Thanks FL - 2007/9/25 3:29

Forwarded Message-

Richard:

You asked me to email you and tell you what I think about lessons with Fast Larry, after I had been there. Well, here is, and you may put it on your website.

Fast Larry is a true character in the history of pool. He is gregarious, extremely knowledgable, conscientious, and dedicated to teaching pool to improve other's games. He has wonderful teaching facilities and teaching aids, and implements them to the utmost of their cabilities.

Fast Larry begins teaching at a dynamic and tenacious pace, and if a person will set aside his preconceived ideas, listen, watch Larry's demonstrations, and shoot like he is told, the student can do nothing but improve his attitude and game.

I had three wonderful days to improve my life. I met a lifelong friend. I improved my game. I came away with many drills and ideas to use in the future. I can shoot pro-shots that I never thought that I could handle.

Would I return for more? You bet. I had three wonderful days full for fun, laughs, challenges, and instruction to improve my life.

But, keep you mind on him every minute. He is a tricky devil (I guess from many, many, many years of hanging out in pool rooms).

Hasta la vista,
John Bailey

Chief - US Navy

Dear Sir,

Since I was 8 years old. I have been searching for the answers you shared in your tech articles. I have heard of all the greats and the big names of Billiard's. I came across your page from a forum and I found myself on your webpage. I was astonished by your demos and videos. By your awards and your history and background . I'm truly amazed by your tech articles. I'm a average player who has had a bit of natural talent. Always have been able to not step foot in a pool hall for long periods of time and destroy all my friends who have played daily. I'm by far nothing special but I find myself at the age of 28 and wondering just how far I can go with this sport if I truly put my mind to it and practice. I always been trying to determine where my player level is at and how good a pro is truly. I have never seen one play in person other then on T.V

When I watched your video clip on the 15 ball run without having the cue hit any rails. I was truly blown away that has the be the most amazing thing I have ever seen in this game. Right away mentally it tore me down, right away I knew I could never be that good. But yet something drives me to see if I can accomplish the same results. When I read your articles truly I have never came across anything like them. You break into the heart and soul of Billiards. Things other people take for granted or overlook. Such as your queball/object ball eye contact article. Another one is swing distance. And absolute the most impressive is English is bad. I like your approach to the game as not play for the crowd but to win. Sure some guy can curve the queball around two for a long table lawn shot. But why when all he had to do was clip the ball on a cut that was possible. I may not know much but to me your common sense approach is absolute uncanny. Basic facts, is what you teach win's. And those facts are what makes a winner.

I may sound like a rambling idiot but I just wanted to say reading your articles has totally changed my approach for the game in a way that I truly understand all in what your saying. I do believe Pool is made up of many different category's and to be the best you have to be the best in each one and let the chips fall. However practice does make perfect and natural talent for the game never hurt. When you walk by a ball you have to take a mental snapshot of the direct path and focus on that OB and I agree shoot fast and loose because mentally you have to come one with the stick.

When your DVD comes out I will definitely buy it due to the fact your simply amazing to watch. From this day on i'm inspired by you and wish I could be half as good as you. Thanks so much for letting all pool players read your articles to improve there game. I hope I didn't take up much of your time and I hope you recover soon from your accident. Take care and you have a new fan on your side.

J.D.
Navy Marine Corp Intranet
Pentagon VIP Support

I was totally amazed watching your 11 rail bank and your one hander blew me away. I know that you have gone 12 rails now and I wanted to know if 13 is possible in your lifetime or should we consider it sience fiction? Again,
there is no doubt in my mind that you are the greatest shotmaker of all
times.

Sincerly,

Jack Kinasz

:-) If you watch my 11 rail video you will see when you make 10, 11 is only a foot away. When I made 12, I was only 2' away from 13. Yes it can be done, some day, somebody will do it. 10 years ago when I still had the strength to do it I tried hard for somebody to set me up a brand new perfect table and leave me alone for a week with the camera rolling. If I had got that, I would have done it. A couple of times I got a new but imperfect table for a day and that was it. Today I am too old to make it, my time has passed.

