The great inventions of billiards

In the history of billiards there have been billiard players who have not only bothered to play but also to solve problems that all players suffer. Consequently, they have created great billiard inventions that help us to train or compete better. In today's post we review some of these innovations of modern billiards.

Red dot cue ball

The white ball traditionally has always been white. But Aramith wanted to do something so that both the player and the spectators could see the rotation of the ball and the effects. The result was the white Pro Cup with six red points so famous today. The legend says that they also created this ball so that in televised matches people do not confuse the white ball with the yellow, but it is not very clear. In any case, this white ball is so cool!

Magic Ball Rack

Placing the balls with the triangle without moving when you remove it is one of the big problems of billiards. And a decade ago there was someone who wanted to solve it by creating the Magic Ball Rack. With a simple template the balls sit in the small holes and are perfectly glued. Another good invention to mount triangles is the wing rack, a creation by Emili Jofre: the two wooden slats joined by a hinge are much more practical than the conventional triangle.

Aim Frame Robot

Every billiard player has dreamed of having a robot that enters the balls for you. No one has yet invented it, but some have come close. Nic Barrow, one of the most recognized Snooker coaches, recently invented the Aim Frame Robot, a machine to enter balls from a certain angle. It can be very useful to know where the white should hit the ball for the ball to enter, but so far Barry Hearn does not admit this invention in the World Snooker tournaments.

Pool Live Aid

A group of Portuguese engineers created four years ago the Live Aid Pool, a system that, through cameras and augmented reality, reflects on the table graphics to have a reference of the route that the balls will make. The idea, which was part of a thesis, is very cool and can be fantastic for children to learn. Of course, entering the balls with this invention does not have much merit.

BreakRak

And finally, the invention to train the breaks that left me flipped. It is a bore to have to mount the triangle every time when you practice only the break, so some people created a system so that you can actually simulate the break but without breaking the balls. It’s useful, especially, to control the white, but not to predict where you will enter ball because in reality on the table there is only one. Explaining it is not so simple, so check out the video link of Cheng Yu-Hsuan, current US Open champion, to see how BreakRak works:

https://www.facebook.com/100000278952044/videos/1100409679978320/

What do you think of these inventions? What other tools would you highlight? Write it in the comments.