How to Play Pool from a Wheelchair

One of the most enjoyable things I learned how to do in rehab was play pool from a wheelchair.  Who cares about everything else, popping wheelies, learning how to make grilled cheese sandwiches, car transfers – perfecting my quad grip on my cue was all I cared about.  There was something about rolling around the pool table and feeling like a tough chic.

But the pool table isn’t exactly set-up for a wheelchair-user, especially when you try to play in a crowded place.  It can be difficult getting that sweet shot, but it’s far from being a lost cause.  There are several awesome pool players with spinal cord injuries, as well as hundreds more who just like to play even if they’re not that good.  To see exactly how playing pool in a wheelchair can be done, check out our four videos below.

Our first video comes from Crystal, an ingenious C6-7 quadriplegic who loves to play pool and has been playing for several years.  In her video she brings up all her tricks for holding a cue, from bringing hair ties to the bar whenever she plays so she can wrap them around the cues to hold them better, as well as inserting a bolt into the lower part of her handle on her own cue so when she does loose her grip, it doesn’t slip out of her hands.

She also shows the two methods she uses to take a shot with the cue in her palm, which by the way is not easy when you can’t move your fingers.  And even more thorough, she shows how she uses a bridge to shoot balls that are tight in the corner. Watch her explain everything in her video

If you’ve ever wanted to attend an adapted cool tournament, the 9 Ball tournament at the 29th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Spokane, Washington to be exact, this is the video to watch.  It shows a great interview with a paraplegic who talks about how pool is the ones sport he’s got better and since his injury, and it goes over the rules of this very cool event; a two-game elimination tournament. Watch dozens of wheelers converge at the 9 Ball pool tournament

Our third video comes from one of our favorites, Simon Marcus, another C6 quad who loves playing pool.  In his video, he shows his moves while playing on a table too tall, and how to get around it.

He admits pool is still something he’s working at, and that he biffs more shots than he’d like, but it gets him out of the house and hanging out with friends, which we all know can be a great thing when you have a spinal cord injury. Watch Simon show how he plays

And if you’ve wanted to watch two really talented wheelchair pool players battle it out, then you’ll love this video of Charlie Hans and Kurt Deklerk playing at the Wheelchair 8-Ball Final at the Galveston World Classic a few years ago in Texas.  It’s a two hour-long game, but if you love pool, you will learn a lot about wheelchair pool from this video.  Watch the two compete

Billiards, pool, it’s by far one of the great sports you can still do sitting down.  It may take some practice and the oh-so wheelchair life task of being aware of angles, but it’s a sport you can even get better and after an injury, and that’s a pretty cool thing.

How do you play pool from your wheelchair?

Watch the videos!

– Crystal, a C6-7 quad, showing how she shoots pool

– Clip from 9 Ball, a billiards tournament for the Nat’l Veterans Wheelchair Games

– Lower level quad showing his pool skills at a bar

– Two paraplegic players battling it out at the 8 Ball tournament