Fast Larry

echo

Junior Member

Joined: 2005/7/18
Posts: 5
From: :

A long long time ago, I started playing pool when I was 17 or so, I started studying and playing serious pool. I couldn't figure out why the ball jumped when using follow so I started to study. I could not understand why anyone would want to make their cue go up and down when stroking. (I am speaking of not dropping your elbow.) How can anyone hit the cue ball where they intend and change bridge lengths. That's BS

I started changing my stroke to hit the cue ball exactly where I wanted and keep it in a straight line, horizontal and vertical planes. I played very well for quite some time until the dreaded message someone told me. Your dropping your elbow.

Since then I have struggled with consistancy. Yes I was a good player, but I think I would have been far better if I had not heard any words about the stroke. Talk about wasting ten years of pool. I have put no more than a five pack in nine ball together and that seems lame since I first broke and ran a rack when I was one year into my career.

I became a member of this forum about a month ago and have found out that what I devised through trial and error ten years ago was not only acceptable, but more accurate and easier.

I can not express in writing how pissed off I am and at the same time very glad when hearing the gospel of pool from FL on www.poolchat.net.

Ilarbed
Re: funny you should mention

Junior Member

Joined: 2005/8/1
Posts: 2
From: :

Since I started listening to Fast Larry.. I have become the best pool player in my house. After years of frustration, I have finally seen the light. My goal is to be able to run 30 balls by next Friday. I know I can succeed because I have the bestest pool teacher in the whole world. Thank you Fast Larry. You have saved me from being a hopeless APA hack.

Sincerely
Ilarbed

Larry,

You have to be one of the fairest, most honest people I know in the pool world. I am proud to know you!

Craig

TryingHard
Re: funny you should mention
Grasshopper

Joined: 2005/2/22
Posts: 32
From: :

I took some lessons from Fast back in May I think it was. I found out from him that all of the things that I did naturally were right, but I had spent the last year or more before that changing those things based on the supposed "right way to do it". I changed my "grip" to using just my finger tips almost, hitting low for draw (and even lower when more was needed, often sending the ball into the air), standing with my knees locked for stability. Fast got me back to gripping with a bit of meat between my thumb and forefinger (like I used to do), crouching (bending my knees to get down on the ball), hitting downward on the ball for max draw (like everyone who's a newbie does until someone tells them that they need to hit low and level). My game has improved dramatically. And the follow - wow - I had no follow before, now I sure do.

That, and I got some of my speed control back, though I'm still struggling with speed control when I snap my wrist - I'm working on that now.

"I enjoyed meeting you in person and believe you are the most knowledgeable person in the world regarding all aspects of pool. I am very glad that you are taking the time to give us your knowledge through these articles. My husband and I read the one on the "stroke" and tried out your recommended bridge length. We got instant results in accuracy and it helped my husband on his position skills. Thanks so much, look forward to more articles and love your dogs."

- Laura

From: Shawn Ow
To: fastlarryone@bellsouth.net
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:05:56 +0800
Subject: Great site!

Hi larry,

I just finished reading your article on stroke, and practically rest of the site and i must say ure doing a great job! This is probably the only site where i could find comprehensive information on every aspect of pool. I tried the short stroke with longer follow through and i must admit even though it felt weird the first few times the results were amazing. I started potting balls and clearing up racks which i would normally choke on! The main thing i realized with this stroke was that the ball travels so much smoother and i can get the cue ball to move without "ramming" it and making the cue ball jump up n down off the table. I just wanted to ask what u think of the pool scene in taiwan or if u've ever been there? I went to a normal pool hall and they have house cues..house break cues..and house jump cues! Also i would like your tips on jumping the ball..would you rather jump the ball or bank it in? hope u keep the site updated for more hours of reading pleasure!

Shawn,
Singapore

"Great looking site. I read your article on the stroke. I like your straightforward no bs tone. It helped a lot. My buddy has been beating me bad for the last two weeks because I tried to adjust how I hit the ball. After reading your article, going back to my old stroke and making some adjustments I read in your article, I have beating him bad. Let's say he got a lot of rack practice. Anyway, thanks again and keep those articles coming."

