A discussion of my weapons of choice
At some point in most pool players’ careers, the question is asked of them: what’s in the case? As I am sure you are all just dying to know, I’ll let you know what I carry—of course, as an instructor, I feel obligated to include my training tools as well. If you have any desire to teach, you might be interested in some of these items. If not, I apologize in advance. I promise next month’s article will be much more interesting!
First, the cue case:
The cue case itself is a CueSight 4×8 rolling case. I have collected signatures from some of the top pro pool players, including Johnny Archer, Nick Varner, Jeanette Lee, Shane Van Boening, Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, and about 17 others.
I have been a fan of Cuetec Cues for quite some time, so that’s what I play with. My most recent acquisition is a Cuetec CT735 Pool Cue with R360 shaft. I have an older Cuetec model with a Thunderbolt shaft as a backup cue, and a Cuetec Break/Jump cue. I also have a Frog jump cue given to me personally by Robin Dodson.
Of course, I have the standard items most people carry:
- Two Kamui 1.21 chalk cubes, as well as a few backup Predator chalks
- A couple of Sir Joseph gloves. I have a Predator glove that I use most often, but the Sir Joseph’s are excellent gloves as well. I have loaned them out on many occasions.
- Two Ultimate Tip tools (another popular loan-out)
- 3-slot Q Claw
- Pro Justa-Bridge
- Molded Bridge Head (you know, the one that looks like antlers)
- Leather chalk pouch I wear on my belt.
- Kamui Gator Grip: This is what I use mainly for my tip maintenance.
- Various coins (pennies for use in One Pocket, and a roll of quarters just in case)
- Q Wiz shaft cleaner / polisher
I also have a training case, containing my arsenal of training materials. The case itself is a Stanley FatMax tool case. It is very cool, and has plenty of room for everything:
- Laptop computer & camera: I use these to do video analysis of your fundamentals—stance and stroke for the most part. It is a tremendous tool to help you see where you might need some improvement!
- Several copies of Progressive Practice Drills by The San Francisco Billiard Academy. This is a fantastic tool to help identify and subsequently improve different parts of your game. Thanks, Bob Jewett!
- Several training cue balls, including: Jim Rempe Training Ball and Elephant Practice Billiard Balls
- Dress-maker’s chalk: This is very cool. It is a retractable chalk pencil that allows me to draw on the table without permanently ruining the cloth. Bob Jewett turned me on to this, and it’s a fantastic tool. It’s also perfect for marking the rack location on the table for a game of Straight Pool.
- Two different Ghost Ball Trainers: There are many different ways to teach aiming. Some like the ghost ball method, and this helps them visualize the ghost ball.
- Total Shot Trainer: In addition to teaching the ghost ball aiming method, this helps you visualize cue ball paths after the cue ball strikes the object ball. Developed by Nick Varner.
- Texas Bumps (texasbumps.com) game set. On top of being a very fun game, it’s a great way to teach players to shoot with precise touch. Another Joe Tucker innovation.
- Box of business cards
- Box of paper reinforcements. These are those rings you put on a hole-punched paper to keep it from ripping. They are absolutely perfect for marking ball position on the table. They don’t interfere with your shot, are easy to remove, and allow you to place the ball in the same spot numerous times for practice.
That’s about it for my equipment. I have a few other tools as well, but hey, I can’t give away ALL of my training secrets!
