I’ve had some questions from the Billiards and Darts Direct channel subscribers. They want to know how to do a long shot, like I showed in an earlier video. Well, you ask for it, you got it. Here’s a how-to on shooting Long Shots.

Since the term “Long Shot” can mean many thing to many players, I’ve set up a situation that I feel best exemplifies the term. Basically, you have two balls, far apart from each other with the cue ball near the rail and the object ball all the way at the end, with a cut-shot.

You’ll want to shoot the ball in just like any other shot but there is one very important thing you can do to improve your chances of making the ball. Hold the cue with your back two fingers (your Ring Finger and your Pinky). This will make the cue go much straighter because you will have fewer imperfections in your stroke.

Of course, if you have to hit the ball in really hard to get crucial shape then you may not be able to do this quite as easily. If you just want to shoot the ball in, nice and easy, then this technique will give you a definite advantage. Go ahead and take your shot at normally and you’ll make your ball.

I’d like to share with you a rule that I have that I like to say. That rule is: “You can’t do Low Slow”. It’s not a standard rule by any means, rather it’s just something I like to say as a general guideline. As with any rule, you’ll likely find an occassion where “low and slow” does indeed work. For the most part though, this rule will hold true for most players.

When you’re using Low on the cue ball, you always have to do it firm. You’ll notice that higher skill level players don’t have an issue with this, but beginners usually do have a problem. They have a shot setup like in the video above and they use low to hit it but they don’t hit low quite hard enough and, as a result, they scratch.

As you can see, when you don’t hit hard enough, your cue ball started to spin backwards but by the time it got to the object ball, it had already started to spin forward. That’s why you can’t use Low Slow.

The other reason why you can’t use Low Slow is if your stoke is not dead-straight, the cue ball will veer off and the shot will not be effective. So that’s another reason why “You Can’t Use Low Slow”.

So, you’ve got a pool player on your gift list and you have no idea what to get them? If you’re looking to get them the absolute best gifts available, here are three excellent high-end gifts for the pool player in your life.

First of all, we’ve got a quality leather case. This one features a solid code inside. Each one is individually felted and lined, you can see how nice it is inside. This one is made of real leather, not vinyl like so many lower-end cue cases. Another nice feature about this particular case is it’s shoulder strap is well padded. This makes it far more comfortable to carry from place to place.

The next gift you can get that any pool player would be absolutely thrilled to receive is a new break stick. For “money-is-no-object” types, the Predator BK2 Break Stick is the best around. This one features a sport-grip and, like all break cues, this is only designed for one single shot and that’s the break shot. As you can imagine, a lot of players out there can’t justify such an expense for a single-purpose cue… which is what will make it such a fantastic gift!

Finally, if you really want to surprise the pool player in your life, a new pool table would be an excellent choice. Of course, a pool table is highly customizable, offering numerous options for stains, colors, sizes and more. If you know the recipient’s tastes pretty well, you can definitely create a table that they’d be proud to own. If you’re unsure of what combinations would work, simply bring a photo of the room that the table will be installed in to the owner of the store. At Billiards and Darts Direct, we often help customers to decide what combinations will work best for their pool table based on the room it’s going into.

This is a video response to YouTube user Alisma12 who sent me the following message:

“I watched your video on selecting the right pool cue, and I wanted to know can you make a short video shooting with a J.Pechauer and explain some pros and cons like balance, vibration, hit, sound, and feel? I would greatly appreciate it!”

Well, Alisma12, you asked for it, you got it. Today we’re going to test a JP Pechauer cue. This particular cue has ebony and pearl inlays, an Irish linen wrap and uses maple wood with a rosewood stain. Pechauer cues have a special joint and this particular cue has a 12.75 shaft diameter.

All Pechauer cues are very nice in general. This particular cue has a nice, soft sound to it. It’s very solid feeling when you hit with it. You can see in this video that we’ve set up a ruler at the other end of the table to test deflection. The ruler is marked with 1″ increments up to 3″.

You can see when I hit it with softly with right English, the deflection is a little over 1″. Hitting it a little firmer we get about 2″. Firmer still and we see that it goes a little over 2″.

The thing about Pechauer cues is that they all play very well. They’re very solid cues and I’d recommend one to literally any player. If your budget allows for it, you can’t go wrong with one.

Today we’re going to test a Predator cue; the Predator IKON 1, to be specific. This particular cue is solid maple painted black. Threre are nickel silver rings in it with a leather wrap. The cue features Predator’s Uni-Lock system and uses the Predator 314 shaft. This cue is simple but very attractive.

It’s a fair generalization to state that all Predator cues are well made and this particular one is no exception. You can hear that it has a nice sound when striking the cue ball. When you hit with it, there’s hardly any vibration at all. It’s very solid feeling when you hit with it.

You can see in this video that we’ve set up a ruler at the other end of the table to test deflection. The ruler is marked with 1″ increments up to 3″. You can see when I hit it with softly, the deflection is about 1/2″. Hitting it a little firmer we get a little over 1″. There is very little deflection from this cue. As I said earlier, all Predator cues are fantastic. The IKON 1 is definitely worth the money if you can afford it. They’re very high quality cues and you simply can’t go wrong with a Predator.

Do you have a pool player on your gift list but you have no idea what to get them? If you’re willing to spend a little extra money on your gift giving, these are three excellent mid-range gifts for the pool player in your life.