- Jerry

The best instructor I ever had was Fast Larry Guninger, the best shotmaker BCA Hall of Famer Ray Martin said he ever saw.

TomBrooklyn Pooh-Bah ----Loc: BKNY
Re: What's your vote for best instructor?

'Fast Larry' Grindinger
Trick shooter is professor of pool, teaching the 'gentleman's game'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Hoyt Coffee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a new class right here at Tech, and that starts with "T," and that rhymes with "P," and that stands for pool. Make that pocket billiards; it sounds better. And that's just what "Fast Larry" Grindinger wants.

The world-record holder began teaching pool at Tech a couple of years ago in hopes he could help "save the game of pocket billiards" from its seedy image with a little flash and a lot of work.

"The game of pocket billiards has real serious growth problems," Grindinger says. "The reason it has serious growth problems is that it has a bad image. The game basically dissolved about 1960. The Billiard Congress of America dissolved. The hustlers took over the game, and it never escaped that reputation.

"This game doesn't have a chance unless we get into the collegiate world and start developing team play and developing gentlemen who will play the sport as gentlemen."

Of course, the first step is getting their attention; that's where the flash comes into play. And Grindinger is about as flashy on the felt as they get. He holds nine world records for pool shots and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. He's even been featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not for making an 11-bank shot.

Grindinger performed that unlikely feat last year on a pool table in Tech's Student Activities Center, where he puts on "artistic skill shot" exhibitions to highlight the billiards course he teaches there on Thursday and Friday nights and the pool team he's helping sponsor. He also became the fastest player alive in 1994, pocketing all 15 billiard balls in just 33.9 seconds, hence the handle "Fast Larry."

Those kinds of shots don't just come about overnight. Surprisingly, the 50-year-old manufacturer's representative has only been about the business for less than three years, even though he was first exposed to the game as a kid in Kansas City.

"I was typical of most pool players in that era," he says. "You snuck in the pool hall because you wanted to see what was going on. You had to be 16 to get in, but when you were 10 or 11 years old, they looked the other way. After a while, you took your allowance money, your lunch money, and you snuck in and played for a dime a game.

"I started playing as a teenager, and I played for roughly 10 years. When I graduated from college, and went to work for a large corporation, all of a sudden I was going around in a suit and tie, and I no longer fit in with the crew I was around. There were only a handful of people who could play with me in the whole city, and those people were all hustlers. I actually quit the game for that reason for about 25 years."

Grindinger is determined to clear pocket billiards' bad name and return the sport to its former glory. Around the time of the Civil War, it was the biggest game in the world. Tournaments paid huge purses, even more than today. But the game's image deteriorated over the years until it became synonymous with larceny.

Still, the fun and challenge of the game attract a tremendous following.

"Today, pocket billiards is the No. 2 participant sport in the country, behind only bowling," Grindinger says. "There are close to 45 million people playing the sport. The people have come back; the tarnished reputation hasn't gone away.

"People have to realize we can put pool tables in high schools without parents going crazy thinking that we're degrading the morals of our youth. It needs to evolve into a healthy sport like football, like basketball, like swimming. Not big trouble in River City."

After two years teaching pocket billiards as an informal "options" course at Tech and providing guidance for students who wanted a team, Grindinger says he sees his goals coming to fruition. Programs are popping up at other schools, and intercollegiate competitions have become a reality. Tech's team has even slated a match with its counterpart at Georgia, and some players will compete in a national tournament.

Getting the team off the ground at Tech has been challenging at times. When Grindinger first started teaching the options course, only about six students laid down the $20 for it. Now the classes average about 40 students, the best 10 of whom make up the team. And there were other perhaps less-serious challenges, according to Jonathan Lartigue, a junior in electrical engineering and secretary of the Yellow Jackets Pool Team.

"Larry said to me on more than one occasion that the worst person to instruct in pool is a Georgia Tech student," Lartigue says. "That's because they have to understand why the ball goes in the pocket instead of being happy just to watch it fall."

Lartigue, who founded the team, says he never even considered it until he took Grindinger's course and "improved my game 100 percent. Once I started playing well, I would come to the pool hall every day."

