Top 'o the Morning PoolDawgians!
This week, it's all about St. Patricks Day. I know we're still technically in February, but I want to give everyone plenty of time to get their Irish cue orders in. So, we're featuring my favorite shamrock themed cues this week (sadly, no McOutlaw this year, as they went with the rose instead for 2012). If you don't like the ones I picked out, fear not as we have over 40 cues that have shamrocks on them (when you include the McDermotts, all of which have shamrocks in the logo, which is sorta cheating, but, well, you know).
As for this week's dose of learning 'n stuff, Jennifer Barretta will be waxing poetic on the topic of luck, slop and all the things that drive us nuts when we lose. And away we go!
Impacts IMP20 Pool Cue
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As far as designs go, this is one of my favorite treatments of the shamrock. What we have here (which you can see if you go to the page and zoom in on the picture, which by the way, you should) is almost a barbed treatment with metal style designs intertwined with the shamrocks. As far as playability, I dig it. The hit is pretty solid, the tip is layered and the wrap is, well, Irish.
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McDermott G603 Pool Cue
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Now that's what I'm talkin' about. As the cool kids say, this cue's got it goin' on, yo! It's all about the ebony with the G603. Ebony in the forearm and sleeve with inlaid birdseye maple points to accentuate the wood. Plus you get the new G-Core shaft and McDermott's lifetime warranty. As for the shamrocks, how does 12 green dymondwood shamrocks inlaid in birdseye maple diamonds sound? This is easily one of my absolute favorites in the McDermott G series.
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Athena ATH08 Pool Cue
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I really like this cue a lot. Even though it is technically a woman's cue (coming from the Athena line), I have no problem saying that I've played with it and I love the way it hits. As you can see, we're all about the green and the shamrock with this one. What you can't see in the picture though are the little things that make a huge difference. The 12.5mm shaft, the 10" extension, the clean, solid feel you get every time you hit with it. Men's cue, women's cue? Nuts to that. I just say it's a really good cue.
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McDermott G303 Pool Cue
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Damn those guys at McDermott know how to make a good looking cue. With the G303, it's all about the wood. The forearm is a really nice antique stained birdseye maple and the ring of natural birdseye in the sleeve sets it off beautifully. Since we're talking shamrocks though, I should probably mention that the cue has six green dymondwood shamrocks inlaid into natural birdseye maple diamonds. Since it is a pool cue, I should also mention that it includes the totally stellar G Core shaft which gives it a nice, stiff hit.
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Jennifer Barretta - Luck 'o the Irish
Whatever your favorite billiards game is there is one thing that they all have in common...luck. The most even tempered people can lose it when their opponent gets a seemingly endless array of accidental safeties, balls going in the wrong pockets and lucky nudges that magically open the rack up into a dead runout.
Dealing with the rolls is one of the hardest parts of playing pool, and while 'call everything' ten ball is slowly taking over at the professional level, most local leagues are still playing 'call nothing' 9 ball. After years of painful matches in which my opponents have been rewarded for their mistakes, I have devised many strategies to deal with the rolls and curb the urge to pour sugar in my opponents' gas tank after a loss.
Most of the strategies involve lying to yourself and require a tremendous amount of discipline, but if you can employ them in your game the rolls will have a minimal effect on your mental state, and will allow you to get the most out of your physical game, even when the world seems to be falling apart around you. In pool we call it 'fading the rolls'...keep reading