Member Benefits:  

If you are a current, paid USBA Member, you have a variety of discounts at your disposal. These discounts are available in the Membership Package that is mailed to you every year. We have also included that list online for quicker access. The section is entitled “Member Benefits” and is accessible through the online USBA Forum. Instructions to use the USBA Forum are as follows:

USBA Forum:

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To access the many features available on this website, you will need to register online with us and confirm your email address. This only needs to be done one time.

Once you have registered, you can access the USBA Forum two different ways:

1) Click “USBA Forum” near the top of the left side menu on the USBA home page (www.USBA.net). If you are not yet logged in, it will take you to the
“My USBA Login” page. Once you are logged in with your email address and password, click “USBA Forum”.

or

2) Click “My USBA Login” at the top center of nearly every page of the USBA website (www.USBA.net). Once you are logged in with your email address and password, click “USBA Forum”.

If you have trouble logging in immediately after registering, then try logging out and back in again or closing your browser or internet connection. Then go back to www.USBA.net and try again. If you still have a problem, then please contact the webmaster or secretary right away by clicking the “Contact Us” link on the left side menu.

Once you are on the USBA Forum, you have a choice of entering into one of 19 different mini-forums. Each forum has a picture of a folder to the left of its name. The main forum is the 4th Forum from the top: “USBA – Main Forum”. By clicking it, you will now see a list of topics that have already been raised by other Forum members. Clicking on any one of these topics will allow you to see all the comments that people have posted onto this forum. Scroll down the page to see all of them. Sometimes the topics will take up more than one page, so you will need to click page 2 or 3 if necessary to read everything.

Replying to a topic: To post a reply, click “Reply to Topic” which is located either on the top right hand side of each page just underneath where it says “Logout” in red, or there is a “Reply to Topic” option at the bottom of each page as well.

After clicking “Reply to Topic”, type in your message and then click
“Post New Reply” underneath the message box.

Starting a New Topic: To post a New Topic, click “New Topic” which is located either on the top right hand side of each page just underneath where it says “Logout” in red, or there is a “New Topic” option at the bottom of each page as well.

After clicking “New Topic”, make sure that you type in a SUBJECT of your discussion. Then type in your message and then click “Post New Topic” underneath the message box.

For more detailed functions, click “FAQ” located on the top right side of each Forum page.

CREATE-A-SHOT feature: The USBA has invested much time and money into its “Create-A-Shot” feature for the benefit of all forum users. This feature was conceived by USBA Secretary Jim Shovak. While it was being designed, Jim became aware that there was a website that was also using a similar feature: cuetable.com. Although Jim liked the cuetable.com feature, he felt that it was way too complicated and wanted to keep it as simple as possible. The program is not perfect, there are a few bugs, but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy and fast to create shot diagrams.

You will need Adobe Flash Player if you don’t already have it on your computer. You can download it by going to: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=BUIGP

You can create shots on the following Forums:

1) USBA – Main Forum: After clicking on one of the topics for discussion, click
“Reply to Topic”. You will then see an option above the message box that says, “Create a Shot and add to your post”. Once you click that, you will be brought into the Create-A-Shot program. You can also click “New Topic” to access the feature.

2) Share Your Favorite Shots: you can click either “New Topic” or “Reply to Topic”. Then click “Create a Shot and add to your post”.

3) Tips From the Pro’s: you can click either “New Topic” or “Reply to Topic”. Then click “Create a Shot and add to your post”.

To Create a Shot:

1) Click on all 3 balls: the white, yellow and red. That will place them onto the table

2) Click and drag one of the balls to where you want it to be placed on the table. Then let it go. (Left Click down on the mouse, don’t let go of your finger, drag the ball, then let your finger go. In other words, click DOWN but do not UN-CLICK. After dragging the ball where you want it, then you can un-click.) If you mess up, just click down again on the ball, drag it and then unclick when finished.

3) Repeat procedure for all 3 balls.

