Can you be too smart to play good pool?
- Thread starter John Brumback
- Start date
Banks
Banned
I have his dvd and i wouldn't call it a system. Maybe you're too smart for this thread.
I know you would jump into this discussion being smart and talented yourself. Your analogy of a boxer is legitimate but youre leaning more towards golf when teaching about mechanics. Instructors are lacking in your area but you are more of a "feel" player. With all your talent and experience you should be more on the floor teaching than being a "on the rails instructor". No disrespect but lots of newbies need you.
I have his dvd and i wouldn't call it a system. Maybe you're too smart for this thread.
How about method or style? I'm impressed, you finally bit the bullet and spent some personal money on a pool Dvd. Or did somebody lend it to you? There may be hope after all. :thumbup:
Banks
Banned
Finally? What, you think I'm Thaiger? That's a low blow. I've got two from Tucker, Brumback's first, Banking with the Beard, one or two from Lenny and i think something else.
Yes, method or style. I was going to say tips and such, but that wasn't quite right.
OK, so if you didn't understand my analogy, maybe others didn't either. So I will explain.
The two player initially are equal. They are , say, of average intelligence. The "tools" they have in their bag are:
(1) Driver --This is their knowledge about pool (things they can explain)
(2) 4-iron -- This is their muscle memory and physical skill
(3) pitching wedge-- This is their intuition about pool (things they "know" but can't explain)
The extra club is added reasoning ability (like suddenly gaining 10 IQ points). This is not gaining knowledge. It is gaining a greater ability to discern a pattern, greater ability to to infer rules and apply them to new situations, and greater ability to figure out cause and effect. These are things that every person of every level of intelligence does but that smarter people do better. My point is that suddenly being able to do these things better can't possibly be a take-away because you don't have to use this ability. It's like if you are communicating with somebody in English and you suddenly are given the ability to speak Russian. That can't possibly make your ability to communicate with the person worse. But depending on the person it could help your ability to communicate.
TheThaiger
Banned
Yeah, right. You wish.
FWIW I have never bought or watched a dvd on pool, I just don't see how they can possibly help anyone's game, especially if they are not american. You must be a tremendously poor player to have to have someone show you what to do.
Pool: it ain't rocket science, is it?
lol
Maybe if those were mutually exclusive things. His point (that thing that flew over your head) was that they're not.
pj
chgo
****oops duplicate post****
I already feel like I'm speaking with someone using different languages. I want to say it one more time, your WISE ASS remark about CTE didn't belong in this thread or needed to be made in the course of your post. Your gal pal PJ certainly knew what you did in throwing it out the way you did. Both of you Siamese twins have been doing it for 17 years and counting.
Last edited:
Yeah, right. You wish.
FWIW I have never bought or watched a dvd on pool, I just don't see how they can possibly help anyone's game, especially if they are not american. You must be a tremendously poor player to have to have someone show you what to do.
Pool: it ain't rocket science, is it?
Maybe you should have bought a dvd.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=369759
TheThaiger
Banned
Great thread, obviously, but what does starting a thread taking the piss out of CJ have to do with instructional DVDs?
Ron Swanson
Banned
I was playing some 1pocket against a guy, whom I was giving a several ball spot to, and I leave him in a stone trap. No way out. So after looking at the table for awhile, the guy winds up and shoots a completely and totally goofy shot that goes bad BUT THEN after a few balls bounce off each other, a ball drops in his hole and he is straight in on another ball with natural shape for a third. A guy on the rail sitting next to me whispers, "Wow. I bet you didn't see that coming." And I just turned to him and said, "You cannot defend against stupid."
Lou Figueroa
This is a great reply. I especially agree with your last sentence. I don't believe there was anything in my post you quoted that would indicate I had an issue with *any* degree of discussion. And you did say this wasn't directed at me lol. But yeah great points, well stated, good dialog. That is interesting about the grammar rules. You may be on to something there.
I think of myself as having above average aptitude for a wide variety of things, but I never really thought I had a very *high* level of aptitude for anything. All the little sub-skills (spatial relations, hand eye coordination, logic and problem solving, weighing odds, etc.) I'm *reasonably* good at, but wouldn't say I excel in any.
However I have slowly become a solid A player in my area (and actually made a pretty big jump in the last couple of years...I'm 41 years old now). The one area where I think I am more than a little above average is intelligence. (At least that is what all those standardized tests, IQ tests, special programs in school they put me into, GPA, my invitation to Mensa, etc. would suggest). I believe that I would be a MUCH worse player if I was not able to overcome many weaknesses through THINKING. Assessing a situation, forming an honest non-biased view of what just happened, categorizing knowledge for quick and efficient retrieval, learning HOW TO LEARN, what areas to focus on, etc....I think all of this were a major part of why I was able to get as far as I have, because I really don't think my "natural ability" supports the level of play I can achieve. However, for anyone who has watched me play pool, I WORK HARD! I really have to struggle and try so damn hard to play well. It does not come easy to me at all. If I win a tournament, my brain is a puddle of soup by the end. It is an enormous stress, although as such it sure does feel good to be the winner.
I will add something else. More recently my game seems to be taking another up-turn. I think this is related to speeding up my pace of play slightly. The majority of this increase in speed has come by cutting down the time I waste on DOUBT. I am just not thinking so much about "what if I miss". I actually have watched Jayson Shaw many times, and that has seeped into my brain. I try to emulate that effortless, fearless shot making. It has really helped quite a bit. I'm probably a bit more fun to play with as well, because I don't dwell on shots as long as I used to. Still, trying to "not think" was a conscious decision. It was a plan I undertook based on analysis of both my physical game and also of my mental processes. I tried to understand what thoughts and feelings correlated with screw ups. I really don't think I could have made these advances if I didn't think about my situation with a careful, critical mind.
Of course this is just *my* experience. On the other hand, I find that the experience of *believing* that I will make the shot is as important or more so than any physical technique. It sure is hard to think logically about "belief", particularly in so much as there are many times in which the evidence as I see it suggests that I will miss, but somehow the belief that I won't trumps that and I make the shot. Idk...maybe that "evidence" is just a subtle and sly manifestation of fear and uncertainty.
Anyway, there's my story. BRussel, thanks for the excellent reply!
KMRUNOUT
I'd say about all the guys I play One Pocket with are reasonably intelligent. I'm the educated one with a handful of college credits. The rest have high schrool diplomas, except for one. He graduated from the equivalency academy, and says the reunions rock.
All-in-all, I'd say it's a mix. Pool players may be a little lower on the curve, but not much.
Try a poll and see what happens.
All-in-all, I'd say it's a mix. Pool players may be a little lower on the curve, but not much.
Try a poll and see what happens.
Last edited: