World Champion's guide to Crokinole - How to Shoot

[@crokinolecentre]

Solid kick-off video! Cool to see this level of detail. I don't think anyone's taken the time to breakdown shooting technique to this level before.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I probably could talk about shooting technique for another 20 minutes but I gotta save something for future vids haha

[@paulgrimes818]

So glad this exists- we got a Crokinole table for Christmas and everyone was trying to figure out how to shoot. Your videos really gave me a competitive edge!

[@Kunsulphalanx15]

Crokinloe: A game easy to learn, but difficult to master! So it is a delight to learn from a real master. Thank you, Justin for your videos. I hope, there are more to come. Being new to crokinole and living in Austria, where seemingly nobody knows this fantastic game, I do need all advice and tips I can get.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Glad you enjoyed it! Now is a great time to get a lead on the competition before word inevitably spreads about this amazing game :)

[@jackw6617]

Just bought a board 2 days ago and I am already the house champ! Thanks for the tip, will mean that I may soon become the street champion next week!

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

one step at a time!

[@zdlite]

Just got my first board for xmas I love this game, gratz on World Championships

[@maharmusicstudio1733]

Excellent technical advice from an expert.

[@kennethfharkin]

Thank you and I look forward to more videos. I learned of Crokinole through the Shut Up and Sit Down video in 2019. I immediately got a board and fell in love with it. I have played pool all my life and as an engineer I have tried to study the mechanics and physics of shooting in order to improve my game. Crokinole has much of the same appeal while also being able to be played at home at any time. From watching numerous match videos and analysis I came to realize the snap/flick shown at 1:16 was hurting my accuracy and consistency. It is nice to see my observations validated. I will be watching all your videos and am very appreciative for the effort you are making.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Awesome to hear. A lot of new players popped up after that review actually. I'd imagine that the physics behind pool is much more complicated than crokinole because of the spin on the ball. I found spin in crokinole to have a neglible impact in crokinole. Awesome, stay tuned!

[@shortydancer]

We almost have the same background! I'm also an amateur pool player and engineer! Some of the skills do translate, mainly the carom and billiard shots, the tangent line, even the stroke! I was surprised there aren't more instructional videos on KZbin. When I got serious about pool, KZbin was so helpful in teaching me the basics and advanced tips.

[@kennethfharkin]

@@shortydancer Check out Robert Byrne's book on billiards. It does an excellent job of explaining the principals of English, throw, etc. in a manner that those who must understand the mechanics of an activity to perform it well will appreciate. www.amazon.com/Byrnes-Standard-Book-Pool-Billiards/dp/0156005549

[@shortydancer]

@@kennethfharkin thanks! That was was one of the books I read first. Also his other book about the shots you need to know.

[@kennethfharkin]

@@shortydancer Byrne's Complete Book of Pool Shots. Got it as well.

[@RushikeshDhekare1989]

Just came across Crokinole. Always been a fan of games that require dexterity, and it certainly looks interesting. Great beginner video by 5 time world champion.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Awesome, you should give the game a try!

[@SchNoble87]

Justin! I’ve just stumbled upon these videos. Thank you so much! I’ve always loved watching you play and now these videos will hopefully take my game to the next level. Thanks for the contribution.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Glad you like them!

[@SchNoble87]

@@justinslatercrokinole2498 When can we expect the next ones? Thanks!

[@reefa781]

Thanks man. Subscribed I'm about to order my first crokinole board and I have a feeling ill be getting deep into this

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

You won't regret it!

[@neonbrad]

Thank you. I can use improvement. I came in last in recreational. team competition. with my wife in Tavistock a few years ago It was good to meet you there briefly..

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Well the good news is that the only direction you can go is up :P

[@ihavegcc472]

Hey might try this game out!

[@ianwitt4284]

Great to see this kind of content from a player of your calibre Justin - keep it coming!

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Will do Ian!

[@JohnCornellier]

Great video - content and presentation! Also, nice decor :)

[@adamjackson82]

Just built my own board, thanks for the tips :-) Happy crokinoling, from Australia :-)

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

super cool, great to hear the game is also played on the other side of the world :)

[@dougniwa8886]

Just watched your 2nd video & you answered my question. Thanks again!

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

No problem 👍

[@benjaminreid9963]

Frame-perfect inputs, king

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Up next: "Taking your friends to the cinema with just-frame twister combos"

[@benjaminreid9963]

@@justinslatercrokinole2498 put the green flash in on your shots next time

[@shortydancer]

Thank Justin! Do you have a pre shot routine? What's the last thing you look at before you pull the trigger and shoot?

