Ridenour sees pool as a profession - teaching, playing

Who would have thought that the study of physics would come in handy for shooting pool?

That was one of several surprises Travis Ridenour of Eureka Springs got the first time he attended the Billiard Sanctuary Academy of the Cueing Arts in Mt. Snow/Dover Vt., last year.

He took his first courses, yes, courses, in billiards in July of 2003, following his graduation from Eureka Springs High School.

He went back for another group of courses in May of this year. He is now certified as an instructor in billiards for beginning and intermediate students.

There are more courses to take him to a master's level, but each set of course work has requirements for "homework" that can take several months to complete. The program is designed to take a minimum of three years to finish, including teaching at least 12 students per year.

Pool school isn't just about shooting pool 10 hours a day, that comes after classroom sessions.

The instruction notebook is about two inches thick and was developed and written by master instructor Timothy J. White.

Physics comes in when you talk about balls striking each other, the bounce or ricochet, the force and energy expended by the cue stick, etc.

"Our classes are listening, writing, observing and doing," Ridenour said. "We had class from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then we had book work, taking notes and watching. Then we would all shot pool, just practicing, shooting balls late into the night."

There were written examinations at the end of each session, too.

The classes are small, he says, approximately six students at a time. In his first class, Hunter Lombardo, one of the top players in the world, was an assistant instructor and England's snooker champion Pam Wood was a student.

"I thought I was hot stuff when I went to the first class," he said. "I had been doing pretty well shooting pool around here and winning some tournaments. I got put in my place pretty fast."

He played, and beat, actor Billy Bob Thornton when he was in Eureka last year filming "Chrystal."

Thornton's reaction to Ridenour's pool skills helped boost his "hot stuff" attitude.

In the first session of pool school, instruction is one-on-one. In the second session, the initial material was reviewed then it got more and more technical.

"I didn't know how far things went into playing," he said. "We learned about climate, cloths on the tables, cue tips, types of sticks (pool cues), how to stand, how to balance, all sorts of stuff.

"It took me a year to get most of the basic stuff down, just practicing over and over and over. When I went back, is was able to take in the new information at a faster rate."

His dedication to learning was noticed by White in his review of Ridenour's work this year as he wrote, "During this class, Travis showed that he had a very keen awareness of knowing that he needed to gain this most important knowledge in order to pursue his dreams.

"As the course continued, he opened up to another level and began responding with very intelligent questions, questions that show a great understanding and processing of the material."

Ridenour's ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand has been his hallmark for several years.

He studied Tae Kwon Do for three years, gaining a black belt and a first in "fighting" at the Grand Nationals competition in Hot Springs when he was 15.

He is also a chess champion. He has sculpted one-of-a-kind chess sets.

His parents, Jan and Kim Ridenour, have supported his desire to attend the Academy of the Cueing Arts as they would have supported his desire to go to college.

"He is learning a skill and a profession as an instructor," said his mother, Jan. "We see this as an education process, just like college would have been."

They have helped him purchase a regulation size-pool table and several "professional level" sticks/pool cues.

"These are not the Wal-Mart brand of sticks," he said, chalking the tip of one. "The difference is in the top half of the stick. There can be as many as 70 pieces of wood in one."

The three sticks and a bridge lying on his table have a combined value of about $1,700, according to his mother.

It costs about $1,000 per session for him to go to the academy, including air fare, meals, school costs, etc.

"It's a lot cheaper than college," Jan quipped.

Ridenour doesn't remember when he started shooting pool, he knows he was very young.

"I used to stand him up on a chair beside the table so he could shoot," Jan said. "He would travel with my dad in the summers and they would play pool together."

Officially, they estimate he was six when he began to take a serious interest.

He let go of pool for a while to study Tae Kwon Do, go to school and work at Hart's Family Center.

"We would take him to the bowling alley in Berryville for birthday parties," Jan said. "The other kids would bowl and he would be in the other room shooting pool."

In his sophomore year of high school, Ridenour said, "I was hanging out in bars shooting pool instead of doing my homework. I barely squeaked out of high school, but I got really good at pool."

At this point, he loves playing pool and he loves teaching. He is excited about setting up classes and teaching people the game.

He also would like to get good enough to play in some of the large, national level tournaments.

"Its two ways of playing pool. I would have to switch from one to the other and I love both," he said.

"I have a long way to go, a lot of years to get through, before I can be good enough for national tournaments.

"I can teach now and travel and have a lot of fun while I am building my own skills. I like the idea of teaching someone something I love to do. Patience with students is not an issue, I have to learn to be patient with myself.

"I am serious about the game, but I want to have fun, too."

You can see it as he takes aim to make the break.