4) To draw a line from the cueball to the first object ball: DOUBLE left click on the cue ball. Then drag the line (you don’t need to hold down the mouse button) to the first object ball’s point of contact. Notice that at the end of the line there is a circle which indicates where the cueball would strike the first object ball. Make sure to place the OUTSIDE of that circle in contact with the first object ball. Don’t go “past” the contact point. When you have the contact point, left click your mouse ONCE. This will end the first line and the 2nd line will still continue to where you want it to go.

5) Continue this procedure for all ball and rail contacts. Remember to keep the OUTSIDE of the circle as the point of contact even for the rails.

6) When you have finished making all the lines from your cueball, then you must DOUBLE-CLICK your mouse. This will end the line completely.

7) You can also make lines from any of the other two balls as well. Each ball will have its own colored line.

8) If you make a mistake when drawing a line, the best thing to do is to DOUBLE-CLICK the mouse which will end the line. Then click the circular arrow icon (Undo) which is located just underneath the table on the left side next to the capital A. Click this arrow a few times until all the lines are gone. Then you can start the line over by double-clicking the ball and dragging the line again.

9) If you want to completely start over, then click “Reset Drawing” right next to the other options underneath the table that we just mentioned.

10) Adding text: by clicking the capital A icon (text), you can now add text anywhere on the table that you desire including the rails. After clicking the text (A) icon, place your cursor where you wish to add text, then double click your mouse. Start adding text or numbers or whatever. When finished, you can double click the mouse on other areas of the table or rails and do the same thing as much as you want.

11) Indicating the correct English to be used: underneath the table on the right side is a large cueball with a dot in the middle. Click and DRAG (don’t Un-click) the dot to a point on the cueball where you wish to indicate the proper English to be used for the shot. If you make a mistake, just click and drag it until it is right. Then let go of your finger.

12) When your diagram is complete, you will have 4 options (located underneath the table):

a) Save & Post: If you click this button, it will take you back to the “Reply to Topic” page. You can now type in any comments you wish and your new “Shot” will also be posted onto the Forum along with your reply.

b) Save & Mail: This option lets you enter a person’s email address. Then you can send that person an email which will also include a .jpg file (picture) of the shot that you just created.

c) Download Image: clicking this will convert the new shot into a .jpg (picture) file. Once it is displayed, you can download the picture onto your hard drive into any folder that you wish. Simply RIGHT-click on the picture (after it has been converted) and left-click “Save Picture As”. Then download it onto your computer wherever you desire.

d) Return to Forum: This will bring you back to the “Reply to Topic” page but you will LOSE your new shot, so be careful not to click this unless you want to abandon your shot altogether.

Classified Forums:

There is a different forum for most everything we need as billiard players. Post new topics onto these forums or reply to existing topics. There is a forum available if you wish to do any of the following:

1) Buy a billiard table
2) Sell a billiard table
3) Buy a certain cue
4) Sell a cue
5) Buy certain billiard supplies
6) Sell billiard supplies
7) Buy a billiard room
8) Sell a billiard room
9) Buy certain miscellaneous and collectible items
10) Sell miscellaneous and collectible items
11) Post a help wanted ad within the billiard industry
12) Offer your billiard industry services to everyone

These forums are not intended for large commercial use. By that we mean that we do not want a cue manufacturer to flood the forum with hundreds of individual ads for hundreds of cues. If you have one, two or even a few cues to offer, then that is fine. Just don’t overdo it and don’t flood the forum. Don’t post multiple ads for the same thing over and over. This will be monitored.

Help with the USBA Forums:

If you have any problems or questions about the Forums, please post a topic in the “Help with the USBA Forums” section and we will address it.

Members Only Section:

Member Benefits: Feel free to click on any of the USBA Member Benefits topics. You cannot reply or add topics here. This is purely informational for all paid members. Find out what all your benefits are and how to take advantage of them.

Tips From The Pro’s: Once per month, a new tip from one of the top players will be posted here. Feel free to post replies, comments and to even add your own shots to this forum.