First on your list would be a quality pool cue case. The one in the video above is a leather case, it features a good solid core inside, which is important. Other (cheaper) cue cases don’t feature a solid core but instead just have flimsy dividers. This can cause damage to the cues over time, especially with some of the rough handling that pool players are known for.

Another good gift would be a set of billiard balls with your favorite sports teams on them. They make a set of balls for LITERALLY every team and just about every sport so you should easily be able to find the right ones for your recipient. This set shows that the balls are simply home and away, as opposed to having numbers. For the most part, you don’t need numbers since you’ll always be playing 8 Ball with these kinds of balls. If you buy your balls from a brick and mortar store (like Billiards and Darts Direct) you can even ask them to mix and match teams like “Chargers” versus “Raiders’.

Finally, the last item on my list of moderately priced gifts is a Break/Jump Cue. This is a cue that’s designed specifically for breaking and jumping, not normal play. Once they’ve made their break with it, they can unscrew the back third of the cue and it turns into a jump cue for making jump shots. This is a specialty cue and if your recipient isn’t a professional, it’s likely that this is a product that they don’t already have (but I guarantee that they want it).

So, you’ve got a pool player on your gift list and you have no idea what to get them? If you’re looking to get the biggest bang for your buck on your gift giving, these are three excellent low-cost gifts for the pool player in your life.

First of all, we’ve got The Magic Rack. The Magic Rack is one of those awesome “why didn’t I think of that” type inventions. It’s essentially a small, plastic shape that is laid directly on the pool table. The pool balls are then placed directly on the Magic Rack, thus forming a perfect rack without the need for an actual wooden rack. This is a superb gift since it’s lightweight which means it’s cheap to ship to your recipient, easy to use so they won’t have to read any instructions, and it’s one of those things that most players don’t typically buy for themselves (but they almost always want one).

Next up is a set of Pocket Reducers. These particular reducers are from Practice Pro. Pocket Reducers are portable plastic devices are designed to fit right over the pool table pocket and reduce the overall width that a ball has to make it into the pocket. The idea here being to reduce pocket size and, thus, increase the accuracy needed to make your balls. If you know a pool player who’s always looking for ways to improve their game, a set of Pocket Reducers is an excellent choice.

Finally, we have a Pro Cup Cue Ball. This ball looks identical to any other cue ball with one exception; there are precision red dots dispersed over the surface. The goal of the dots is to give the player an idea of how the the ball spins after it has been struck. This is another great device for the pool player who’s always practicing at improving their game.

This is a video response to YouTube user Alisma12 who sent me the following message:

“I watched your video on selecting the right pool cue, and I wanted to know can you make a short video shooting with a J.Pechauer and explaing some pros and cons like balance, vibration, hit, sound, and feel? I would greatly appreciate it!”

Well, Alisma12, you asked for it, you got it. Today we’re going to test a JP Pechauer cue. This particular cue has ebony and pearl inlays, an irish linen wrap and uses maple wood with a rosewood stain. Pechauer cues have a special joint and this particular cue has a 12.75 shaft diameter.

All Pechauer cues are very nice in general. This particular cue has a nice, soft sound to it. It’s very solid feeling when you hit with it. You can see in this video that we’ve set up a ruler at the other end of the table to test deflection. The ruler is marked with 1″ increments up to 3″.

You can see when I hit it with softly with right English, the deflection is a little over 1″. Hitting it a little firmer we get about 2″. Firmer still and we see that it goes a little over 2″.

The thing about Pechauer cues is that they all play very well. They’re very solid cues and I’d recommend one to literally any player. If your budget allows for it, you can’t go wrong with one.

Let’s learn how to shoot a Masse’ shot. (Pronounced like “Mass-Ay”) For those who don’t know what a Masse’ shot is, it’s basically a curved shot. Imagine that you want to make a ball into the pocket but there’s another ball in your way. You can’t shoot straight through it so you’ll need to curve around it. That’s exactly what the Masse’ shot it. A curved shot. It’s almost like that cool bullet curving technique in Wanted.

In the video example above, I’ve got a ball that I want to make into the corner pocket. Unfortunately, there is another ball in the way and that makes it impossible to make my shot straight-in. By using Masse’ I can curve the cue ball around that obstructing ball and make my object ball in the pocket.

What you first want to do is to elevate the butt of your cue. By doing that, I’m going to make the cue ball deflects. I’m going to hit the cue ball on the right hand side because I want it to curve to the right. It’s going to deflect to the left but it’s going to curve to the right. So, ideally the english will grab and take it around to my object ball. Take your shot and watch the magic happen.

Lots of people ask what that “weird looking plastic thing” is for when they’re playing pool. It’s called a Bridge and it can help you do some pretty cool things.

The bridge is basically used for shots that you can’t reach all the way across the table. For example, if I wanted to shoot the 1 ball and cut it in, I can’t really reach far enough to do that on my own. I’ll need a little help and that’s exactly what the bridge is for.

Some people may call it the Cheater’s Stick but it’s a real tool and it can certainly help you to make some shots. There are problems to using a bridge though; for the most part, you don’t want to be holding it in your hand while shooting your shot. You’ll generally want it on the table and want it pinned.

The only time you wouldn’t want it pinned is when the cue ball is really close to the shot and you had to shoot it in. If you did it that way, the cue ball would bounce back too quickly and you wouldn’t be able to remove the bridge in time.

Generally though, you’re a bit farther back from the cue ball and you don’t have to worry about it. Sometimes you’ll want to put a slight angle on it like I’m doing in the video above. That angle will hold the shaft of the cue a little bit better and keep it from being too loose.