Im always seeing advertisments in pool mags and flyers for the Monk series, and the Monk acadamy. Does anyone know if who this guy is? I dont hear anyone one here talk about these lessons, and was wondering why?
The Monk
- Thread starter skankhammer
- Start date
Tim Miller has been around for a long time. You might even call him "old school". I don't know him that well, but in all my conversations with him he appears to know his stuff. I suspect there is a lot of value in his material.
I have his DVD's with Dr. Cue. I woud rate they GREAT!.
If you mean the 202 series (kicking one) then yes that is a great learning tool.
edit 202 DOH!^
Last edited:
Tim is a very nice guy. I have several of his books. While we don't necessarily agree on many aspects of the game, his teaching of the mental part of the game can be quite helpful if you are willing to do some serious self-evaluation. Some of the things I learned from him have helped me change my attitude toward competition, and I am pleased with the results.
The last time I saw him, we played a little scotch doubles, he and one of his students, and me with one of mine. Our team came out on top of the match, but more importantly, we all had a lot of fun.
Steve
The last time I saw him, we played a little scotch doubles, he and one of his students, and me with one of mine. Our team came out on top of the match, but more importantly, we all had a lot of fun.
Steve
skankhammer..Your last sentence should tell you something...that's all I'll say.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
I don't understand this, so I'll just take a guess as to what you mean. Perhaps its because The Monk doesn't post "on here," at least not that I am aware of.
There are many instructional resources out there that go unmentioned or mentioned less than others in certain places for many reasons.
To Mr. Hammer,
Surely, a search could provide more information here. And perhaps cruise by the local billiard shop and take a peek at some of Tim's books and see if his style suits your game.
If you have any more questions, please let me know ...
I've seen horrors … horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that … but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face … and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us, and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember … I … I … I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized … like I was shot … like I was shot with a diamond … a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God … the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men … trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love … but they had the strength … the strength … to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, then our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral … and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling … without passion … without judgment … without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us.
I've seen horrors … horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that … but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face … and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us, and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember … I … I … I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized … like I was shot … like I was shot with a diamond … a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God … the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men … trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love … but they had the strength … the strength … to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, then our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral … and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling … without passion … without judgment … without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us.
I think what he is trying to say, without being negative, is there are quite a few other instructors who may be more highly regarded among our little group here.
As an instructor myself, I make it a point not to make any negative comments about other instructors. (At least the ones who keep their clothes on!) Scott handles himself in a similar way. Part of being a professional is maintaining your professionalism at all times. There is some good to be found in any instruction, as long as you know how to recognize that which is good, and separate it from that which may not be. Tim has some good stuff to offer regarding your mental game.
Steve
j/k
Well I can't say anything about how he teaches but I e-mailed him a question once and it was never answered but I do get an offer from him every few months to buy one of his dvd's - he used Rachel Abbink to do the shooting - his latest offer is to be come a teacher of his Monk course (lol) - Methinks this guy is a little too eager - just my opinion
The Monk is best known for his ideas about the "philosophy" of pool, which I know nothing about. My problem with him is that he seems to be confused about where philosophy ends and mechanics begin. An example is his idea that there are different strokes for getting draw, sidespin, etc (http://www.themonk.com/FourStrokesv2buy.html). His ideas and teachings about the mental game may be more valid, but I'll never know because I don't want lessons from somebody who doesn't understand the mechanics. Maybe it's my loss.
pj
chgo
pj
chgo
The monk is a nice enough guy, I have met and shot pool against him.
Other teachers on this thread might think lowly of his teachings but I will be blunt and say that VERY few of the top players in this game were formally taught by ANY pool teacher. Instead those people went into tournaments and gambled against better players and learned how to play the game by shooting alot of pool, setting up alot of shots, and trial and error finding out what works.
Archer, Strickland, Sigel, ect... these guys shoot better then any professional pool teacher in the world and any of their students as well. This is a game best learned by simply putting yourself out there and competing. If you have $100 to spend on a pool lesson do yourself a favor and spend it to play 5 tournaments or a few $20 sets instead, you might end up winning and if not you will have gained more from the experience then the lesson would have given you.
