First let me thank all of you for continuing on with my articles.
From the volume of email that I'm receiving I can see not only that
they are enjoyed- they are also provoking thought. And if you stand
in a place where the articles sit you know that some of the provoked
thought is centered around myself. Because of this I've been getting
to the local rooms to be accessible for "questioning." So far I've
only gotten to speak with 2 people in this regard. One is the best
one pocket player that Oregon offers. (Oregon only gets to offer
this quality because he's visiting) He wants to play so we're gonna'
get that done. I'll call him MR. BILL. The other one was with Mr.
Bill and I'll call him.........Dale. And Dale is the one that had
the kind of talk with me that I am now going to the poolrooms to make
possible. For Dale, he is discussing a difficult thing; and the
first step in coming over is complex. I thank him here for that
moment. As we spoke there were a few who remained angry and "away."
We will have to wait and see what they glean from Dale. I wouldn't
want to go through the debriefing they're going to give him. And
they could have done as he did and talk. It'll work though because
I'll be back and open to a second interview. Here is my gift to you
in this season of giving. In order for you to be able to make sense
of me you would first have to know whether or not I am skilled in
the thing that you value so much- and from there you cannot make
sense of me without knowing how I feel about having that skill and
from there you would have to know how I feel about competing. And
then you'd have to know how I feel about competing with you. Some
of you in Oregon are left to sift through a few gambling stories
about me with your local heroes. Come and find out the rest of the
story. We can name the names and the results. The next gift I'll
give you is: that you don't know how I feel about the things that
you discuss. You project onto all of this the way that you would
feel if you were spoken of as I'm sometimes spoken of. The way that
you respond is not the only possible response to what you see as
compliments. One of your angers is that I exist without you. You
cannot insult me--no matter. And you leave this article with new
wisdom as you read that you cannot compliment me either. You see
my friend both of those come from within. Words are a form of
currency and come in various denominations. You cannot go to China
and decide for the Chinese people what your dollar is worth to them.
You do not get to come to me and dictate the value that I place on
what you say. If you said to me that I was the greatest player on
earth and you said it in Swahili, we can't transact because I don't
know what value to place on the words. If you said in Hungarian
that I was the worst player on earth, we have a like circumstance.
I cannot put value to the words. Forget about me and take this new
way out into your life. It is a skill of absolute value.
I've got a joke for you. "What is the difference between a pool
player and a pepperoni pizza??"
--a pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four.
And now to the meat of this article. I was only going to give you a
trick shot this month and call it a day. Then with each poolroom
visit something went on that I think you'll have interest in and
be entertained by. After the above visit I went to Hot Shots in
Beaverton, Oregon. There's a young woman named Alisa working
there that has asked me to instruct her and we plan to start in
January. She asked me about a trick shot that she heard about and
I agreed to show it. I tell you in advance that it's a McGill
original and you may never have a chance to master this one. Not
because you couldn't master it, you could. It's not likely because
in order to practice it you'd have to lock the room owner in the
janitor's closet first. Here is a description of the shot. Place a
9-ball in the jaws of the corner pocket. Stand parallel to that same
end rail and away from the table (the side of the table you're on is
opposite the side that the nine is sitting on) you should be
standing 10 to 12 feet away and 3 to 4 feet behind the extended
short rail line. NOW-bounce the cue ball off of the floor and go
three rails to make the nine. I am at about 85% efficiency on this
shot. I made it for her on the third shot. She was shocked and
amazed. She just kept laughing and didn't know what to say. Everyone
else in the room froze and acted as though nothing had happened.
They went out of their way to act as though it was nothing!? I just
want to put that in here so maybe it'll look stupid to continue
doing it. It is one of the most difficult things that I face. Why
do you do it? Pat Sheehan "Man of the Cloth" (see page 12) had me
on his radio show for nearly a year as a weekly guest. When he heard
about the shot from a caller he rushed me to a sponsors room after
the show and I made it for him on the second and third shots. The
best I've done with it locally is 4 times in a row at Cue's
Billiard's in Gresham, Oregon. Then I was having a class and
exhibition last night with a new student named Micke and a young
man named Jason. (Jason got nickname "monkeys" because he works at
the primate research center) I will describe the shot that they had
a reaction to that only my students seem to understand or find
humor in. It's the shot that ends the class and I wind up standing
alone and with an open time slot. They just leave.
It is fun to see that reaction and I would still rather they stay
and ...........well stay and do what, I don't know now that I have
thought about it. Here's the shot: stand at the nameplate and place
the 5-ball frozen on the rail and on the 1st diamond to your right.
