Who's the strongest modern player today? Schmidt? Thorsten? Mika? I've always wondered who's the top dog to beat.
Sent from my iPhone using
AzBilliards Forums
Not sure, but of the three you mention, my favorite to watch is Thorsten Hohmann, and I'll tell you why:
1. Mika Immonen is an awesome shotmaker, has great rhythm, a smooth stroke, but he tends to go into the balls too often (= too early, sometimes before he's cleaned out the areas into which he breaks out more balls), and he'll shoot at a white flag when so inclined. Don't get me wrong, he's an incredibly talented player, but there's a fine line between genius and insanity. Very few have such a deep-seated aversion to losing, but psychologically this isn't always conducive to making the right decisions. When Mika gets going, he's unstoppable and a joy to watch, but he'll get down on himself easily when things aren't going his way, and, worse yet, occasionally throw in the towel well before it's over. And one of the reasons things aren't always going his way is that he won't always take the time to look for the easiest pattern, in particular ones that afford options, offer insurance ball scenarios etc. Needless to say I'm glad for him that he finally won the World's, but to be honest, he's been one of the handful usual suspects to win it for years, no more, no less…
2. John Schmidt is another awesome shotmaker, not as fluid and smooth as Mika, but he'll get the job done. He has great love and knowledge of the game, and is one of the few who practices the game enough to have his own unique style that allows him to improvise and sometimes come up with solutions that afford options where others try to fit the proverbial camel through the eye of a needle. He's a great rhythm player who's a joy to watch and who will run a lot of balls not only in no time, but without wasting too much mental energy (efficiency is even more conducive to running a lot of balls than pace). But, and this is a great but, he does tend to manufacture (such as bump into place) break balls late in the rack, and in general leaves himself a higher percentage of end patterns, in particular choice of and position on key balls, that require feel and speed control, the kind where in the long run even the greatest player is going leave himself too much or too little angle on a break shot.
I call these end-pattern strategies "play position" versus "have position". Watching great modern-day Straight Pool players, I'm often reminded of something I tell students instructing: an end pattern is truly fool-proof only when one would dare to hand one's cue to a beginner and have him or her shoot the final stop shots on the key-to-the-key and key balls for perfect shape on the break ball (= the "tic tac toe" end patterns of some of the all-time greatest "old-timers"). Continually leaving oneself end patterns that require perfect execution, i.e. knowledge, feel, speed control etc., it's true one will hone one's improvisation skills, and some will opine that historically, more than a handful undisputed Straight Pool champions such as Steve Mizerak and prior to him all-around champions like Luther Lassiter (one of the greatest shotmakers of all time) used to have a comparatively carefree approach to the game, one that one might say mentally lends itself to running a lot of balls (as e.g. John Schmidt believes).
Even so, I'd insist one is an even greater player (or at least competitor) if one is able to never leave the table on a miss (= if I could travel in time, I would want to take lessons with the likes of an Irving Crane etc.).
It's sometimes been said of the great old-timers that they had greater all-around knowledge of the game than today's players, but I've always thought what they did was to create an illusion of control by keeping the game more simple: the art of knowing all about comparatively little. Much of that simplicity, upon closer inspection, was based on remarkably repetitive pattern play - at least that's the way I remember it watching e.g. Willie Mosconi.
3. Thorsten Hohmann is another player who was an uncanny shotmaker in his youth, and who still has the eye and the stroke to overcome problem situations/the occasional tough shot, but he's also matured into a more complete Straight Pool player than perhaps anyone still competing today. Apart from his infamous supercharged draw-uptable-and-back break shots (that I've seen backfire more than once), one rarely sees him do anything remotely "wild", let alone pick the wrong shot or make mental mistakes. Shooting one's way out of trouble is more important in Straight Pool challenges than competition, where it pays off to keep out of trouble finding the easiest patterns, and know one's limits, that is, never shoot a shot one could miss. So Hohmann may not be a greater high-run candidate than his peers, but he's probably the most consistent and on average toughest to beat in tournament play - and that, to me, makes him the greatest of the three you've listed.
Needless to say, these are only my two cents's worth! While I love watching Straight Pool, I'll admit I prefer to watch players I figure I might learn from (e.g. Jim Rempe) to ones who keep shooting (and making!) balls I'd not even consider in my wildest dreams (e.g. Oliver Ortmann when he was younger). Having said that, I do love watching players whose style would be impossible to emulate even if one tried (e.g. Efren Reyes) - but the real entertainment in Straight Pool is not to watch, but play it…
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________
„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