Every single top player in Calgary is self taught and picked up the odd hint by simply talking to the top players who give them the time of day because they spend their money and time competing with them and become their peers, which is what makes you eventually good enough to compete with them.
If you want to get good think hard about doing what 99% of the top 1% of pool players in the world have done and just compete against top competition and commit yourself to practice and shooting a ton of balls. When you find a shot you suck at shoot it for 1/2 hour straight until you can shoot the shot with ease.
There is no magical setup where you suddenly make all the shots. This game is about feel and the feel of the stroke. I can set up entirely wrong on a shot and still make it because I have the ability to adjust my stroke on the fly through pure feel, it is not a "gee I need to put a 1/2 tip of left and turn my hand this way" it is instead pure subconcious feel and THAT is what every single great pool player in the world has that makes them play the way they do. This is why there is a million different strokes out there from Keith to Atwell to Strickland to Mike Davis and ya know what they all have in common? It aint the stroke because they are all vastly different in that regard, it is the feel they aquired from shooting a ton of pool and the ability to do what they need to under the lights because of the amount of competition they have put themselves through.
The Monk like any other instructor on the planet is not going to make you shoot much better and your money is better spent on tournaments or at the pool hall matching up in cheap sets or even just shooting for 3 hours by yourself on the table.
Other teachers on this thread might think lowly of his teachings but I will be blunt and say that VERY few of the top players in this game were formally taught by ANY pool teacher. Instead those people went into tournaments and gambled against better players and learned how to play the game by shooting alot of pool, setting up alot of shots, and trial and error finding out what works.
Archer, Strickland, Sigel, ect... these guys shoot better then any professional pool teacher in the world and any of their students as well. This is a game best learned by simply putting yourself out there and competing. If you have $100 to spend on a pool lesson do yourself a favor and spend it to play 5 tournaments or a few $20 sets instead, you might end up winning and if not you will have gained more from the experience then the lesson would have given you.
Every single top player in Calgary is self taught and picked up the odd hint by simply talking to the top players who give them the time of day because they spend their money and time competing with them and become their peers, which is what makes you eventually good enough to compete with them.
If you want to get good think hard about doing what 99% of the top 1% of pool players in the world have done and just compete against top competition and commit yourself to practice and shooting a ton of balls. When you find a shot you suck at shoot it for 1/2 hour straight until you can shoot the shot with ease.
There is no magical setup where you suddenly make all the shots. This game is about feel and the feel of the stroke. I can set up entirely wrong on a shot and still make it because I have the ability to adjust my stroke on the fly through pure feel, it is not a "gee I need to put a 1/2 tip of left and turn my hand this way" it is instead pure subconcious feel and THAT is what every single great pool player in the world has that makes them play the way they do. This is why there is a million different strokes out there from Keith to Atwell to Strickland to Mike Davis and ya know what they all have in common? It aint the stroke because they are all vastly different in that regard, it is the feel they aquired from shooting a ton of pool and the ability to do what they need to under the lights because of the amount of competition they have put themselves through.
The Monk like any other instructor on the planet is not going to make you shoot much better and your money is better spent on tournaments or at the pool hall matching up in cheap sets or even just shooting for 3 hours by yourself on the table.
That's an essential part of learning, but some good teaching/coaching can cut months or years off the time it takes and help avoid or fix bad habits and techniques that can put an unnecessary ceiling on your progress.
pj
chgo
Do you actually believe the junk you posted? I don't even know where to begin. You do realize that in just about every sport with money in it, the very best have coaches (not instructors, but full time coaches) Roger Federer could give is coach 99 points in race to 100 and still kill him, but non-the-less he has a full time coach. Simple reason. Some can play and others can teach. There is a few that can do both. Why are there instructors that do work with Pro players then? Even if you play 1000 tournaments you might just be reinforcing poor fundamentals. And, no matter how good you are, unless you are Archer or Strickland in thier prime, you still need to improve, and without the aid of someone who can correct and instruct, aint gonna happen.
I also think you will be hard pressed to find a pro player to even agree with you, even the ones that can't teach.