Kaizen

by Keith McCready

 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes, and it is the same when it comes to the image of pool.  The sport itself is complex with the various and sundry games, such as 3-ball, 7-ball, 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball, 15-ball rotation (a Filipino favorite), o­ne-pocket, 14.1, banks, and 3-cushion billiards, making this o­ne of the barriers and challenges that our pool industry continues to face today as they struggle to seduce the non-pool-playing public.  Pool's image even within its own subculture is painted with a myriad of judgments and prejudgments.  Anyone who frequents the billiards news groups will see this multi-colored rainbow of opinions.
 One question consistently asked is:  How does o­ne become a good pool player?  The explanation can be found in the Japanese word "kaizen," which means "continual improvement"—slow, incremental, but constant.  Let me share with you a kaizen event I encountered o­n the road.
 I had just got done playing in a tournament in Rockford, Illinois, and decided to drive to a poolroom in Chicago.  There were two players who were known to frequent this spot, Bugs and Piggy Wiggy, and I was hoping to entice o­ne of these great phenoms into a game of banks.
 Piggy Wiggy is a petite, quiet, and unassuming guy, always brandishing a warm and welcoming smile o­n his face, but he has a dead eye for a bank shot and was o­ne of the most feared bank-shot experts of this era and maybe even still today.  I knew playing either o­ne of them, Piggy or Bugs, wasn't going to be easy, but it was Piggy who stepped up to the plate when I arrived in the Windy City.  He was a bank-shot mechanic, and me not possessing the skill set that I have today in banking, I knew I had to play my "A" game.
 We matched up in a game of long-rack banks, and Piggy spotted me a ball.  Piggy had to make nine balls, and I had to make eight.  The crowd drew bigger and perched themselves o­n the rail around our table.  Piggy, the hometown favorite, had his own fan club.  When I pocketed a ball, you could hear a pin drop, but when Piggy banked o­ne in successfully, the gallery erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.
 The game progressed, and in true Piggy Wiggy style, he would twist and warp these bank shots in with precision and grace.  He looked like the ultimate pool machine.  Piggy was feeling pretty confident and was smirking at the backers, laughing and giggling, as I struggled to pocket balls.  Everybody was having a grand old time except me as I sat o­n my stool, quiet as a church mouse (a rare occurrence), and in no time, Piggy needed o­ne ball and I needed seven.
 One thing I learned from watching Piggy in this kaizen blitzkrieg was how to twist a bank shot.  You aim real low o­n the cue ball with extreme left- or right-hand english, generating as much spin as you can and choking the cue ball, which means a little bit of a draw, hitting the object ball a little full and letting the english take its course.  
 The winning strategy is knowing how hard to hit these bank shots with the right touch.  The touches are very important.  Actually, the more you choke the cue ball with english, the more rotation you are going to get o­n the object ball.  So a good way to practice this shot is to work out with the short-rail banks and learn how much you can turn the object ball.  As you progress, when a long-rail bank shot presents itself, you will have a better feel.  Feeling the shot is most important of all, and this will come up in games quite a bit.  These shots are mostly feel shots, and the mastery of this bank shot comes with a lot of practice and recognizing how much you can turn the object ball into the pocket.

(Cue ball hitting the 7 ball straight o­n with bottom right-spin english, a long-rail bank shot occurring in the game of long-rack banks)

 Piggy had left me o­ne shot, a twist shot in this game of long-rack banks, and he said, "If you make this son of a biscuit, you can take my watch."  I looked at this twisted bank shot, and I said, "Seven ball underneath, Pig," after watching him make this shot consistently throughout our game.  As the 7 ball flew in, much to my amazement, Piggy started taking off his watch.  His backer was chewing a big old Cuban cigar.  When I popped this bank in, Piggy's backer about swallowed his cigar and began choking.  It was o­ne of the funniest things you’d ever see.  Everybody rushed over to this poor gent and tried to assist him.  I thought they were going to have to perform the Heimlich maneuver, as the poor guy was gagging.
 I was always taught you never bite the hand that feeds you, and after this kaizen event transpired, unbeknownst to Piggy, I left Chicago with more than I came with.  I would not accept Piggy's watch because thanks to Piggy and Bugs, my bank pool game is where it is today.
 Knowing how to twist these balls in will improve your game because these shots consistently pop up in not o­nly banks but in every single game in our wonderful world of pocket billiards.  So master this spin, and remember that practice makes perfect, and you too may get to enjoy that winning grin, like my friend, Piggy Wiggy.

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