Now move it to the left 1 object ball width. It is better for you to
move it to the left more that a ball width, say a ball and a third,
ball and a quarter, etc. Now go to the opposite short rail and face
the nameplate. Place the cue ball midway between the nearest edge of
the pocket on your right and the 1st diamond. Now we are going to
move the cue ball out from the rail any distance that you like to
bridge from to a maximum of 8 inches. And from here we cut the 5
ball into the right corner pocket! Last night this went on the
second shot. I call this shot "night-night."
Next month I am going to either write a mini-manual for instructors
or about poolroom etiquette and communication. I'll let you decide
by email vote which one it'll be. poolclass@webtv.net I also offer
an instructors course at the school. You can come to hone your
present skills or come and learn to instruct pool.
You cannot know from the articles that I stutter. Cannot talk a
lick. It's like I couldn't get a word smoothly across a sentence
made of ball bearings. Sometimes I say to players that seem
surprised or uneasy -- "I know we just met 'n all but could you
possibly spare a vowel?" or I ask if I can buy a vowel. Sometimes
I tell'em that although they think that I stutter I don't, it's
because I'm dubbed in English. And the all time favorite is that
it ain't stuttering, I'm just hooked on phonics!
Time for me to go. I'm gonna email my friend Jay Krause and see
what he remembers about our road trip to San Fransisco and Palace
Billiards. We may be able to get a good article and story out of
it. Jay works with Nabisco and he would play with me nearly every
day after work and we had a ball. The problem is that he would come
in after work and have a smoother stroke than I had. It was
maddening. And more so maddening that he couldn't see it! One
of the things that I say to up and coming players regularly is
that you can't beat us after work. I thought it even less likely
that after work someone could have a smoother stroke than us.
"Ten years lost deep into the forest-great laughter at the edge of
the lake."
Thank you and do the work
-- McGill
The Pool Whisperer
Settle in, cause I'm gonna' get right to the thing. Last month's
article has gotten many kinds of responses. Most of them are from
people wanting to learn more about me and about pool. Those people
and myself are gettin' it done. Others are having a different
response, and I have a paragraph of text especially for you.
Listen......no one that is miserable about the article has contacted
me. No one has asked me what I think in regards to what was said.
One young man went so far as to say to Jay, "I bet you're sorry you
said those things about Lance, huh?" He remains anonymous in this
writing and he's the perfect example of what I want to illustrate.
He came to my school with a friend. He left and told everyone that
I refused to teach him. He never asked me if I would, all that he
was interested in was having me show him how well I play. He came
here because two different people told him stories of how many racks
I had run for them during a class. One in 9-ball and the other story
in 1-pocket. So now he has even more info and becomes even more
negative? I don't make sales calls with my skill and every student
I have I completely enjoy. I intend to maintain that standard for
myself and the people that workout here. There is a lot of negativity
around this and no one is coming directly to me. (There are even
parts of the negativity that I'm fully responsible for and I'd like
to tell you about that - all you gotta do is come and ask.) I'm
hearing second hand about how I can't play, and action, and ...takin'
me up on it, and on and on. One man is skilled enough and has
enough seasoning to offer a closed-door session.
Now, that guy knows some stuff! Do any of you know about the old
thunderbird car with the "suicide doors?" That's the kind of doors
I put on the school. Suicide doors - even if that chaps your hide
you gotta admit it's funny. So for you new people that are not
coming here to learn because you're hearing all of the nonsense.
Come and ask me. I'll tell you what part is true and what isn't.
I don't run the ad in ON THE BREAK so that it'd be more difficult
to find me. What I will say about it herein is simply this. None
of them said that I'm "The best player that you have ever seen."
They said that "They" have ever seen. Beyond this I have no
intention of discussing with you what someone else thinks. I'm
not an angry man and you don't have to agree with me to be at the
school. My school is an open forum for thought. Over the next
few months I am going to tell you how I got such an extraordinary
level of skill. It is not a pretty story and I am certain that
you would not exchange your present level of skill for what I have
lived.
Before we get to the exciting part of this let me first give you
the promised high english or follow information. For the basics
you can go to any book. Follow is the easiest stroke to learn
because it's what the cue ball would do naturally if left alone.
(But we don't leave it alone do we?) for those of you that are new
to pool all you need to get an understanding of is the importance
of adjusting for english in your bridge hand instead of raising or
lowering the butt end of the cue stick. Most raise the bridge so
that the cue tip is above the center of the cue ball. (This takes
the palm and meat of their hand off of the table.) Once you're
skilled, that will work fine. While you're new, learn to get low
or high english from you bridge hand as it rests flat on the
table.
