[Bob Jewett]

Originally Posted by JAM

Wow! Look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFLQeV4kvMc

Awesome find, JAM.

I have heard that someone made a video of him when he was in Florida, presumably when he was in stroke. I hope it surfaces.

[Fatboy]

My spot shot record is very strong for my speed.

53 on a 9’ table. Was a Murray with full pockets, they had to be 4 ⅝” or a hair bigger. Was in 92 I did that. I had someone spotting the OB for me.

Fatboy

My 14.1 high run mite be 13 balls, it’s horrible. My 1P best is more than my 14.1. I ran 9 and out and broke in a ball and ran 7 so 16 is my 1P best. 9 ball a 4 pack(I break horribly) that table also had HUGE pockets.

[Bob Jewett]

From another thread about spot shots in 2014:

Originally Posted by macguy

Thats the guy he did shoot spot to spot. His name was Kenny "Spot shot Kenny" Kiddy. I am certain he is dead now. All he did was slow roll the balls in one after another. When he would practice he would usually get someone to spot the balls for him. My wife would often do it for him and it was nothing for him to make 100 to 300 on average between misses.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by Bob Jewett

From another thread about spot shots in 2014:

How cool is that! Good find to you too, Bob!

Here's another cool video of Mr. Spot Shot. I love the squirrel on the overhead light of the pool table. I love this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUrmP-pL_dg&t=7s

[Jack Justis]

Originally Posted by Bob Jewett

Does anyone recall what year Pool & Billiard had an article about Kenny? I'm writing an article about propositions including a lot of spot shot challenges.

Not sure but I made a case for Kenny in 1993.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by Jack Justis

Not sure but I made a case for Kenny in 1993.
Attachment 540156

Attachment 540157

Very cool. I have a way to contact his girlfriend. She would love to see this case, as would Kenny, I'm sure. They are collecting his pool memories now. He's 81.

[djg576]

Originally Posted by JAM

Very cool. I have a way to contact his girlfriend. She would love to see this case, as would Kenny, I'm sure. They are collecting his pool memories now. He's 81.

JAM, I remember reading a short article in probably 87 or 88 in one of the pool mags. Think it was 1150 or 1250 in a row. Can you ask her which magazine and issue month and year please? Thanks Joe

ps, speaking of records, what was your best WPM? I think in HS I could crank out about 34 WPM with only 3-4 errors.

[Bob Jewett]

Originally Posted by djg576

JAM, I remember reading a short article in probably 87 or 88 in one of the pool mags. Think it was 1150 or 1250 in a row. Can you ask her which magazine and issue month and year please? Thanks Joe

ps, speaking of records, what was your best WPM? I think in HS I could crank out about 34 WPM with only 3-4 errors.

I'm pretty sure it was Pool & Billiard. I'll go check now that it's narrowed down a little.

In the video and article, 1250 is stated. His shirt is embroidered as 1150 "by mistake".

[JAM]

Originally Posted by djg576

JAM, I remember reading a short article in probably 87 or 88 in one of the pool mags. Think it was 1150 or 1250 in a row. Can you ask her which magazine and issue month and year please? Thanks Joe

ps, speaking of records, what was your best WPM? I think in HS I could crank out about 34 WPM with only 3-4 errors.

I have a lot of pool mags. I'll try to find it in those years. Thanks!

In junior high school, we typed on manual typewriters, and my speed was 95 wpm on a manual.

On a QWERTY keyboard, especially now with my mechanical keyboard, I'm doing about 150 wpm on average. These mechanical keyboards are the nuts. I can fly. Das is a good brand, but I'm currently using a China import called Motospeed CK-80 with optical switches. Best keyboard I've ever had.

[JAM]

I think Kenny Kiddy did this exhibition of 1,250 spot shots at Gold Crown Billiards in Hollywood, Florida, which is closed now.

In the video, there is a black and white photo of him shooting at this event.

I am trying to get in touch with his girlfriend now to see if she can hook me up on a phone call with him. It would be a cool conversation. Maybe I could record it and post up a transcript, like an oral history.

[Bavafongoul]

A variation on this, which I really prefer, is spot shot position.
After pocketing the spot shot, you play the cue ball as it lays.

Spot another object ball but don’t move the cue ball. Play it
from where it stopped on the prior spot shot. And to make
things more interesting, you have to shoot all the OB in the
same corner pocket until you miss. When you do, start over
and shoot to the opposite corner pocket this time.

Which side, I.e., corner pocket do you attain the highest run?
What is your personal best high run for each corner pocket?
Every time you do this drill, do you set a new high run record?
It’s only 1 more ball to set a new record so how & why did u miss?


Do this drill when you get to the pool hall to see if your game is on.
If you struggle & can’t reach some consistency, that’s important to know
You don’t want to find out your stroke is off a little tonite after the match starts.
Instead, this drill gives you some idea of how well you are shooting right now.
Look, if you don’t have your A-game working, how close is it this very minute?

