38 Audra Quinn FI pack to Schoot Part One Set, Pause and Finish are the A, B, C’s of stroke execution. At the nd of October, I attended Tom ‘Simpson's “Beat People With a Stick” three- day clinic in Warren, Mich. Let me jut start, by saying, "Woo." Fo thre days straight, 10 ‘am-6 pam. 1 did nothing but end my mind faround, scribble notes on, and agonize over the game of pool. There was litle time for cating, and, with the Detoit Tigers in the World Series, litle ime for sleeping, and ‘even when Idi, those colored spheres were bounding around my beain as in the fame “Pong.” I liken the experience 10 Spending three days downloading. volume afer volume of Encyclopedia Billiardtanica ‘nto te hard drive of my mind. Of course, that process was ot without its backups and T walked into Hal of Fame Billiants witha few maest goals: Work ou the kinks in my stroke, pocket balls more consistently, and Team exactly what that wily cu ball is going to do, Tom greeted mea spry man about $0. He sick me as a mix of Bill Muay, but serious, and Ed Harris, but with hit. Tom {BCA Master instructor (one of nine inthe world), © 20-year student of the martial art Aikido, and the founder in 1994 of Elephant Balls, Ld, through whieh he invented two very handy deviees: the Elephant Practice Bills and the Ghostball Aim Trainer, Tom directed me ta table to warm up, and 1,of course, inconspicuously checked out my classmates” as [Screwed my cue together, They ranged from 20s 0 60s — seven men and one other woman besides myself It did rt take Tong to realize that was, by far, the youngest and least experienced player inthe func, Fortunately, the class is set upto be completely non-competitive, Each student has his or her own fable, and there is not a Whole Tot of student-to-student interaction, At this ime, [met Tom's assistant instructor, Mark MeKelley, Mark is Viewam veteran who lost his right leg in batle, but in his ‘wheelchair he can scoot around 2 pool tale like an eight-rail bank shot. Right off the bat, every student had their stroke videotaped, executing a series of shots. My temperature rose about 15 Gegtees as I got down on my shot withthe feamera directly behind me. “I'm sure that’s a flatering angle.” 1 thought to myself, Upon. introductions, everyone's Stories were fairly similar “I've been play- ing since I was § years old,” “I'm just not BD - DECEMBER 2008 getting any better any- more,” “I'm actually setting worse.” Cheryl the other female stu. dent, told me how she found the game after her divorce and it pro Vided her with a much needed release. “You ‘ean picture anybody's Face on those balls that you want.” she laughed. “The first of the three days was devoted 10 what Tom ealled “Rock Solid Fundamentals.” ‘Tom's method. is. Set, Pause, Finish, SPR, lke in sunscreen In the capacity of pol, it could also. stand. for “stoke protection’ factor,” because it blocks out any habits that can be harmful to yourstroke, Most people compare the swing to a pendulum, but Tom said a ‘medieval catapult sa better analogy — only forward motion. Here's the breakcown: SET; Using an open bridge (Tom says it reveals stroke flaws better, and provides a better view of the shot), anchor down your Jan and get ll of the aiming idgeting/prac tice strokesleye-brow contorting out of the way, Before you execute the final bac! sing, check Your stick-to-cue ball contact print 10 make sure i's exactly where you PAUSE: Once you're ready 10 shoot, employ slow backswing, using your tricep. “The pause i the slight stop at the back of the bbackswing, as it transitions to the hit stroke. Te doesn’t have to be long, in fact, most peo- ple won't even notice you're doing it Swing Forward though us of your bicep. The strat ‘ey behind i is simplicity. By using just one ‘moving part at atime, you reduce the ppor- tunity for error. FINISH: After you contact the ball, your rip hand should come through and hit your chest, while your tip ress onthe cloth, about 446 inches beyond where the object ball stat- ced. The finish is key to executing a “stroke” {Gmooth acceleration through the cue ball) as ‘opposed to a “poke” (stopping the forward ‘motion upon eue-ball contact, which a lar of people do) “Freeze” isa fourth, implied step, Which forces you to stay dowin and check ‘Tom Simpson is the stroke doctor. yourself out! Tom calls this mini alist, eliient stroke “The Magi Move.” We practiced it by using fone of ‘his. Elephant training cue balls, hit ting it the length of the table (no pressure to pocket ball), over and fover again 10 bum it into our muscles, like cows being branded. ‘Our homework was 10 practice the magic ‘move, sans stick, for at Teast 15. minutes that right. I looked a lle sily doing it atthe bar with friends and family while watching the Tigers later that night, but you can do it any: where. Try itright now. Does your rip hand touch your chest? If not, you're not follow ing through. Is your chin over your imag nary stick? Hf not, that’s & problem, and 1 should know Upon viewing our videos later (a lite mor tifying, but very valuable), Tom and the rest fof the group identified that my alignment ‘was about four inches tothe right of where it should've been, Everything has to bein line ‘with the “target line.” including the entre stroking arm (hand/lbow shoulder) as well asthe stick, bridge, chin, and aiming eye, Of ‘course, Cosch Lary had tried to tell me that too — it just makes sense — but then why does it fel so awhard? ‘AS soon as I Ted up the stick with my chin, fel ike my stroke had vo come around ‘my body. n trying to remedy this, ried con torting my body, crining my neck, varying my stance, even mounting my stick like a witch, (Chad to do something to counteract the mounting frustration, as everyone else ‘was moving on fnew concepts, While I was with my stoke!) By the end of “Rock Solid Fundamentals, the only thing that felt rock solid was the knot in my shoulder. Tom assured me that before I eft, he'd ave my chin over tha cue wasn't so sue Stay tuned for next month's installment of Audra Quinn's pool school adventure, “Let the Healing Begin.” For info on Tom Simon's clinics, visit www pooelnies.com,