Grindinger is also helping dispel another myth that contributes to the game's dubious image: the myth that it's for men only.

"It's not like other sports like football where you have be a particular size," says Rachel Fuller, vice president of the team. "You don't have to be particularly strong. Any of the normal male advantages in many sports just are not there. About the only advantage that males have is the myth that it is a male sport." Fuller, a freshman, would like to get a separate female team going as well, but she admits that would be doubtful "simply because of the male-female ratio at Tech."

Now that the pool team is becoming a reality, Grindinger and company are moving on to some other projects, too. He and Lartigue are working on an instructional videotape that features some of Grindinger's classic trick shots, and, of course, the search goes on for ever-more- impressive feats.

"I've pulled off some shots in the last year that people haven't seen yet," he says. "And when they see them, they're going to think that there's a trick, that I'm using mirrors and doing magic."

That show will be coming to a pool hall near you.

Make that a billiard parlor; it sounds better.

---

Fast Larry,

I finally got it - it has sunk in that the power and speed comes from the wrist. I was never taught that before, probably because it makes the stroke much more difficult (to maintain a straight arc) than just swinging the arm. Man, you are the greatest.

Steve.

If I ever have a problem with my game there is one place I will go and that is to Fast Larry. I have never met the guy and I hardly know him - but let's get this damn straight - he talks sense. I have read this group since 1999 and I have picked up a few things here and there - but I will say that the only way forward for a gifted player is to be coached by someone who isn't going to fill their head full of mumbo jumbo. I am a reasonable player - a century breaker at snooker, a fantastic 8-ball player (on our equipment,) and also I can run several racks of 9-ball on a Brunswick. I know about squirt, throw, deflection and the rest of it - but I lack a key factor. I have a cue action that many would die for - put the white ball on the top rail of a snooker table and I will smash in a red down the rail at the bottom of the table - I cue as straight as you can wish.

Over here we have just two pieces of advive - cue straight and follow through. The rest of it we just switch our brains off to. When the UK players take up 9-ball make no mistake that they will wipe out all the world - at the moment we have Snooker - which makes you a millionaire - but when snooker falls away there will be a lot of players smashing you off the table at 9-ball. There are a few players right now in the UK that are thinking about taking up 9-ball and these players are going to kick some arse in the States first. And do you know who will teach them? Fast Larry. I am already setting up coaching/road trips for 3 previous world champions to go to FL's place for tuition before they take on the US. And why is that? These guys already know the basics of any cuesport - but they don't know how to PLAY THE GAME. This is why that they best exponents of the game will be going to FL for advice - and all you lot do is slag him off. If some of the world's best cueists realise that FL is the man to teach them then I feel sorry for those that
slag him off on here.

Wolf blass.

Virtuallixxxxxxxx@aol.com wrote: From the UK.

hi! can you give me any idea on how i can learn to aim well or somewhere i can find out - i live in England, so it's difficult as there seems much less of a pool scene here than there is in America. also - just been watching those videos on your sites of your masse shots - how the hell do you do that?? it seems to defy the laws of physics!
thanks alot
gazz

Hey Larry,
Your videos are amazing! I Just wondered if you ever came over to the UK to teach?
sam

Hello Everyone!
It has been quite awhile since I posted here. However, I do agree, Fast Larry gives some good advice. I have spoken to him many times. Recently, I have watched Ripley's repeat some of their episodes with him shooting some darn good trick shots. He's awesome so take his advice.

Erik -aka- The Pool Hustler

Larry I have been searching for the answers for years. I got to APA 7 status but could not make the jump to semi pro. It is not that I have not tried. I want to play with the big boys bad. I spent a thousand with Jerry in Madison, he was supposed to be the top teacher in the country. I spent a grand with Ray in Tampa, others said he was the main guru being a multiple world champion. In frustration I came back to that area and worked with Buddy Hall. I stayed right were I was at. While I was in Florida I did Mike Sigel too. Flying around the country seeing these boys aint cheap. 4 grand gone, 3 weeks wasted. I spent one day with you and $300 and I was there overnight, it was amazing.
You nutted that lesson dude. You caught, what they all missed and did not focus on. No question about it, you are the man now and the best guru in the land, at least in my humble opinion and experience. You have, the best bang for the buck, that is for damn sure. I loved your private teaching studio, 2 gold crowns, wood paneled walls, I thought I was in a fancy country club, it was all perfect. I am forever in your debt.

