Pool Instruction: CueTips #24 Refocusing Practice: Talent vs Work

By NYC Grind Contributor, Mark Finkelstein

First, congratulations to Gail Glazebrook on an outstanding performance. Wow! All that hard work is paying off.

This week, I want to look at something that underlies our game. Actually, there are two things here. The first idea is your mindset towards your pool game, and the next is your practice routine. In fact… they are interrelated.

I’m currently reading a great book by Carol Dweck, PhD. She wrote “Mindsets”, and in this book, she examines the effects on people of having a “fixed” mindset rather than a “growth” mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that people are born with talent, people with a growth mindset believe that you can work hard and become talented. The book is well worth the read.

So what does this have to do with your pool game? Well, Do you think of yourself as a talented pool player? That is a tough question. My guess is that you don’t see yourself as talented as some of the greats in the game. But you probably see yourself as a good pool player? Part of Carol Dweck’s idea is that if you see yourself as talented or good, you will try to avoid threats to that self image. We can hear that in the excuses “good” players make–”it was humid,” “the table was off,” etc… We are protecting our “status.”

On the other hand, growth mindset players love challenges. Mistakes are welcomed as a great learning experience. Misses are a chance to correct errors in stroke or perception. Growth-oriented players love challenges and see all losses as opportunities to learn. At a tournament, the fixed mindset players look over the chart hoping they don’t have to play so and so. The growth mindset players can’t wait to play the best player in the tournament.

Continue reading “Pool Instruction: CueTips #24 Refocusing Practice: Talent vs Work” »

Rooftop Film Introducing a Special Sneak Preview of Neistat Brothers, a Gender Busting Series of Short Films

Join Rooftop Films Wednesday, June 2nd, for an exclusive sneak preview of The Neistat Brothers, a genre-busting, eight-episode series consisting of experimental short films from the art-world brothers of the same name. Rooftop Films have been showing the hilarious and innovative short films by Casey and Van Neistat for years, and they hope New Yorkers can all come out to celebrate the premiere of their new show with them along the water at Solar One. To see their short films, visit: neistatbrothers.com There is no charge for admission, but please RSVP here or by emailing neistatrsvp@rooftopfilms.com to reserve your spot, and head to Solar One for complimentary food, wine, Radeberger Pilsner, live music and the chance to meet and congratulate The Neistat Brothers in person. Prior to the episodes, the band Keepaway will perform live. Pitchfork says of their indie-hit “Yellow Wings,” ” it takes clear eyes and a crafty set of musical minds to create a song that’s both this deliciously heady and instantly engaging.” Continue reading “Rooftop Film Introducing a Special Sneak Preview of Neistat Brothers, a Gender Busting Series of Short Films” »

The Kwikfire Tour Kicks off Opening Event of 2010 on June 5-6

The newest women’s tour in the Southeast, the pro-am Kwikfire Tour, will be holding its first tour stop of 2010 on June 5-6 at 150 N Out Billiards in Mooresville, NC. This event will feature $2,500 added to the prize fund, and with a number of the top lady pros residing in the vicinity, there will surely be some great action to watch.

This pro-am format will be greatly beneficial for players looking to take their games to the next level, as the up-and-comers will go toe to to with WPBA pros like Kwikfire Cues owner Kelly Fisher, Holly Sholes, Allison Fisher, Tiffany Nelson- Crain, and Kwikfire Tour founders Kim Shaw & Kristi Carter. Unsurprisingly, Hall of Fame inductee Allison Fisher was the tour 2009 Kwikfire Tour’s #1-ranked player.

To follow up the first event of the season, the Kwikfire Tour has two additional stops scheduled so far:

August 14-15th, Silver Dollar Saloon (Rock, SC)

September 4-5th, Burrkats (Monroe, NC)

Get in the action or stop out to support some of the best players in the country!
Continue reading “The Kwikfire Tour Kicks off Opening Event of 2010 on June 5-6” »

Lee Van Corteza is Crowned Champion of the First-Ever US Open 10-ball Championship

By NYC Grind Contributor, Geoff Conway

Saturday, May 22nd was a big day for Lee Van Corteza from the Philippines, when he emerged the winner of a new and successful event run by CueSports International (CSI), the “US Open 10-ball Championships”, which was worth $20,000 to the winner and had 128 entrants.  To view our photo gallery from the final day of the event, click here.

Saturday morning at 11am saw the two loser’s bracket finals, between Francisco Bustamante (Philippines) & Rodney Morris (USA), along with Shane Van Boening (USA) and Charlie Williams (USA).  With three USA players appearing in these two matches it was most likely that we would see an American come through the winner here.

