Banned from tournament play!?

Sheeesh...My local tournament has banned me from their tourneys, in my opinion, unfairly. You see, years ago I lost my right arm in a bizarre accident. No worries though, I am blessed to be alive and have come to terms with my disposition (I'm or, more appropriately, was right handed!).

At any rate, my engineering background and somewhat generous employer gave me the resources to develop an electrically operated firing mechanism that mimics an absolutely straight stroke. Of course I made it to fit firmly in my prosthetic half arm! I realize this story is leading to "unbelievable" proportions, but, this device took about 3 years to get "right", and even at that, me shooting left handed and using the crutch gets about the same results. Hopefully I can get my hands on a digital camera or scanner to post some pics. It's a bit cumbersome, with wires and large battery and the foot pedal trigger to lug around the table (hmmm, 12 feet electrical cables would be a nice addition to the enginnering plans). For those who are curious, the stick itself is only a shaft attached to an aluminum body. Imagine a large solenoid (the part that operates power door locks in a car) mechanism with a stick at the end and that's it. My stance is the same of the typical player, same position, same aiming technique. Very prototype-ish and not yet ready for the masses!

Well, whatever you want to call it, I and "it" entered an 8 ball tournament at the bar and won my first game. All hell broke loose. "Unfair!" cried the loser. Maybe so I think, but, my opponent knew what he was up against before the game started. If he had any objections to my handicap, it should have been raised before the game started. Agree? and besides, I put up with a fair amount of ridicule prior to the game. Me thinks, dude was a sore loser....Consequently, bar owner said I cannot use the bionic stroker. Is this really fair? As far as I know, I am the only armless poolplayer around these parts of the country. (None of this really matters, because I regularly play opposite handed.)

Lefty

[PQQLK9]

Post's that make you say "Hmmmmmm"....?

[Scott Lee]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Lefty:</font><hr> As far as I know, I am the only armless poolplayer around these parts of the country. (None of this really matters, because I regularly play opposite handed.)

Lefty

<hr></blockquote>

I'm sure there are others around the country. I know of a man in Ft. Collins, CO who has only one arm and one leg...and they are opposite! He plays one-handed (obviously), hobbles around on one leg, with a crutch, and uses a mechanical bridge head, with a small handle, for his bridge. BTW, Gus is a hell of a player, and has played in the VNEA nationals every year for 20 years.

BTW, sounds like a cool gadget. Hope you get it working just like you want it to! Good luck!

Scott Lee

[stickman]

Although I haven't seen it, I've been told that Dr. Cue uses a mechanical shooting stick in his shows. I was told it has some sort of cocking device that can be pulled back and cocked at different power levels. It sounded pretty neat. Something like this might be less akward to get around the table with. He is scheduled to do a show in my vacinity Aug. 1st, and I plan to try to see it.

Now as to your situation, is it fair? If it is agreed to before the match, I say it's fair. Since this seems to be a problem now, I'm not sure of the solution. I have never shot with any type of mechanical stick, but suspect the protesters assume an unfair advantage is gained by eliminating the stroke. From my own experience shooting, I find that the stroke is probably the most difficult thing for me to master. I feel I have a pretty good understanding of how hard I want to shoot, what english, draw, follow or whatever I want to use, approximately what cueball position to expect, where to aim, etc., but the execution of all this information is wherein the problem lies. LOL /ccboard/images/icons/smile.gif I can be lined up perfectly at the pause and somewhere in the final delivery of the cue, my stroking arm will get a wiggle or waggle in it and fail to deliver the cue the way I had it lined up. I don't know if a mechanical shooter would help me here, but suspect that this is the basis for the protests. On the other hand, I doubt anyone would protest, if you didn't win.

I hope you can find a solution that will allow you to continue to compete. I am disabled myself, but fortunately, my disability has little effect on my pool.

[heater451]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Lefty:</font><hr>. . .Hopefully I can get my hands on a digital camera or scanner to post some pics<hr></blockquote>
Another option for digitized photos: Many places now offer CD-ROM conversions for film. I think its about $7 extra over development--I don't know if you can have it done alone, without getting prints as well. Since film is still better than most digital cameras, and the coversion process is done with high-dpi (dots per inch) slide/negative scanners, the quality is normally very good.

That stinks Lefty! I think you're right, he knew what he was up against from the start. Smells distinctly of sour grapes in that bar, methinks.

I'm sorry to laugh at your situation, as I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a limb, but I have to say, the story you posted is hilarious! The funniest part is when you said the guy you played said, "NO FAIR!". I can't even imagine seeing that in real life. A guy gets beat by a one-armed man and then screams, "no fair", when he loses! That's like Ray Charles getting fit with some sort of device that gives him perfect vision, then his opponent shouting, "NO FAIR" when he gets beat!

I have to ask ... how do you control the speed of your shots? Can you actually control how hard it hits the ball, or is every shot hit at the same speed?

Sheeesh...My local tournament has banned me from their tourneys, in my opinion, unfairly. You see, years ago I lost my right arm in a bizarre accident. No worries though, I am blessed to be alive and have come to terms with my disposition (I'm or, more appropriately, was right handed!).

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There is a guy who sometimes plays the tournaments here who has no right arm, but only a hook/hand sort of thing that he can't use to bridge or anything.. he plays strictly left handed and wins all the time. I've seen him run out on numorous occasions, but people around here like to think sometimes before they call "no fair!" to a guy who unfortunatly has only one arm. some people say my friend who is in a wheelchair has a great advantage because he can sit down while playing, and he is really close to the table when he shoots.. but nobody is about to complain if he wins, because he is indeed a great shot, and has to leave the cueball close to the rail on every shot or else he can't reach it very well. If someone complained about either of those guys winning, I think I'd put a booger in their beer.

i've got it in the back of my mind that those spring loaded sticks were outlawed but i can'tfind that in the book.

anybody know???

dan