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

No pre shot routine other than waxing. I didn't actually know where I was looking before shots until you asked. My eyes are on my hand/shooting disc until just before I release, when my eyes move to the target. This is more instinct to me, as I haven't thought about it much except for a few select shots.

[@shortydancer]

@@justinslatercrokinole2498 thanks for your reply Justin! I appreciate your videos, wish there was more crokinole instruction online.

[@jospipodEvo]

This improved my shots! A big Thx 👍🏻

[@archivestereo]

This is great! I’m going to try this tomorrow!

[@TheSundayGamer]

As a bowler of 32 years and a new crokinole player, these step by step “rituals” make a lot of sense to me. Thanks for sharing these techniques; You could just rest on your laurels as a legend, but you are doing all of us a huge service here. Update: after giving this a serious try, I felt bit of a contortion going on-like learning guitar chord shapes for the first time. It definitely made sense by the second hour of drilling; Form work takes awhile and this is no exception. One thing I found that helped me was to extend my index finger toward my target as I got my hand in place-As a real noob, I found that motion of pointing and retracting my index finger helped me orient the proper axis of my shot. I have already seen a marked increase in my accuracy. This is especially apparent with long/ tricky shots (Hogan’s Alley etc). Thanks again!

[@doylay]

Great first video. Keep 'em coming :)

[@extrapintcrokinoleclub1470]

Oh man, giving away the trade secrets!! Love it! 🍻

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

or maybe I'm missleading people on purpose, who knows??

[@rossschweinforth3910]

I knew it would be worth to sub to you once I saw your comment on Charlie’s video

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Glad you enjoyed it, stay tuned for more

[@charris1437]

Thanks for the video. Short. Meaningful. Crisp. And to the point. Thanks. I bought a board right before pandemic hit, so had time to practice by myself. Trying to find some Crokinole groups to join in Lansing, Michigan, or somewhere nearby. Not finding anything online. Is there a resource anywhere that show active Crokinole groups that you aware of. Thanks for the videos, I am now a subscriber.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

A great place to start would be to join the national crokinole association (NCA) facebook page. There is also a club list on the NCA website

[@marcinbiaecki4824]

Thank you Justin for this video! Look forward to more videos. Great job :) Greetings from Poland. We play Crokinole here as well. Maybe one day You visit us on Polish Championship Tournament? That would be great! ;)

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Thanks! I definitely look forward to travelling overseas for some crokinole in the future :)

[@Whatthechanel]

I always move my hand after placing the disc lol. Thanks for the tip champ ;)

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

The first step in recovery is to acknowledge the problem

[@ensomerset]

Thank you! Great video :)

[@kaesar98]

Cool. How do you line up your shot when placing at the far ends of your shooting zone?

[@dougniwa8886]

Thank you Justin, great video. I am a newbie and focusing on technique, looking for consistent weight on the disk as well as alignment. On open 20s I have been trying two methods that are similar to yours, your position is right between my attempts - I'll run with your method now. Question - do you look at which side of the disk you place down? I have been shooting with the pimple up on open 20s and other shots that don't require power, and pimple down when I want more power or action after contact.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I shoot with the non-spinny side every time, more consistent/less sticky. Some high-quality discs don't have a spinny side actually

[@TheRich4187]

What happened to a video every couple of weeks? There were only 3 videos 3 years ago! Lol

[@BARMSTR41]

Hi Justin.. I’m a total newbie…. Thanks for the technique video.. question: where do you look (focus) when making the actual shot? Should i be looking at the shooting disk or the target disk / line? Thanks again.

[@tsmlima]

Thank you!

[@EviLNox8]

One thing that I see a lot of new players do is flicking sideways. The new players there might have seen crokinole before but most of the new players i see have never heard of the game. What i mean by flicking sideways is image just setting your arm on the table and just let it rest there. The "lying on the couch, holding the remote" position. Then flick like that then almost every shot they take goes WAY off course. I'll try your method of using my thumb as a guide the next time I'm able to play, which isn't often. Plus I'm pretty bad.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I've definitely seen that too, and a whole heap of other crazy shooting techniques haha (including the thumb...). I'm hoping these tips can provide new and curious players some guidance :)

[@stevenbreit6254]

Hi. Is the index/flicking finger also touching/ sliding on the board, or does that finger only push the puck? Thanks

[@Flonkation]

Do you always shoot/fling on the same position on the disc? That is, shooting the disc on center always? Or do you perform some left/right spin sometimes?