For the rest of you world-beaters, here's the high top technique for
the month. Place an object ball approximately 1 and 1/2 ball
widths from the long rail and halfway between the corner pocket
and the first diamond. Cue ball placement is as follows: line your
cue stick up with the object ball and the first diamond past the
opposite side pocket-place your cue ball along that line a distance
from the rail that you are comfortable using FLAT rail bridge. Now
use high right or left English and be generous with the speed that
you choose. Either right away or within a few "feel" strokes you'll
find the cue ball taking on the same effect that we would want with
draw - except that we don't have to risk the miscue that often comes
with long draw shots! As you begin to master this shot begin
moving the object ball further from the rail. Then blend that with
moving the cue ball up and down the rail. In going up the rail
you'll find this stroke more difficult and down the rail it'll be
easier. It is possible to use this technique with the cue ball as
far up the rail as you want to go. Technically we are not using
follow, we're using spin and a perfect amount of follow and speed.
The shot seems to work best at a touch above center. And even if
you use low, you'll need so much less low, that miscues will become
nearly nonexistent on this type of shot. In Mcgill's, the cue ball
is referred to as the stone. Techniques like this are known as
romancing the stone. Have fun.
The Three Motivations:
Learning, Practicing, and Playing. One of the largest reasons I have
the stroke that I do is found in the title of this article. I have
three distinct motivations for being at a pool table. Notice that
I didn't say, three motivations for "playing" I said I have three
motivations for being at the table.
Motivation #1: LEARNING- when I arrive at the table
specifically to learn, I come to the table and learn. Nothing
takes me
from that purpose. Nothing. Not who's watching, not gambling,
nothing takes me from what has motivated me toward the table at
that time. Whether I'm alone or playing someone, I continue along
that path. Once that I know that I'm out, I do one of
two things. I find out what the balls will do if I just hit'em, or
I find out what it's possible for me to make'em do. The rest is to
watch every shot. Everything that happens at the table can be
reproduced. And everything that happens will be of future use to
you. even jumping the cue ball off of the table and on to the floor
will be of use to you. A miscue will be of use to you. So if
you're missing shots and looking away, turn around and watch.
See what happens and think about a way to use the very thing you
saw in an 8-ball game, then a 9-ball game, and then a 1- pocket
game. Watch the worst players in the room and see what the balls
do. Log all of it and recreate what you can. If you're doing
this and are tempted to watch the best players you will defeat the
whole purpose. Find the worst players and sit to watch. You will
come away with a world of new possibilities. "The
least creative player is the player most fearful of
failure."
Motivation #2: PRACTICING- when I went to work I had a ratio
that would be impossible for you to live up to. For every hour that
I was playing for money, I would have in 100 hours of work. That
means that I had to put in 2,000 hours before I went to a match.
(planning for no more than 20 hours of work) I played 90 hours
every week. 12 hours per weekday and 15 hours Saturday and Sunday.
If you work another job or you make your living at pool- get a
ratio for yourself. Once you have it keep it, it's just one more
extension of management skills. I choose a thing to practice
EVERYTIME I'M AT A POOL TABLE. On a day that I chose to work
on force draw- I shot force draw every single time that it was
possible. Not every time that it left me a
shot, not every time that I would win the rack with it, I shot
what I had decided to practice. Every time that it was possible
to leave myself a force draw shot I played that position. Have a
purpose and have intent. My students often get to play with me and
they can all tell within an hour or so what I'm working on that
particular day. Sometimes I play shooting everything with high
english, other times I only use banks and kicks the entire day.
Most of the time I play through without ever playing position.
All of this is practicing. When practice is the motivation -I
practice.
The 3rd. Motivation: PLAYING: and that means wanting to
win. Please refer to the management article in THE BREAK
October issue. If you're an instructor and play pool with your
students I suggest that you blend all three of the motivations
every time you're on the table with them. You will come away
with a stronger arsenal and they will see
exponentially, more possibilities.
The language that I use is referred to in nearly every email
that I get. A lot of people seem to enjoy it and see the humor
around it. So I'll get back to puttin some in each article like
I said I would. You got romancing the stone, which is one of my
favorites. Sometimes you can get a "customer" to go to others
and borrow more money to play further. They even go to the ATM.
You get to choose the time, just make sure it's the perfect time
and yell out, "DEAD MAN WALKING." If you inflect it right
you'll never hear more laughter in a poolroom.
Thank you for following my articles
Do the work
-- McGill
The Pool Whisperer
"Learn to play....have class."
"THE BEST IN THE GAME...MAY NOT BE IN THE GAME"
What you are about to read is not an article; it is word for word
as spoken by Jimmy G- a billiard enthusiast; promoter; pool room
owner; professional gambler; and a man known, enjoyed and respected
on the pro tour. It is in response to and in support of the article
that Paul Marquez wrote in July. ["Who the hell is lance McGill...
and who cares?"] Jimmy G's words have gone from tape to paper
without edit. I don't know jimmy's reason for wanting this; I
do know that the others want to be heard and that they are relieved
to have a volume of support for what they have long argued.
