Jump Shot Tool for Billiards and Pool

Abstract

Equipment and methods for shooting a billiards jump shot to hop a cue ball off the surface of a billiards table. A billiards jump shot tool supports a pool cue white shooting a jump shot, providing the necessary lateral support for the pool cue at the correct height, enabling a novice player to shoot a very difficult billiards jump shot with i only a minimum amount of practice.

1 . A jump shot tool for shooting a billiards jump shot, said jump shot tool comprising:
 a cue stick support portion located at a top end of said jump shot tool and configured to cradle a cue stick a predefined distance above a surface of a billiards table while shooting the jump shot;   a bottom end portion located on an opposite end of the jump shot tool from the cue stick support portion, said bottom end portion comprising a rounded tip configured to sit on the surface of the billiards table while shooting the jump shot; and   a grip portion of the jump shot tool located adjacent the bottom end portion of said jump shot tool and configured to be grasped in a player's hand to hold the jump shot tool against the surface of the billiards table while shooting the jump shot;   wherein said grip portion is configured to have two sides that taper inwards towards each other, from bottom to top; and   wherein said predefined distance is at least 5 inches; and   wherein the cue stick support portion is configured to cradle the cue stick at two contact points, and the cue stick support portion has a vee angle of no more than 60 degrees as measured at the two contact points.   
     
     
         2 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the cue stick support portion is configured such that there is a space below the cue stick being cradled at the two contact points and above a bottom point of the cue stick support portion. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the two contact points are at least ⅜ of an inch apart. 
     
     
         5 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the cue stick support portion is characterized by at least ⅛ inch of cue stick clearance. 
     
     
         6 . A jump shot tool configured to cradle a cue stick for shooting billiards jump shots, said jump shot tool comprising:
 a first cue stick support portion located at a first end of said jump shot tool and configured to cradle the cue stick a first distance above a surface of a billiards table while shooting a first jump shot;   a first grip portion of the jump shot tool located adjacent a second end of said jump shot tool and configured to be grasped to hold the jump shot tool against the surface of the billiards table while shooting the first jump shot, said first grip portion having two sides that taper inwards, from bottom to top, towards a vertical center axis of the jump shot tool;   a second cue stick support portion located at the second end of said jump shot tool and configured to cradle the cue stick a second distance above the surface of the billiards table while shooting a second jump shot, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance; and   a second grip portion of the jump shot tool located adjacent a first end of said jump shot tool and configured to be grasped to hold the jump shot tool against the surface of the billiards table while shooting the second jump shot, said second grip portion having two sides that taper inwards, from bottom to top, towards the vertical center axis of the jump shot tool;   wherein the second distance is at least 4 ½ inches; and   wherein the first cue stick support portion is configured to cradle the cue stick at a first and a second contact point on the jump shot tool while shooting the first jump shot; and   wherein the first cue stick support portion has a vee angle of no more than 60 degrees as measured at the first and the second contact points.   
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein a vertical center width of the jump shot tool is narrower than a width at a line passing through the first and the second contact points. 
     
     
         10 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the first and the second contact points are at least ⅜ of an inch apart. 
     
     
         11 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the first cue stick support portion is characterized by at least 1/16 inch of cue stick clearance. 
     
     
         12 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 11 , wherein the first grip portion is characterized by a protuberance variance limit of no more than ¼ inch, said protuberance variance limit being based on a smoothed shape approximation of the first grip portion. 
     
     
         13 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the grip portion begins no further than ½ inch from the bottom end portion and extends to at least two inches from the bottom end portion, said two sides tapering inwards towards each other from a bottom of the grip portion to a top of the grip portion. 
     
     
         14 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 13 , wherein the grip portion is characterized by a protuberance variance limit of no more than ¼ inch, said protuberance variance limit being based on a smoothed shape approximation of the first grip portion. 
     
     
         15 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein said vee angle is no more than 45 degrees as measured at the two contact points. 
     
     
         16 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 15 , where the cue stick has at least a 9/16 inch diameter at a cross-section 8 inches from a tip of the cue stick. 
     
     
         17 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the jump shot tool is symmetrical about a center axis drawn from a center of the cue stick support portion through the bottom end portion. 
     
     
         18 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the first grip portion begins no further than ½ inch from the second end and extends to at least two inches from the second end towards the first end, said two sides of the first grip portion tapering inwards towards the vertical center axis from a bottom of the first grip portion to a top of the first grip portion. 
     
     
         19 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 18 , wherein the second grip portion begins no further than ½ inch from the first end and extends to at least two inches from the first end, said two sides of second grip portion tapering inwards towards the vertical center axis from a bottom of the second grip portion to a top of the second grip portion. 
     
     
         20 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein said vee angle is no more than 45 degrees as measured at the first and the second contact points. 
     
     
         21 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 20 , where the cue stick has at least a 9/16 inch diameter at a cross-section 8 inches from a tip of the cue stick. 
     
     
         22 . The jump shot tool according to  claim 6 , wherein the jump shot tool is symmetrical about a center axis drawn from a center of the first cue stick support portion to the second cue stick support portion.