Poole Th Noges Say 2

7/30/2019 Poole Th Noges Say 2

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Jabari Edwards

10.31.2012

Engl 1101

Annotated Bibliography

MLA Citation

Berg, Joseph. "The History of Pool Game." Articlesbase.com. Articlesbase.com, 17 Sept.

2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. .

Annotation

Joseph Berg gives a short but accurate description of the history of pool, where it originated in

Northern Europe and France. Berg gives a small amount of detail of how pool progressed from

the 15th century to now, giving small details that Pool was played outdoors and maces and ivory

carved pool balls were used to play.

Evaluation

This source is useful in terms of opening up with a slight history of where pool sports actually

came from. It allows me to give a background in my essay before proceeding in the observations

involving my discourse community.

MLA Citation #2

Billing, Billie, and Megan Ratner. Pool Pointers. New York: Avon, 1992. Print.

Annotation
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Billie Billing and Megan Ratner create a guide of tips for the beginner learning how to play pool,

ranging from the stances, the bridges, and ways to play offensively and defensively. This book

mainly contains the neccessary steps for a beginner pool player to get better, and to provide

though processes on how he or she should accomplish those goals.

Key Quotes

Pool Players and musicians have a lot in common; both vocations demand time, dvotion to the

point of obsession, and practice.

Pool has long been shrouded in a cloak of mystery with skills passed down haphazardly. My

aim is to open the game up to everyone, to clue you in to what makes good shooting the best

form of entertainment I know.

Evaluation

This source is about as equally useful as Pool Cool, which allows me to draw points from both

books and create a small section of discussing several points of pool, ranging from stances to

bridges to tables to language.

MLA Citation #3

Rushin, Steve. Pool Cool. New York: Pocket, 1990. Print.Pool Cool

Annotation

Steve Rushin gives sets of people looking to fit in with the pool community. He takes the ap-

proach of placing the reader inside the poolroom doors, and covers many of the literacy terms


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I consider this to be an important source, as it deals with the current rules and regulations of the

discourse community that Ive decided to follow, the Uncc Pool club. Many of the rules that they

play by are the APA rules, and I made the conclusion that the background of the association that

dictates many of their rules is necessary in order to learn how to play pool.

Jabari Edwards

11.26.12

Engl 1101

Literacy ethnography

Pool games have been considered a very popular table sport in America since the 20th

century. What used to be a sport that was reserved for the nobles and royalty has now become a

sport that everyday people can have access to in lounges. In this paper, I will explain how pool

players use literacy tactics to play pool. In order to achieve this goal, I will be observing the

Uncc pool club and take note of their player practices. By the end of this essay, not only will you

know a few of the techniques and equipment needed in order to play pool effectively, you will

understand the key aspect that is needed to play pool, which is being comfortable in your play.

The game of pool dates back to the early 15th century in Northern Europe and France.

(Berg) It was considered to be an outside game that eventually moved indoors and was played on

a table. The table had a center of green to give a grass effect. Before cues were introduced,

pool balls were shoved with wooden sticks that were known as maces.


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(Diagram of a Pool Table: 6 diamonds on the Long Side, 3 Diamonds on each short side)

The above is a diagram of a standard pool table. There are 6 diamonds going horizontally

along the long rail of the pool table, and two diamonds going vertically along the short rail

pool table. The left side of the pool table is called the head of table. The right side of the table is

called the foot of table. These diamonds are important markers when going for the break,

starting the game by putting enough force into the cue ball to scatter the pool balls out.

In many of the pool games, the pool balls are racked, between the first and second dia-

mond short rail, and the fifth and sixth diamond along the long rail. When breaking with the cue

ball, the cue ball has to be behind the second diamond on the long rail, but can be placed any-

where within the range of the short rail. A general strategy can be to place the cue ball perpendic-

ular to the second diamond, but in between the first and second diamond vertically, this makes it

easy enough for the player to hit the 1 ball first, and have a greater chance to break the pool rack

and hopefully shoot one of the pool balls in.