Darin Walding, Jay Reed, Jeremy Nelson, and Scott Barnard have all
taken part; my commentary will follow in the form of a suggested
workout-
JAY REID: I have known Lance McGill for 11 years now and I
want to say that this man has shown me nothing but good from day
one. He is a blessing to me and I feel very fortunate to have him
in my life. I am thankful that I took the time to get to know him
it would have been my loss had I not. I have learned a great deal
from him as well, both in pool and in life. He has such a
compassionate caring way towards people; he is one that will
truly sacrifice and go the extra mile for you. And the answer is
yes in case you want to know. This man has the most powerful
stroke I have ever seen. We only gambled once- races to 9 for
$20.00 [because he liked me] he was running racks and as
uncomfortable as it is to see a race to 9 go by without shooting
what was worse is that a lot of the racks looked alike and even
worse than that he didn't look like he was doing anything. To
this day I can still tell you my exact words to him and to this
day I still cannot believe they came flying out of my mouth.
Here's what I said. Get this now- I said, "that's ok, you don't
have to hit anymore balls for me" - highly unlikely for a pool
player with my pride and ego. Thank you for your time and teaching
McGill.
DARIN WALDING: I founded the billiard club at Portland
State University, I placed high in the collegiate nationals, and
I have played Mike Massey, Earl Strickland, Nick Varner, Johnny
Archer, Jose Parica, and I have seen more than that. I
understand the difficulty that may come from what I say here.
And what I say is this, Lance McGill plays one pocket better than
Reyes and Parica combined; he plays straight pool like Mosconi did;
he plays 9-ball better than Earl [it's called level eleven] and he
plays billiards like Hoppe. That is of course all disputable and
it is my opinion. What I can tell you is that he is the only player
having something like this written about him and that alone is a
clear indication. After 11 years of extraordinary instruction I
see and realize that he has gone beyond a place that I can get to-
I am pleased to leave him there.
SCOTT BERNARD: I'm one of the top bar box players in
Portland and have enough ability and experience on the 9 footers
to stand with most players. I was fortunate enough to begin my pool
playing experience being sponsored by Jimmy G., because of that
I got a lot of attention and quality instruction from the top local
players. I have gone to the major tournaments. I have exposure
and know what pool can look like when it's played on a world class
level. For me this is an easy matter. "Lance McGill is the best
pool player that I have ever seen. That's all I want to say."
JIMMY G- I know every modern player. Not from tapes or
what I've heard. I know them and I know what the problem here
may well become. Lance McGill is happy where he is and won't go
out of his way to prove any of this. Him proving it to you or for
you is none of my business. I want to tell you what I know and
what I've seen, most importantly that I saw it for 3 years
straight EVERY NIGHT. He was not "in the zone." He lives there-
that means that often I was watching this level of play for 2-3
months straight each and every night! He would go out of town
for a few days and when he returned he got right back to work.
When he worked he was there from before open to close. He had a
key and would usually be there when I arrived and it would be
rare that he left before I did. This man was giving it 12-16
hours every day. One day he was breaking and racking when I
arrived. Breaking, looking at the result and then rack and break
again. It was about 11am when I arrived; at 2am he was still
breaking and racking. He was doing a job. He would send
someone next door for Chinese food and stop to eat, make a few
jokes with us, and then right back to work. That level of work
is unheard of and what makes it worse is this: he already had,
by far, the most powerful and effective break I had seen in my
life! And from there he saw fit to do that level of work! I may
be the only poolroom owner in the history of poolrooms to go over
and ask a player to please "take a little off of that break?"
That was on the gold crown with a light right above. When he was
working on table #6 where the light was in the ceiling he would
hit the ceiling over and over until he wanted to stop and use the
gold crown. One day I asked him to not hit my ceiling anymore
and he never did it again. He was also considerate enough to put
a swatch of billiard cloth under the cue ball to save wear on
my cloth. I sat and asked him about the break that day and he
showed me. "When I break Jimmy, if I get to play the one ball
here next [he points to the lower left hand pocket] I'm out. He
did it a few times including the run out and then he broke and
showed me the one ball next in THAT corner. He was making
between 3 and 5 balls on the break and just pointed to the
obvious out. And he did it over and over again. Anybody could
win with that break. The more fascinating thing is that all of
his students have more powerful breaks than the rest of us so he
can also teach it. The rest of this is easy and I've seen people
and students of his argue this until they were blue. I doubt that
they will have that argument with me. Varner, Sigel, Strickland,
Archer, whoever you want to name- Lance McGill has the most
powerful stroke in the game of pool, the most accurate and the
most powerful. If you have questions I am known and easy to
find-
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