That's a complete back peddle and excuse for not putting yourself in a position to name someone with EXPERIENCE as an instructor or personal skill and success in those areas. Maybe you should think twice before striking computer keys once the next time.
I think everyone would choose those with a NAME, EXPERIENCE, AND SUCCESS for their high level performance in said genre as well as success in instructing others to higher levels of skill and success.
Choosing some no name just doesn't make sense unless he/she has a load of bullsh*t that makes a person think they're great.
The only reason to go with a no name or lesser name wouldn't be for anything else other than convenience and especially MONEY.
Or in my case with learning how to play a guitar, who cares. If they can play "Mary Has a Little Lamb" or "Home, Home On The Range" they're light years ahead of me and would be to my benefit. "Stairway To Heaven" would be in my next reincarnation with another instructor.
No back peddling. I simply believe that when you reach a certain skill level, whether it's in pool, music, golf or anything else, all the information you need to improve beyond that skill level is readily available in books and DVDs, or countless magazines and website resources.
Some people need to shown by example on how to do something, while others can figure it out on their own by reading instructions. It all falls back to that analogy about putting together a TV stand or whatever. There are people that need written or verbal instructions when it comes to learning how to do objective tasks. They need to be shown how to perform the task, hands-on learning. My wife is like that, as are many of my friends. They are smart people, but for some reason they learn best by example, by being shown how to do something.
Others can learn by example or by written or verbal instructions. I'm in this group, which makes it difficult sometimes to understand why anyone would pay for a lesson to learn something that I and many others have learned on our own. And this isn't to say private lessons can't benefit us also. It's just that we are more selective when it comes to those lessons.
Back in college I tutored trig and algebra for extra money. I found that most students who were struggling with these math classes were struggling because of the teaching methods in the book, not because they weren't smart enough to do the work. They were wired in a manner that required something other than explicit instruction in order to understand. I would show them my thought process for solving a particular math problem, many times not in accordance with the written book lessons, and the student would immediately understand it. It was like a switch got flipped on and they could suddenly see what had always been there, only now it made sense.
Here's my list of dream instruction:
POOL: Efren Reyes and one instructor. Efren because I'd like to know what goes on in his head while he is playing. One instructor with good reviews, like Matt, Stan, Scott, Robyn, etc...that could watch and recognize potential flaws in my fundamentals. But the instructor I pick would be based on a combination of other people's opinions and my own impression of them after meeting each one. Sorry if you don't like that answer, but that's the reality of it.
GOLF: Butch Harmon and Will Johnson. Butch has a great reputation for results. Will is a local college golf instructor here in Charleston. He is also a top notch tennis player and one of the best pool players in the tri-state area, as well as an avid reader. There's always something to be learned from multi-talented people.
GUITAR: I wouldn't waste my time or any instructor's time for guitar lessons. I play the way I play and I am not looking for anything more. I have my own style and I'm not interested in working on someone else's. Would I like to play like Bonamassa? Sure. But that's not something that'll come from guitar lessons. It's something that requires hours of dedicated practice on finger speed and pick speed.
When you reach a certain skill level, be it in pool, golf, guitar, or whatever....you have to come to the realization that you likely won't learn anything new from private lessons. What you will learn is that you need to commit yourself to quality practice time if you want to get better at doing these things you already know how to do. So at this point, the best instructor would be the one can teach you how to practice, how to refine your knowledge.
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