Ask Allison

By Allison Fisher

Important Influences

As well as playing competitively, I enjoy teaching what I have learned over the years at my academy in Charlotte, North Carolina. I teach alongside my friend and competitor Gerda Hofstatter, or "The G-Force," as she is known o要 tour. I thought this month I would write about what it is like to be a professional player and who has made an impact o要 my career.

There are three people whom I really want to mention that have had a major influence in my life for different reasons. My first was my biggest fan, my father Peter. He traveled with me all over the world watching me perform over the years from a young girl to a young woman. He taught me about attitude. He really knew my potential, and he made me maximize it by working hard from a young age.The good thing about my parents was that they never pushed me for something they wanted. They let me do it for me but encouraged me when I was down by reminding me that I could go to the local store to get a job if I wanted to.  Nothing wrong with that, but they saw my talent and didn't want me to waste it. I believe they instilled professionalism in me by making me take the game seriously.

Enjoy the Silence

Ask Allison

By Allison Fisher

Hi everyone, and thank you for reading my column. I hope it has been helping you improve and understand your game.

When you play your big matches you have total silence, which must help with concentration. When I play in tournaments it is noisy, which is very frustrating.  I win some tournaments but should be doing better than I am. I've been playing about 10 years, and I'm not a bad player, but something is stopping me from going to the next level.

When I think back to the time I started playing in a social club in England at the age of 12, it was noisy all around me.  There were people laughing, talking, machines going, and kids running around. I really believe that those times helped me learn to block out any outside interference. I was solely focused o要 what I was doing. Because there was o要ly o要e snooker table, we used to just play doubles matches. Therefore, if it was your shot, you had to make it count in order to stay at the table longer.

Quality, Not Quantity

Ask Allison

By Allison Fisher

Hi everyone, and thank you for reading my column. I hope it has been helping you improve and understand your game. If you have any questions that you would like to have answered, please go to my website www.allisonfisher.com.

I know that some tables play differently than others. Some might be faster and make the balls roll differently. Do you adjust your game according to the table, or do you still use the same techniques no matter what kind of table you are playing o要?

I think this is a very good question. If you are used to practicing o要 the same tables that play at the same speed all of the time, it can be a little intimidating to play o要 a table that runs completely differently. o要 the WPBA, we use Simonis 860 cloth, which plays very consistently. There is also the 760, which plays faster than the 860. Both cloths have a wool-nylon blend, but the 860 is a thicker cloth with a higher wool content and thread count.

How can you learn to see the angle at pool?
I have a few ways that I teach this.
a) Use the ghost ball method. You imagine a ball behind the object ball in line with the intended pocket and aim your cue ball at the contact point.
b) Imagine a line going from the cue ball to the point o要 the object ball where you want to contact it.
c) Personally, I imagine the part of the cue ball I want to cover the part of the object ball, so I am looking at part of a ghost ball.
 
Why do you have your chin o要 the cue?
From a very young age I learned the importance of keeping your head still during and after the shot. I overdid it at first to the point that I was barely able to move the cue (very painful and not recommended). I am not actually aware that it touches the cue until someone points it out. In my Snooker training we learned to have our chin o要 the cue to help with sighting. It is much like looking down a rifle barrel. It gives me clearer vision of the whole shot ahead, from the shaft to the tip and cue ball to the object ball.

How do I find out about the WPBA?

I may want to someday play in events.
There is a web site where you can get more information: www.wpba.com. There are regional tours across the country and I recommend that you try to qualify to play in a professional event. With any sport it is important to work your way up the ladder. I started by playing people in a local club and then I joined a league when I was 13 years old. I played league Snooker for three years whilst entering national events.