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Those Ain’t No Rubik’s Cubes…. While I was in high school, an academic from Budapest created what would be called “The Rubik’s Cube.” It was a dandy, yet frustrating, yet addictive three-dimensional puzzle. EVERYONE in my physics and calculus classes had one. Sure, just about every kid tried it, but the “mathies” were the ones who couldn’t seem to put it down. They’d spend hours, even days or weeks twisting and turning the cube to solve it. It was a huge marketing hit. At university, a couple of years later, if my memory serves me correctly, Playboy magazine (I only read it for the articles of course) published the “crack” code for the cube. By following a short set of instructions, the code provided a tool to “solve” the puzzle in a matter of seconds if your hands were quick enough. Now, you didn’t need your brain, or the ability to work out spacial relationship concepts, you only needed to memorize the steps. Now ANYONE could solve the Rubik’s cube. Many novice dice influencers seem to be seeking a similar set of instructions. You know, something along the lines of “the 10 easy steps to dice setting.” If only it were that simple. Yes, there are books on the subject, some of them are good (Zeke and Sharpshooter), some are better (Heavy and Yuri). I can, with no hesitation, say that there is no “code” to successful dice influencing. Heavy in his book discusses the Elements of a Precision Roll, Yuri calls them the Principles of a Controlled Throw. Both authors are correct and yet it’s not like the solution to the Rubik’s Cube. The elements and principals can be explained, along with the goals and expectations, but dice influencing is primarily a physical skill. There are shooters who will be able to read about the elements of a precision roll and translate it easily into a physical action. Others will have difficulty, but because they’re tenacious, will achieve success. And finally, there are others who will NEVER be able to execute a controlled throw with any consistency for one reason or another. If you are seeking the “code” for successful dice influencing, there is none. Learn the concepts, practice like mad, and give it your best shot. As I’ve always said, if dice influencing was easy, everybody’d be doing it. ~woof~ |
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