No matter your skills, So Cal Pool Tables are designed for strength, beauty, and durability, letting even beginners master the sport of billiards. But once you get to a certain level of proficiency behind a cue ball, it's time to wow your friends and family with one of the most entertaining ways to play pool: trick shots, or what the professionals call artistic pool. Began in the 1970s and inspired by artistic billiards, the World Trick Shot Artists Association is always looking for fresh talent all over the world. Do you have what it takes?

History of Artistic Pool
In 1991, the term "artistic pocket billiards" was copyrighted by pool player Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman through a pool training program he assembled called "Banks, Tricks, and Kicks". It was designed with 70 tricks and skill-based challenges, each diagrammed and objectivized to help players learn different striking techniques. A degree of difficulty (a point value) was assigned to each trick, and the competitive mode was designed after artistic billiards (which was played on a pocketless carom table) which itself was a collection of the most difficult shots conceived of for the pool table. By 2000, artistic pool was played at a professional level with tournaments like the WPA Artistic Pool World Championships and the World Snooker Trickshot Championship.

Disciplines of Trick Shots
The types of tricks laid out by the WPA fall under many different categories, including the following:

• Trick/Fancy: primarily set-up shots with multiple balls, may include tricks not in other disciplines
• Prop/Novelty Shots: unusual shots made with props like extra cues, bridges, racks, coins, etc.
• Bank/Kick Shots: banking, or bouncing off the cushioned sides of the table, once or several times before hitting a ball into a pocket
• Stroke Shots: precision shots requiring accuracy and speed control
• Massé Shots: shots that require the cue to be elevated greater than 10 degrees (warning: these shots can damage the felt of a pool table if done incorrectly or forcefully)

Some popular shots are the massé machine gun, and the "Just showing off" trick, to name a couple.

Train yourself to become the best with a pool table from So Cal Pool Tables. You'll love the myriad of styles to choose from as well as the affordable prices. Give your game room the centerpiece it deserves!