gun" (2): A line of object balls are placed in a row along but not against a cushion, and are then shot directly with the cue, one after another, around the table, each contacting three cushions, and into the same pocket. The trick requires carefully timing the shots, so that newly-shot balls travel between balls already in motion[6]
  • "Machine gun" (3): A line of object balls are placed on the table. The cue ball is shot into a poket with deadweight and the object balls are all potted into the same pocket directly one after the other with the cue, while the cue ball is still travelling. Done right, the cue ball is the first ball hit and the last ball falling.
  • "The train" (or "around the world"): The cue ball is banked off three cushions, then follows a cue stick lying flat on the table against the fourth cushion to pocket an object ball.
  • "Up and in": Originated by World Trick Shot Champion Mike Massey; the cue ball is jumped off the table into a cowboy boot on the floor. Also referred to as "The Boot Shot".
  • "The butterfly": Six object balls are grouped in the middle of the table[7] in a butterfly shape; in a single shot, each ball drops into a different pocket in the billiards table.[8]
  • "Just Showing Off": Five object balls are clustered near the left side pocket and a hanging object ball in the lower right corner[9]. The cue ball is sent in to the cluster pocketing all five balls and then travels 3 rails to pocket the hanging object ball. This shot was made famous by Steve Mizerak in a beer commercial in the 1970s.[10]

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)
  1. ^ a b c Rossman, Tom (2003). 'Artistic Pool' History. ArtisticPool.org. Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  2. ^ a b 2005 / 2006 Shot Program. ArtisticPoolPlayers.com. Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association (2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  3. ^ Rossman, Tom (2003). 8 Disciplines of Artistic Pool. ArtisticPool.org. Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  4. ^ a b Rossman, Tom (2003). Artistic Pool: Your Passport to Sport & Show. ArtisticPool.org. Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  5. ^ Getting Started in Trick Shots 1. trickshottim.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  6. ^ Play89 Machine Gun Billiard Trick Shot. Play89.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. – Video demonstration of the (type 2) "machine gun" shot.
  7. ^ Butterfly tutorial. trickshottim.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-06. – Diagram and instructions for the Butterfly shot
  8. ^ Pool Trick Shot by Play89 - Butterfly. Play89.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. – Video demonstration of "the butterfly" shot
  9. ^ Just Showing Off tutorial. trickshottim.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. – Diagram and instructions for the Just Showing Off trick shot
  10. ^ Mizerak, Steve (1982), Pocket Billiards Tips and Trick Shots, Chicago: Contemporary Books, ISBN 0-8092-5779-3 

[edit] External links

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