In the first match up, we saw Francisco continuing his winning streak, and easily took down Rodney 9-6. In the other match up Shane was really on a mission and came out the victor 9-5. This put Shane up against Manny Chau (USA) who had lost the evening before to Lee Van Corteza in the winners semi final, and Mika Immonen (Finland), who lost to Lo-Li Wen (Taiwan) in the winners semifinal also.

Shane came out the winner against Manny Chau, who played great throughout the event, and if not for a miss on the 6-ball, and a scratch to boot when running out the 16 th rack, we may have seen a different outcome. This has to be one of Manny’s best results in his career to date, well done. Shane came out on top however, at 9-7.

Continue reading “Lee Van Corteza is Crowned Champion of the First-Ever US Open 10-ball Championship” »

Sandie Patarino Breaks Through to win her First Tri-State Event at Sandcastle

The Tri-State Tour is breaking into May’s warm weather, and on Saturday, May 22, the tour headed to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ for a B/C/D event.  Prior to last weekend’s event, Scott Simonetti claimed his second undefeated tour win of the season at his home room, Castle Billiards… and at Sandcastle, twenty-four players came out to vie for a top prize of $495.

On that day, the Tri-State would see a new winner emerge in Sandie Patarino, who can regularly be seen playing in Sandcastle’s weekly tournaments as well as many other events around the area… proving herself to be an up-and-coming threat in the New Jersey pool scene. Making her way to the hot seat, Sandie Patarino defeated Nick Serino (6-3), Serrafin Serrano (8-4), Alan Wong (6-3), and John Palmiery hill-hill (6-5) in the winner’s side final.

The one-loss side of this event saw Muaz “The Hurricane” Arshad make a strong run, defeating Ken DeCuire (7-2), Daniel Dagodot (7-2), Alan Wong (8-7), and Joe Varvano (8-5) in the quarterfinal.  Coming over from his winner’s side loss to Sandie Patarino, John Palmiery was matched up with Arshad in the semifinal, but would fall 9-6 to settle for third place in this event.

Continue reading “Sandie Patarino Breaks Through to win her First Tri-State Event at Sandcastle” »

The Brown / Hawk Syndicate Presented by Revive Music Group Tonight May 25th!

The New York debut of The Brown / Hawk Syndicate featuring drummers, Justin Brown & Dana Hawkins.

If you don’t know about these two drummers–get in the know! If you’ve seen a live performance by ESTELLE in recent months, then you have seen drummer Dana Hawkins bless the set with a rapturous, firework-like performance that is unforgettable!

Drummer Justin Brown has been traveling the world performing with jazz great Kenny Garrett for the last couple of years… so if you’ve been to one of Kenny’s shows, then you have seen the masterful brilliance of Justin’s drumming.

Both drummers in their own right have collaborated and performed with the world’s top commercial & jazz artists and tonight they come together to perform side by side to give you one of the most frenzied live performance that I don’t think even I am ready for… so come see this first time collaboration TONIGHT at SULLIVAN HALL.  More info below…

Continue reading “The Brown / Hawk Syndicate Presented by Revive Music Group Tonight May 25th!” »

The BCAPL 8-ball Singles Champions Make Their Mark at the Riviera… NYC’s Gail Glazebrook is the Women’s Open Champion!

By NYC Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer

The 34th Annual BCAPL National 8-ball Championships kicked off its eleven singles events on Saturday, May 15th, 2010 with nearly 2,900 competitors bringing their game to the Riviera Hotel & Casino for this event.  NYCgrind.com was on site to cover all of the events, where players were surrounded by friends, family, and teammates, supporting them on their journey through one of the most widely-anticipated events in the U.S.  NYCgrind.com’s coverage of this event has been sponsored by Poison Billiards.  View our photo galleries from the BCAPL Singles here, and you can also check out photos of the winners on the BCAPL website.

With a field of 402 top female amateurs, competition was fierce in the Women’s Open Division. New York players Neslihan Gurel & Borana Andoni finished tied for 25th in this event, while Olga Gashkova took 33rd.  Meanwhile, “Kiss of Death” team captain Gail Glazebrook ran through the winner’s bracket to face off against Texas player Tara Williams in the winner’s bracket final in a tough battle that ended Williams’ favor, 4-3.  Glazebrook went on to win the semifinal match against Georgia’s Dana Aft, again hill-hill.  In the final match, Gail Glazebrook rematched with the undefeated Tara Williams, and after trailing in both sets, defeated Williams twice to win the Women’s Open Champion title.