XXXXXX Slim.

I read this post on the wrist action 2 days ago. I have been practicing on every rack since. (I practice an average of 2 to 3 hr. a day.) I would have to say my shot making has improved at least by 50%. I shared this technique with my 18 year old son and he also immediately noticed improvement. I talked to him last night and he told me his first practice set yesterday he ran 17 balls. ( throwing the balls out randomly. Thanks Larry.
Ray Washington DC

PS Last night I shortened my backswing (just playing around) and I
started firing in shots, splitting the pockets. My bridge length is
still medium long because I prefer it this way (tried the 4"-5" bridge
and couldn't ever get used to it.) I still only pulled the cue back 4
to 5". You deserve credit Larry by sticking behind your guns by pointing out
how the old pros used to shoot. I actually had more wrist movement
coming through the ball instead of seeming so stiff. I am talking about
extreme accuracy on long hard super cut shots. Seems like I made every
one without even blinking an eye.

Larry, most of the posters on RSB are just over come with jealousy with you. Your teaching abilities and knowledge dwarf them. They cant stand having someone with your background come in and begin showing them up so bad. That is not your fault you really know and they don’t and are all tied up with their physics thinking that is the answer, which you have proved is wrong.
Bubba from Mississippi

Hi Larry,
My name is John and I’m from The Netherlands. (so please excuse my bad English)
I’m playing pool for about 15 years now, and I’m still learning every day.
In all these years, sometimes it happens that you really learn a valuable thing.
Well, this happened today, reading your articles about the stroke, long or short backswing. After reading this, I’m sure this will help me to improve my game!
It not only sounds logic, it IS logic. It’s so logic that I wonder why I didn’t see it before!
This email is send to you, to thank you for pointing it out.
Greetings, John van den Burg.

Fast Larry, you have to be from another planet. You are an alien. You cant be for real man. I took your two hour course on the drill of doom. When you told me I could put the cue ball on any place on the table I wanted using no English, only center ball I have to admit I thougt you were nuts. This cant be done, this is impossible but then you taught me to do exactly that. I was dumbfounded. I am out using it and you are right this is the greatest positional tool of all time and only you have it. No wonder you keep it so super secret. You were also right about me keeping it a secret, I would not tell it to my wife. I don’t want any one else finding out about this and then using it agzaist me. I am kicking every ones butt in my area now. This thing is going to make me a fortune. I am going to name my first born after you. Fast Charlie. Warm regards, Charlie O.

Hey Larry, thanks a lot for puting me straight on the PP4. I've been shooting with it and it is all I hoped it would be along with outstanding looks. I think peoples minds around here will will soon be changing about what they've been hearing about their quality. It didn't take long at all to get used to the diversion deal. Again, thanks and I'll be sending you custumers in the near future.
Bill G.

Hey FAST:

Thank you again for yesterday’s lesson. MONEY WELL SPENT! Today, I can CONSISTENTLY run 9 rails! My break is more than doubled in terms of power, and with practice on hitting center will be the envy of my peers soon. (I’m still missing a lot to the left, but improving with practice.)
My follow shot is working awesome. The back up will need more work. I can consistently get ½ way up table from the L1diamond corner shot which is TONS better than before. I can only get 100% of the way back up table about 1 in 10. I will keep working.

The stroke trainer is amazing. I think THAT is the fundamental I was missing. Whenever my shots become errant, I replay that exercise in my mind a few times and my stroke levels and straightens out. The stripe ball exercise is also helpful in maintaining the stroke in the absence of the stroke trainer.

Finally regarding yesterday’s lesson, I have been using the stickers on EVERY shot to replay until I get it, then do it right about 3 or 4 times before moving on. I can already tell that by practicing the things you taught me, I am going to improve greatly and at an accelerated rate.
I hope these websites are of help to you. I certainly enjoyed meeting and learning from you. Further it is my desire that at some future point when I have become comfortable with what I have learned, you could yet again move me forward in my game.

