Double Jump

Double Jump
By Eric “The Preacher” Yow

WPA Masse World Champion

There are a lot of trick shots that are practical and make sense to learn, simply because of their likelihood of coming up during actual gameplay.  A lot of shots, however, are simply for fun.  For instance, most of the shots involving multiple balls are merely for show.  On the other hand, though, a lot of the stroke shots we perform in competition and exhibitions are truly exaggerations of strokes you would utilize in everyday games.  Rarely, if ever, would you shoot the passing lane masse in a game.  You are, though, occasionally frozen to an object ball and might shoot through it with spin.

That being said, this is a shot you will never have to shoot in a game, but is a lot of fun.  I call it the Double Jump, because that’s exactly what happens.  This shot is easiest on a longer table.  On a shorter table, the cue ball is too likely to bounce off the table.  Set up two obstacles that are simple to jump over, like a row of dominos lying flat, where the rows of balls are diagrammed.  To begin, elevate your Eric Yow Jump Cue (available at www.joerackem.com) to about thirty degrees with an overhand stroke.  Shoot firm and watch the cue ball closely.  Pay attention to how hard you hit it and with what elevation.  Notice how high the cue ball flew and where it landed.  Ideally it lands just short of the second obstacle and bounces over, to make the object ball.  As you progress, make the obstacles increasingly larger until you can do this over whole balls.  Medium obstacles might include a gap between a pair of balls of about an inch.

To jump over whole balls, use more elevation and more power.  You need the cue ball to launch high and bounce hard, while limiting forward trajectory as much as possible.  It is likely the ball will jump off of the table as you learn, so be careful.  Then, when you are making the shot for show, tell the audience the ball is going to fly off the table and probably hurt someone.  When you make it successfully and no one gets hurt, you can apologize