[@WildcatWithLove]

Not sure how good I'll be at getting my question across, but here goes. When placing the disc down, how should your wrist be? I tried to practice your technique the other night and ended up with an extremely sore wrist, through the next day, unfortunately. I think I was twisting my wrist "clockwise" (I'm also right handed) to try to get my straight thumb lined up with the target. If my wrist is kept in a more natural position, then my thumb naturally points more "inward" (left of my target). Any thoughts on this?

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I distinctly remember when learning this technique that I had to turn my wrist awkwardly counter-clockwise (i.e pronating) in order to get my index finger more vertical. The discomfort eventually went away as I got more flexible. Definitely shouldn't be in pain playing crokinole though, so if it hurts after a week or two then send me a video of your technique and I can help you out. email is in my channel description :)

[@WildcatWithLove]

@@justinslatercrokinole2498 thanks! I will continue practicing and email you a form check if it doesn’t feel right later on.

[@kennethfharkin]

2:20 may have helped me save my marriage! My wife becomes incredibly frustrated when trying to play and never seemed to improve. Her shot always went off to one side despite my working with her repeatedly to ensure her arm and hand are frozen in place with finger extended towards the target and inline with her eye. Over and over and over it would go off to the side and hit the peg. This would result in her breaking into some of the foulest language I have ever heard from her in 25 years of marriage and becoming too frustrated to play. We were at an impasse as how could I stay with this woman to whom I have been married for 25 years if she could not play crokinole? The solution came as I thought about her eye lining with the disc, finger and target. I had her make an "ok" sign with her thumb and forefinger and focus on a point on the opposite wall with both eyes open. Once she was focused I had her close her left eye and the object focused on jumped out of the "o". When she opened her left eye and closed her right it jumped back into place. She is RIGHT HANDED and LEFT EYE DOMINANT! Once we figured that out and she began lining up her LEFT eye with disc, finger and target things got much better!

[@r.anthonyroth2388]

Is it true what they say about crokinole players' manual dexterity? ;)

[@Century21PeterboroughLakers]

Thanks this helps a lot

[@PawsAndKeys]

Does your shooting finger graze the thumb?

[@migueloliveira8924]

Nice video, i love this game, i am from Azores here nobody knows it.

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I'm glad you like it. Even in Canada not too many people know about it :P. I'm hoping that an increased online presence will help spread the word about this amazing game

[@feverpa]

I've been sucked in like the rest of KZbin. I'm hooked, and I've never flicked a disk in my life - yet. So I need some clarification on scoring and tournament scoring. 1) what is the number of disks used by each player in a two player game, and is it different in tournaments? 2) Once all disks have been flicked, you count up all of the points, and whoever got more - gets the difference. Tournaments seem to be scored differently. Please explain. 3) Where do I sign up to try out for the U.S. Olympic Crokinole Team in 2024?

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

The only rules I have really every played with are 8 discs per person in singles (two-player). In tournament, we simply add the scores and award 2 points to the person with the higher score, and 0 to the other (1 and 1 if it's a tie). Playing with the "difference" scoring system seems discourage certain elements of strategy that make crokinole interesting. Not sure about the Olympics, but the U.S open is a thing, look up "crokinole U.S open". Full tournament rules are here: nationalcrokinoleassociation.com/resources/rules.html#:~:text=a)%20During%20an%20opponent's%20turn,touch%20the%20board%20or%20table.

[@MrWanted000]

One thing for me is that this technique makes your shot weak, i mean i barely can knock of my opponents disks. Any advice? Should I use my thumb for more powe?

[@doylay]

When you shoot, does your fingernail touch the board at all?

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Yes it does just before I i release. Good to keep that fingernail trimmed haha

[@davegill7706]

Nice breakdown of the flick, don't see that much...

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

Thanks, yeah I couldn't find any source that talked about it so I figured it would make a good first vid

[@freeedr]

Where else do you get the world champion of a sport coaching openly on KZbin

[@ionutvas6514]

Don't you have a gaming console to play on that big TV? o_O

[@justinslatercrokinole2498]

I'm a PC gamer now haha, but I may get one of the next gen consoles.

[@macleadg]

Ok, weirdest rabbit hole I ever got to on YT… There’s a game called… “crokinole”?