why dont pool instructors teach a snooker stance ???
- Thread starter bbb
- Start date
Very true. More often than not, the greatest teachers were never the greatest students, and the best coaches were never the best players. This applies to everything from academics to sports to life itself. The ability to teach is an entirely separate skill, independent of a person's ability to perform. Some of the greatest minds, greatest sports figures, greatest whatever, make for lousy teachers. Having an impressive portfolio of achievements that prove how well you can do something is simply irrelevant when it comes to whether or not you can teach.
I recommend some metrics for testing a pool teacher or coach:
1. how fast do their students improve?
2. how much do they improve?
3. do they "feel good for a day" or is lasting change enacted?
Excellent assessment questions. I could care less about an instructor's personal achievements or bragging rights. It all boils down to whether or not he or she is an effective teacher.
Well that's your problem right there. I thought pool instructors were teaching their students primarily how to play pool. You are talking about competition, which is a different thing.
dan thanks for getting alittle closer to the thread
which is
why not teach the snooker stance ?
The two best players i've ever seen in person are Buddy and Efren. Neither one stood like those limey snooker players. Neither did: Mosconi, Earl(squats big-time), Sigel, Hopkins and on and on. As long as you can deliver the tip accurately who gives a rat's a^* how you do it.
There's a huge difference between starting out with a snooker stance and modifying it for pool, and starting out with a pool stance (whatever that even is) and sprinkling in some snooker.
I'll take starting with the snooker stance every time. There's several reasons for this, but for me the biggest one is what I call, or think of as -- channel cueing versus floppy cueing. A typical pool player just has their cue out there flopping in the wind. The only thing that locks these cues into a straight line is the power of repetiton. Whereas with snooker, the player create more of a channel that their cue must stay in. So these players develop a much straighter stroke, much earlier in their development than pool players. Or at least that's my theory.
To illustrate this contrast take a look at the picture of Mark Wilson on the cover of his instructional book and then look at any snooker player.
I'll take starting with the snooker stance every time. There's several reasons for this, but for me the biggest one is what I call, or think of as -- channel cueing versus floppy cueing. A typical pool player just has their cue out there flopping in the wind. The only thing that locks these cues into a straight line is the power of repetiton. Whereas with snooker, the player create more of a channel that their cue must stay in. So these players develop a much straighter stroke, much earlier in their development than pool players. Or at least that's my theory.
To illustrate this contrast take a look at the picture of Mark Wilson on the cover of his instructional book and then look at any snooker player.
Vivid example that emphasizes your point: Pavarotti had the same voice coach for 35 years, right up until Pavarotti's career ended -- and Pavarotti had the money to afford any coach in the world. His lifetime coach was never more than a very average operatic tenor, with few natural gifts, but knew more about tenors' production of notes (and about dramatically/sensitively performing the arias) than just about anyone, anywhere.
As with the coaching of any discipline, a superb coach or instructor consistently notices things that other people would miss . . . and has the ability to perfectly communicate recommended tweaks and to somehow illustrate the means of making even radical changes to his/her client's performing abilities.
Arnaldo
Excellent post by Arnaldo, as always.
Agreed--with the caveat that for a struggling amateur or a developing player, a good coach can give them more basic fundamentals, closer to the norm--to improve their game fast!
You're right, your knowledge is limited. :smile:
Take a free lesson from me, why don'cha?!
Exactly. Great post.