What it takes to be an expert

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That was fun. The stock market experts hit home too! I remember years ago there was one weekly business program on PBS with the WSJ businesss section stock prices taped to the wall with a bunch of darts thrown at it.
 

mikemosconi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks for an excellent video!

Relating this to pool- great players develop superior skills- then, through sheer volume of play, encounter every situation that could expose their weaknesses, take the time to recognize and admit their weaknesses to themselves, and work tirelessly to remove those weak points form their game. This is where great coaching/teaching can either shorten the path to expertise or, at a minimum, point the way on the path to becoming great at something.

As per the stock market- it is entirely driven by people who look to capitalize on the emotions of fear and/ or greed - that is the exact reason why no one can actually predict it's path in the short term ( ten years or less) - however; inevitably ( over one's lifetime) the market always goes up- hence the case for long term index investing - in the short term the market is a gamble- no matter how anyone tries to persuade you otherwise.

Case in point- in January of 2022 NOT ONE so called stock market expert predicted a 22% loss in the S&P for that year- no one knew the market's resultant reaction or could predict the FED's frenzied raising of interest rates as it did in 2022!!
 
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David in FL

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That was very, very cool.

Thanks for posting it.

Although no expert, I'd add one more thing. There's still an individual physical/intellectual capacity consideration in most, if not all endeavors.

As an example, no matter how hard I worked or applied myself throughout my entire life, I could never have played basketball for the NBA. I simply don't have the physical abilities/component to do so.
 
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BRKNRUN

Showin some A$$
Silver Member
What I get from that video is that my game closely resembles that of a roulette wheel.....or as Forrest Gump would say...."A box of chocolates".......You never know what you are going to get.
 

Rocket354

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great video. While I believe the top performers in any endeavor have some basic innate talent that allows for them to be the best, I think all of them are hard workers first and foremost. The most talented of the hard workers will be who comes out on top.

"Complimenting" someone on being naturally good or someone for whom an endeavor looks easy is really more of an insult--it invalidates to some degree all the work the person put in.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
This is a great video!

I made a small list of suggested books for pool players and provided a brief synopsis for each. Only 3 or 4 of them are pool/billiards related, the rest deal with developing skills or talents, both mental and physical skills.

Of course, we all have opinions, so some of you may not agree with my top ten books. But these are the ones I chose...

full


full


full
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Well if you want to be an expert first you got to be a pert.

OK, smart assed answer but as I have seen in pool and a half dozen or more other activities, skill is only a part of the equation. Will to win can not be overrated. If two competitors are within ten percent skill level, I will bet heart every time.

I have often seen talent described as ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration. I don't think that is 100% true, probably somewhere in the high nineties though. I have met a few that were a golden child. One in hundreds of thousands? One in millions? I don't know. Sometimes you meet someone that makes a joke out of all the stats.

Hu
 

MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well if you want to be an expert first you got to be a pert.
Lol

I was gifted with a great pattern matching brain. I happen to be one who does not need "very much" repetition in order to "get" the pattern. For example, taking a value across the equal sign inverts its sign and I got this pattern the second time the 7th grade teacher used it. She then had to repeat the pattern hundreds of times for the rest of the class while I did homework in the back of the class.
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Lol

I was gifted with a great pattern matching brain. I happen to be one who does not need "very much" repetition in order to "get" the pattern. For example, taking a value across the equal sign inverts its sign and I got this pattern the second time the 7th grade teacher used it. She then had to repeat the pattern hundreds of times for the rest of the class while I did homework in the back of the class.

Seeing patterns too well can be a curse! I was taking a test to select the next number or image in patterns. There were four answers to select from, only one allowed. Problem was I could see two or three equally viable patterns. Duh, which of these patterns do they want? It was one of the hardest tests I have ever taken, too many "right" answers and they wanted only one.

Hu
 

MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Seeing patterns too well can be a curse! I was taking a test to select the next number or image in patterns. There were four answers to select from, only one allowed. Problem was I could see two or three equally viable patterns. Duh, which of these patterns do they want? It was one of the hardest tests I have ever taken, too many "right" answers and they wanted only one.
About ½ of the mensa tests has those kinds of patterns; again, with only 1 correct answer.
 

nataddrho

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Seeing patterns too well can be a curse! I was taking a test to select the next number or image in patterns. There were four answers to select from, only one allowed. Problem was I could see two or three equally viable patterns. Duh, which of these patterns do they want? It was one of the hardest tests I have ever taken, too many "right" answers and they wanted only one.

Hu
I relieve your curse. What about an infinite pattern that never repeats?

 

tomatoshooter

Well-known member
An excellent video! It validates what I tell my students to do to improve their games. Practice difficult shots.
Yeah, most of my structured practice for the last few months has been practicing difficult shots. Some days it's a real grind, and a lot of times, it's not a lot of fun. But when I'm in a game now the harder shots are about like the 30% hardest shot of my practice routine.

I've had some tough days on the practice table but I tell myself that "if you want to do what others can't do, you have to do what they aren't willing to do." A lot of people will put in a lot of time on the table but how many of them will practice the same shot 30 times in a row. And the rain the pros are proud is because the practiced that shot 300 times in a row.
 
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