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(Diagram of basic shots, Combination, Throw, Carom, and Kiss)(Billing)

Some of the shots that I observed are also going to be described here. In 1.1, the combi-

nation shot was one of the most common shots, and was also one of the easiest to make. The

combination shot was hitting one of the pool balls to hit another pool ball into the pocket. The in-

tended pool ball was usually directly in front of the pool ball hit, making this an easy shot to

make. In 1.2, which is called a throw shot, this shot requires some skill to make, as the angle at

which you hit the pool ball B at determines the direction of pool ball A. During my three games,


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I was never able to make this shot correctly as I intended to. In 1.3, the carom shot is a difficult

one to make. The kiss shot is very similar to the carom shot, however the main difference is that

the carom shot already has two pool balls touching, while the kiss shot has the two pool balls at a

distance already.

(Open grip, placing the pool cue on the hand, between the thump and index finger)(Billing 15)


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(Standard/closed bridge, forming a grip with your thumb and index finger)(billing 16)

Two of the main ways to grip the cue are to use either the open grip, or closed/standard

grip, as pictured above. The open grip is a beginners way of grasping the concept of gripping the

pool cue to shoot. At an advanced level, the open grip can be used to stretch for the cue ball,

when theres a long shot for the player to make. The standard grip is the most commonly used

grip, and will help you maintain control of the cue easily.

As of today, pool tends to be played indoors, on a tall wooden table that has 6 diamonds

across, three diamonds vertical, and 6 pockets. Pool can be played using common rules, or how

most people play in competition: APA rules. The APA is known as the American Poolplayers As-

sociation. The group was founded in 1979 by both Larry Hubbart, and Terry Bell, both who were

billiard Hall of Famers. The group was initially known as the National Pool league, and eventual-

ly became the American Poolplayers Association in 1981. The league was created as a response

to not having a recreational league system. This league conducts annual tournaments, such as the

U.S. Amateur Championship, which is what the Uncc Pool club directly participates in.

When I first arrived to the Friday practice meeting, the place smelled like food was going

around everywhere. I arrived on an empty stomach, and the food smelled delicious. There was

outside food being brought in, such as panda express, chick-fil-a, and mcdonalds. There was

about 7 chairs along the pool table wall. I automatically assumed that the reasoning for those

chairs were for pool players to sit down and wait for their turn to pass while their opposing pool

player made their shot. There were about five televisions, as well, two of them playing news

channels, the other three playing infomercials. The atmosphere was quite relaxed, if someone


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wanted to get some food and just sit down and eat there, they would be quite comfortable. The

pool players and others seems to enjoy some of the most unhealthy food possible, mainly burg-

ers, fries, and chicken sandwiches.

Another observation when I picked up on was that many of the club members were

dressed casually. Most had jeans and a T-shirt on, and two members had on a hooded sweatshirt.

The demographic had a majority of Asians in it, as well as a few Caucasians. I asked about some

of the values of pool, and what I got from Christie was The culture in Japan is much different

from the culture in the United States. In Japan, pool is regarded to be a sport for the wealthy and

the nobles, while in the US, anybody of any economic status can play pool here. Its considered

to be a tradition for us to play pool.

While observing two of the pool players, I noticed that their stances were oddly different

from each other. From reading Billings Pool Pointers, Billing states that the stance should

have the back foot directly under the cue stick with the foot at a three-quarter slant. Most poses

I saw had their back foot taken back. When I asked why their stances were so different, Phu, one

of the club members told me It doesnt matter too much about the stance. Its more about being

comfortable enough to take the best shot possible. Its kind of like playing golf It became

known to me that the most important factor that comes into play with pool is being comfortable.

It all comes down to the stance, the hand grips, and the mentality of playing your best game. I

took some time to watch the treasurer play, and noticed he had a small red sleeve around his pool

cue. When asked about it, he said, When you slide your pool cue through your thumb and ring

finger, it can bruise your skin a little bit and make it irritating. This sleeve is to help prevent that

so I can still play my best game.


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I also observed that the players moved away from each other several times when the op-

ponent was taking their shot. It wasnt a small distance, they moved maybe five feet away from

each other. I asked Christie why they moved so far away from each other. Its to make sure the

other player is comfortable she said. We usually step back from our opponents as a part of fol-

lowing our rules. We play by the APA rules, and if you get too close to the player to affect his

shot, its called Sharking and its considered unsportsmanlike conduct.

While I was busy observing, Christie also informed me, You get to learn a lot about pool

by just watching it, but when you play the game a few times, you learn so much more. Tempted,

I unraveled my sleeves and asked Phu, one of the members of the club if I could play a game of

pool against him. He kindly accepted, and the game was on!

The game we were going to play was 8 ball. Ive played this game a few times before,

and I wasnt too good at it. To play 8 ball, The balls are racked in a standard triangle with the 8

in the center and a stripe and solid at each bottom corner. If the breaker sinks at least one of the

balls in the snap, he can either choose solids or stripes.(Rushin 33) The objective of the game

was to knock one of the pool balls, either the striped or the solid colored pool balls. Whoever

downs all of their specific pool balls then knocks the 8 ball in would end up winning the game.

Upon grabbing the pool cue, I was kind of intimidated, The stick was quite long and be-

came uncomfortable to handle in the correct way. I placed the cue ball in the middle of the sec-

ond diamond, then tried to imitate one of the other pool players stance, and I began to break

the pool rack. My shot was considerably weak, as I wasnt able to get 4 pool balls to even touch

the rack, so my opponent Phu was able to get the Ball in hand. He took his first shot and aimed

it at the striped ball, since it was an easy shot. Before he takes his shot, he informs me Were

not going to play by APA rules since youre only a beginner. I complied and asked him whats


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the difference between APA rules and lounge rules when playing 8 ball? He replied APA rules

would have you call out the shot you were aiming for, instead we wont have to do that He

shoots the striped ball in the corner pocket, and he makes it in. I was now shooting for the solid

pool balls, and he was shooting for the striped pool balls. It went back and forth, until he tried to

make a bank shot off the 8 ball for his last striped ball, and failed to make the striped ball and

hit the 8 ball in. This declared me the winner of this game.

I decided to play another game of 8 ball with Phu, and this time I felt a lot more comfort-

able. This game dragged out longer than I expected, reaching about twenty minutes time until the

Club President Stefan arrived. After the club president arrived, Phu decided to stop playing and

decided that I will be playing against Stefan instead. As soon as we started playing, I wasnt able

to break the rack very well, and Stefan took advantage of that and had a hot streak of hitting in

solid colored pool balls. The game ended rather quickly, lasting about five minutes.

After a demoralizing loss, I went to talk to Phu, and asked him a few questions about how

my skills in pool were. He said that I was doing pretty well, the only thing I would have to work

on would be my grips, and I would have to practice. I agree with his criticism, during those three

games I played, I felt as if my grip was loose, and when I drew back with my cue stick for

more power and went for the shot, I felt my cue stick go in a slightly different direction than

what I had intended.

In conclusion, the main aspect of playing pool is about being comfortable with yourself,

from the grips and the stance to the cool mentality needed. There are multiple tools kept in place,

with the rules allowing no pressure from the opponent making a shot, sleeves around the pool

cues in order to maintain good condition of your hand, as well as the stance influencing how


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comfortable you can be making the shot. Using the techniques stated in this paper, you too will

be able to play pool games at a high level.

Interview with Christine, club Secretary of the Uncc Pool club

Interview with Phu, club member of the Uncc Pool club

Berg, Joseph. "The History of Pool Game." Articlesbase.com. Articlesbase.com, 17 Sept.

2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. .

Billing, Billie, and Megan Ratner. Pool Pointers. New York: Avon, 1992. Print.

Rushin, Steve. Pool Cool. New York: Pocket, 1990. Print.

"History of the American Poolplayers Association (APA)." History of the APA. American

Poolplayers Association, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. .
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-history-of-pool-games-3287113.htmlhttp://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-history-of-pool-games-3287113.htmlhttp://www.poolplayers.com/history.htmlhttp://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-history-of-pool-games-3287113.htmlhttp://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-history-of-pool-games-3287113.htmlhttp://www.poolplayers.com/history.html

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