Pro Gear Edition (11/29/12)

Anyone who's been around pool for the past 20 years knows the name Johnny Archer.  He's widely considered to be the best player of his generation.  A few years ago he, along with Allison Fisher, were inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.  Next month, he'll be playing in a record 16th straight Mosconi Cup.  Simply put, Johnny Archer is the man.  

Archer's pool cue of choice?  Scorpion cues.  The brand was developed for him and he's been their ambassador for as many years as Scorpion has been around.  He's won countless titles and events with Scorpion cues and to this day continues to play exclusively with cues from the Scorpion line.

We carry the entire line of Scorpion cues (over 60 models), so be sure to check 'em out.

With the exception of Jeanette Lee and Allison Fisher, Jennifer is one of the world's most recognizable faces in women's pool.  She's consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the WPBA (as well as ranked as one of the sexiest female athletes), has been featured in Maxim, Playboy and MTV and also happens to be one of our regular contributors for instructional articles.

When she's playing, she uses a Lucasi Hybrid cue.  She's been playing with one for the past two years and told me that she's never played so well in her entire career.  Naturally, we've got over 30 models of Lucasi Hybrid cues as well as both the Zero Flex and Zero Flex Slim shafts.
 

When you're talking raw talent, there are few players that can play at the same level as Alex Pagulayan.  US Open, World 9 Ball and World Pool Masters are just a few of the titles that Pagulayan has earned over the years.

As for his playing gear, Alex shoots with an OB121 pool cue with an OB Classic shaft.  If that model isn't your style, no worries, as we carry over a dozen different models along with the OB1, OB2 and OB Classic shafts.

When the billiards industry talks about rising stars and the future of pool, they're talking about players like Jasmin Ouschan.  Originally from Austria, this 26 year old phenom is already one of the most decorated players in WPBA history.  She's taken down several WPBA championships including the most recent 2012 WPBA Tour Championship (which airs on ESPN2 December 16th).  

From a gear perspective, it's all about Predator.  She's been shooting with Predator for years and continues to tear up the tour with a 314 shaft for shooting and a Predator BK2 for breaking.
 

Whether you're a tournament player or a league player, inevitably you will have matches that have a lot riding on them. Matches that get you into the cash rounds, matches that can win your team a trip to Vegas or matches that can win titles all require careful preparation. I've compiled a list of 5 of the most important things you can do to make these matches go smoothly.

1. Warm up physically. Remember the article I wrote on preshot routine? Well this is what you should work on while you're warming up. Set up simple layouts and run the balls using all of the steps in your routine until it feels comfortable. Once you are executing all of the steps in your preshot, and consistently zeroing in on the smallest possible target on the object ball, you are officially warmed up. ...keep reading