As a training aid, you really should perform this drill 10x for each corner pocket.
Calculate your average for each CP and you will have a stronger or favorite side.
Now every time you do this drill, your goal is to at least pocket your average.
Every 3-6 months, or as often as you prefer, just repeat the 10x drill & get a new avg.

By having an average, not your personal high run, you can easily see when you perform
this drill if you are on or struggle. How many tries did it take to reach your average? How
close did you come to reaching your personal best? Did you set a new record tonight?

Hook up with a partner and both of you do this drill. A close friend started doing this and at
the outset, his best was single digits for both CP. Within a month his personal best reached
28 consecutive balls to the left corner pocket and 26 consecutive to the right corner pocket.
His average more than doubled & spot shots just became second nature. He does not miss them.


Now why was this significant? Well making the spot shot became easy. It became so automatic
for the first dozen shots that it was sickening. And when you play in cash ring games, object
balls are spotted a lot, especially the 5 & 10 balls.....the money balls. And when you get good
at this drill, you will very seldom miss a spot shot which pays when there’s real cash on the line.

This is a simple drill but it gives you amazing feed back about your cue ball movement.
Remember you have to pocket all the spotted object balls in the same CP til you miss.
Then you switch sides and repeat the drill. When Tommy pocketed 28 & 26, you could
just see the smoothness of his stroke and glide like position movement of the cue ball.
It was beautiful to watch.....54 balls with one miss. This drill will teach you to play better.

[djg576]

Maybe I could record it and post up a transcript, like an oral history.

If only we could find a fast typist!

[Bob Jewett]

Originally Posted by Bob Jewett

I'm pretty sure it was Pool & Billiard. I'll go check now that it's narrowed down a little....

I looked through three years of P&B without success. I also looked through some NBNs. I do remember seeing a print article, but "after 1987 in some billiard magazine" leaves a lot of possibilities.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by Bob Jewett

I looked through three years of P&B without success. I also looked through some NBNs. I do remember seeing a print article, but "after 1987 in some billiard magazine" leaves a lot of possibilities.

I spoke to Claudette (Kenny's girlfriend of 2 years) last night on the telephone. Sadly, Kenny was admitted to the hospital yesterday morning with influenza type A flu. He has had it since Christmas. I immediately empathized with poor Kenny because I, too, caught the influenza type A flu after Christmas, and it literally took me 3 weeks to get better. Old people can't handle this flu, and I was one of them. Temperatures up to 102, dry cough, hurt ribs and stomach from coughing, wheezing, and nothing, no medicine, helps. It just has to take its course. Kenny has had it for over 4 weeks and hasn't gotten better.

Anyway, I found some info. Kenny had three Spot Shot exhibition matches at Gold Billiards in Hollywood, Florida, which has since closed: 1250 balls, 707 balls, and 505 balls. When he ran 707 balls, that is the one that was videotaped and sent to the Guinness World Book of Records. Unfortunately, they declined it because they did not have a Guinness representative there in person to witness it, even though it was on video.

Kenny also was a "numbers man," and he played cards, threw dice, and gambled. Interestingly, he has never drank alcohol or smoked a day in his life, which may be why he's looking great at 81 years old.

Kenny also got a license to train horses and loves working with them, and he did for many years.

The P&B mag did do an article about him. Claudette believes it was in '89. She remembers the company was down South, which sounds like P&B. She called them to see if she could get an article, but they couldn't find it either. Back then, nothing was digital, and I imagine it would be hard to pore through all the magazines.

Tonight on Channel 7, WJLA TV, in Washington, D.C., the videos that I posted will be shown on the news at 5:45 p.m.

When Kenny gets out of the hospital, I am going to send Claudette some questions for Kenny to answer orally, and then I will either call him on the phone and do an oral interview or drive up there to meet him, with Keith in tow. I'd love to video Keith and Kenny playing pool together. They're in Maryland, and it's a 2.5-hour drive from D.C. It's close to West Virginia, but it will be a beautiful drive. I know this area well, and it's gorgeous. Maybe Keith and I can add Frank's place in Morgantown, WV on the trip and visit Joe, another unsung hero in the pool world.

I am going to send Claudette a FB friend request later today, so that we can stay in touch. She was very forthcoming and sweet. Kenny has been going out with her for 2 years, and she is a woman of very strong faith, as is Kenny now.

[jay helfert]

As someone else said earlier, in the old days the spot shot was like a free throw. We shot it so often it became a relatively easy shot. We used to gamble on it, shooting ten shots each. Nine out of ten might win the money. I can remember making ten out of ten, but I'm sure I never made twenty or thirty in a row. I see a lot of claims on here by people saying they could make 100 in a row. I'd like to bet against ANYONE that they can't do that on a Diamond table and I'm laying ten to one on the money! I didn't stutter either.