In my time here at the Insider, I've been something of a human guinea pig, trying mostly things I'm not particularly good at. I had never taken a yoga class before the one I wrote about on these pages, and I consider myself among the world's worst dancers, even after completing a square dancing class.
But guess what? I may be even worse at billiards than all the other ventures combined.
I know, I know, you're rolling your eyes and assuming I've written this intro simply for dramatic effect. If only that were true. In reality, I was the dude who avoided the pool table at all costs in college in order to save myself unnecessary embarrassment. My idea of meeting girls wasn't getting stomped by them in a game of eight-ball.
Let's put it this way: I would have been equally adept with a candlestick and a pool stick (read: I don't even know how to hold the darn thing correctly).
This is what renowned billiards instructor Ken Tewksbury of The Institute of Billiard Sciences was presented with this week. I pegged the likelihood of him improving my game in such a short time at somewhere between impossible and oh-heck-I-quit.
Boy was I wrong.
I made more good shots in 20 minutes with Tewksbury than I had in my previous pool-playing career. And all he did was watch me take a shot, correct a few technical stroke issues and give me a few pointers about where to aim.
Voila, a significantly less terrible pool player!
In reality, it was remarkable. By making a change as simple as altering the last thing I looked at before hitting the cue ball – the ball you intend to hit and not the cue itself – I was able to hit shots that previously would have taken 10 tries. He also guided me on where to aim when hitting off the rail, another task I completed successfully.
If I'd have spent a full hour there, who knows what may have happened. The truth of the matter is Tewksbury's approach is easy to grasp, fun to implement and inarguably effective.
Anyway, if you need me this weekend, I'll be in the pe bar in the town I where went to college.
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