1st: Gail Glazebrook – $4,900
2nd: Tara Williams -$3,600
3rd: Dana Aft – $2,700

Read on for the results in all of the singles divisions at the 34th Annual BCAPL 8-ball Championships…

Continue reading “The BCAPL 8-ball Singles Champions Make Their Mark at the Riviera… NYC’s Gail Glazebrook is the Women’s Open Champion!” »

Amsterdam Billiard Club in NYC Kicks off a New League Season with New Equipment Updates to Mark their 20th Anniversary

Amsterdam Billiards has recently announced that 2010 marks their 20th Anniversary of business. After two decades of being America’s most famous billiard club, Amsterdam Billiards is proud to celebrate this remarkable milestone.  Top players like house pros Mika Immonen & Tony Robles, along with George “Ginky” Sansouci, straight pool icon Danny Barouty, and WPBA pros Jennifer Barretta & Caroline Pao can often be seen Amsterdam, making it a great stop on a pool lover’s visit to NYC.

Carrying on a strong tradition of leagues in the disciplines of 8-ball, 9-ball, and straight pool, many players from all around New York call Amsterdam their home room. All of their leagues are BCAPL sanctioned, and the winners of each respective league get free airfare to Vegas in May to compete in the National Championships.

NYC Grind would like to congratulate some of Amsterdam’s players who did exceptionally well at this year’s BCAPL National Championships, which just concluded… the Women’s Masters team, “Amsterdam’s Angels” (comprised of Caroline Pao, Neslihan Gurel, Supadra Geronimo, and Gina Kim-Lipsky) placed 4th at nationals, while “Kiss of Death” team captain Gail Glazebrook cleared through a field of 402 players to win the title of 2010 Women’s Open Champion.

Up next on Amsterdam’s schedule, their summer straight pool league season will kick off tomorrow, Monday, May 24th. Amsterdam Billiards has also made an announcement that any player who registers for the Monday night straight pool league, gets a free registration for their Saturday league at no cost.  Saturday league players can also sign up on Mondays at no cost.

Continue reading “Amsterdam Billiard Club in NYC Kicks off a New League Season with New Equipment Updates to Mark their 20th Anniversary” »

Down to the Final Day at the US Open 10-ball

Currently, the first-ever US Open 10-ball Championship is in the final match of the event.  Out of 128 players, only two remain: Lee Van Corteza of the Philippines and Lo-Li Wen of Taiwan.  You can watch the live stream of this match on TheActionReport.com.  Also check out our photo gallery from Day 4, photos by John Yee.

Leading up to the final day were four days of gritty competition from the finest players in the world.  Read on for the breakdown of the matches from Friday’s action below, by Geoff Conway… and we’ll be back with more updates on how the final day played out.

FRIDAYS 1:00 PM MATCHES

Rodney Morris (USA) out-gunned Stan Tourangeau (Canada) 9-4 in their winner’s side match.

Mika Immonen out-played Warren Kiamco on the TV table 9-3.

England’s Mark Gray won a close match against Canada’s Jason Klatt, to put Jason out of the tournament at 9-8.

Lee Van Corteza steamrolled Po-Cheng Kuo in their winners side, match 9-2.

Lo-Li Wen caused Corey Deuel to “LI- LO” after his 9-0 loss.

Thomas Engert lost a close match to Roberto Gomez in their winner’s side match 9-7.

Manny Chau continued his great play when he knocked Edwin Montal into the loser’s side 9-6.

Charlie Williams emerged the winner over Darren Appleton in this long winner’s side match 9-8.

Mike Dechaine got the better of Pin-Yi Ko in this hill hill match 9-8.

Continue reading “Down to the Final Day at the US Open 10-ball” »

CSI US Open 10-ball Championships Warms Up on Day Three

With a field of international talent coming out of the woodwork for this event, the action has been getting heated here at the 1st Annual US Open 10-ball Championships at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  Die-hard fans and friends of players, along with players from the BCAPL National 8-ball Championships being held down the hall, have kept the arena filled with fans for this inaugural event.

And if you aren’t able to see it in person, The Action Report is providing free live web streaming of feature matches… click here to check it out.  You can also take a look at some of the photos from the third day of the event by NYC Grind contributing photographer, John Yee. Read on for highlights of the action from Day 3…

WEDNESDAY’S 6PM MATCHES

One of the event’s leading ladies, WPBA pro Melissa Little played well to beat Michael Yednak from New York with a lopsided score at 9-2. A slimmed-down Mike Davis beat Canada’s Veronique Menard 9-5. He has lost so much weight that I had to do a double take, but then I saw the stroke and I knew it was Mike. Jose Parica (The leader of the “Filipino Invasion”) came out the winner over Beau Runningen 9-7. PJ Massicote got the better of Dan Louie 9-7, and Gabe Owen beat Turk Berberoglu 9-4.

Continue reading “CSI US Open 10-ball Championships Warms Up on Day Three” »

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