A closing thought. Reincarnation IS real. Jesus said so. “it is appointed unto men once to die, then the judgment.” We will be ressurectionaly reincarnated to spend an eternity in heaven or hell. There is no middle ground. If you miss left or right, your off the table. See you soon, and look forward to reading your new articles on the web.
Mark
A player from Chris’s pool hall in Chicago.

Hi Fast Larry,
Happy new year to you. How are you? I am Terence from Singapore. I
believed the last guy that you taught in Singapore before you went over to Jakarta and then back to the States. I been practicing what you have taught me and I m starting to feel the stroke. Though I still need lots of practise. I believe i be able to improve my stroke if i give it enough effort and time. Thank you so much for the teachings. Your lesson definitely is the best christmas
present I gave to myself.

I would like to thank Fast Larry very much for coming to my home last month to help me and my friend Rob on our pool games. Fast Larry was here for one and one-half days, and he gave us so much information that I am still remembering and writing things down that he said. Rob and I had asked for help on 2 things, the break and the draw, but then he also helped us with force follow. Actually, we worked on the power break, the power draw, and the power force follow.

For 2 years of the 4 years that I have been playing pool I have been trying to accomplish the power draw. I have achieved a nice short and medium draw, but never a power draw. In 1 hour Fast Larry had me drawing the cue ball back full table with the cue ball and the object ball being 6 1/2 diamonds apart! I couldn't believe it! Of course I have to work on this a lot and have to really improve my accuracy, but at least I now know that it is possble to achieve. And also I learned the very close draw - 1/2 inch apart.We worked on the break a lot as well. The break has been the weak part of my game, but now I feel that with enough practice it will become a strong part of my game. Lastly we worked on the power force follow. I had never realized before just how much could be done with this shot until now.

Fast Larry has agreed to come back here in October to teach us more on pool and to also go pheasant hunting here in South Dakota. We are eager to have him here again. I believe that he could tell pool stories around the clock!

If anyone else would like lessons from Fast Larry, I would very much encourage them to do so.

Fast Larry is right about ELEVATING for power draw, and the one-fits-all rote instruction you often see and hear is inadequate for this type of shot .

Over years of playing, I too seemed to notice that, for long draw shots where the cueball and object ball are far apart, jacking up a little allowed me to get more draw without golfing the cueball into the air.

When my nerdy analytic mind first considered the "why" of this working, I thought that perhaps I was preserving my backspin by adding a little bit of "jump" to the shot and limiting contact with the cloth. But I discounted that theory because, even if you get as level as possible, you still get air time on a hard draw shot. Prove it to yourself by putting coins in front of the cueball.

My current position is that it's a matter of squirt and compensation, same as when using sidespin.

Consider what happens when you put right on the cueball - it's path "squirts" a little to the left. So, to make the shot, you also compensate by aiming a little to the right. This launches the spinning cueball straight along your original intended line-of-aim.

See where I'm going? Use right spin, cueball squirts left, so aim a little right to compensate. USE BOTTOM SPIN, CUEBALL SQUIRTS UP, SO AIM A LITTLE DOWN TO COMPENSATE. The "launch trajectory" of the cueball may actually be closer to horizontal when aiming down, than when applying a similar amount of level-cue backspin.

Like it or not, we play pool in three dimensions. When you draw with a level cue, you "squirt" the cueball into the air. Use this in an all-out power-draw situation, without compensating your aim downward, and you may be playing on the floor.

Larry also notes that each player's "ideal" angle will be a little different. I suspect this is tied to the squirt characteristics of the cues. This would imply that players using low-squirt cues such as the predator 314 should need less jack-up than players using shafts with higher effective end mass. I wonder if anyone has made this observation?

Finally, to address the comments regarding hitting the cueball a little higher when you jack up - yes, this is true. But you still get the same amount of "retrograde" rotation, because this is totally a function of how far your cue's line of travel is offset from the cueball's center of mass. Think about it - if you jack up far enough, you can get lots of backspin even hitting above the equator - we call that a masse'.

A post from a world class player on CCB. Spiderman.