Know any instructors in the Chicago area?

Joe_Jaguar

Joe_Jaguar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was interested in finding a good instructor in the Chicago area that anyone might recommend or be familiar with? Searched back through a lot of the old posts and didn’t see much mention on actual instructors here in the immediate Chicago area itself. Posts mentioned Briesath (Madison, WI), Mark Wilson (St. Louis), Cuesports College (Peoria), and Cue-U (Rockford). I guess Rockford would be a possibility. Mainly looking for some hourly weekly instruction that could be spread out over time so as to have time to practice and not get too saturated too fast. Need to work a lot on cue ball control fundamentals and position and english/squirt.

Anyone used any of these BCA/ACS listed instructors?...
Bill Lebus - Des Plaines, IL
Eric Nelson(s) - Batavia, IL
Kenneth Stortz - Hoffman Estates, IL
Gregory Amos - Hazelcrest, IL
Terry Dickson - Sleepy Hollow, IL
Dave Dykeman - Plainfield, IL
Mary Frisone - Elgin, IL
William Kraft - Carol Stream, IL
William Ryan - Des Plaines, IL
R.J. Wilkinson - West Chicago, IL


Or any other pool hall house pros, non-BCA, etc. that could be recommended? My game is not anywhere near the level at this time to get enough out of the advanced level/price that guys like Hunter, the Beard, or Karabatsos would offer.

Thanks. Feel free to PM too. :thumbup:
 
Larry is a good guy. If you can beat me, then I will recommend Larry. Other wise, I charge $10 a minute.


P.S. If you win, it's free.
 
Check out Scott Lee. He lives in Michigan now but travels a lot and comes down to Chicago quite a bit.
do a search on his name here and you will see that he has numerous testimonials to his ability in teaching fundamentals and more.
 
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Jason Koopman said:
Jeff Carter if he is still resides there.
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Jeff Carter resides in Wisconsin, but sometimes he comes down to Chitown for a while and stays with John Lavin the owner of Red Shoes. By the way, Bobby Hunter also plays out of Red Shoes and he is a pretty good teacher.

Call Red Shoes and ask John Lavin to help you get in touch with either if you are interested.
 
Joe_Jaguar said:
I was interested in finding a good instructor in the Chicago area that anyone might recommend or be familiar with? Searched back through a lot of the old posts and didn’t see much mention on actual instructors here in the immediate Chicago area itself. Posts mentioned Briesath (Madison, WI), Mark Wilson (St. Louis), Cuesports College (Peoria), and Cue-U (Rockford). I guess Rockford would be a possibility. Mainly looking for some hourly weekly instruction that could be spread out over time so as to have time to practice and not get too saturated too fast. Need to work a lot on cue ball control fundamentals and position and english/squirt.

Anyone used any of these BCA/ACS listed instructors?...
Bill Lebus - Des Plaines, IL
Eric Nelson(s) - Batavia, IL
Kenneth Stortz - Hoffman Estates, IL
Gregory Amos - Hazelcrest, IL
Terry Dickson - Sleepy Hollow, IL
Dave Dykeman - Plainfield, IL
Mary Frisone - Elgin, IL
William Kraft - Carol Stream, IL
William Ryan - Des Plaines, IL
R.J. Wilkinson - West Chicago, IL


Or any other pool hall house pros, non-BCA, etc. that could be recommended? My game is not anywhere near the level at this time to get enough out of the advanced level/price that guys like Hunter, the Beard, or Karabatsos would offer.

Thanks. Feel free to PM too. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Tom Spencer has been known to give excellent lessons. You might try calling Chris's Billiards to find him. Anyone who knows Tom knows he's still an excellent player who runs 100's and jam up 9ball.
 
Joe_Jaguar said:
Anyone used any of these BCA/ACS listed instructors?...
Bill Lebus - Des Plaines, IL
Eric Nelson(s) - Batavia, IL
Kenneth Stortz - Hoffman Estates, IL
Gregory Amos - Hazelcrest, IL
Terry Dickson - Sleepy Hollow, IL
Dave Dykeman - Plainfield, IL
Mary Frisone - Elgin, IL
William Kraft - Carol Stream, IL
William Ryan - Des Plaines, IL
R.J. Wilkinson - West Chicago, IL
Click to expand...


Wow!! I can't say that I have heard of any of these instructors. I would go with the other recommendations. Cue-U is good for fundamentals.

Good luck!
 
I agree

philw said:
Tom Spencer has been known to give excellent lessons. You might try calling Chris's Billiards to find him. Anyone who knows Tom knows he's still an excellent player who runs 100's and jam up 9ball.
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I would agree Phil, Tommy is a good teacher and a great player. I would also reccomend Larry Schwartz. He teaches a class out of Northwestern University. Chris's in Chicago can get you in touch with him or if necessary PM me and I get you in touch with him or Tommy as well.
 
Larry is a great guy. He'd be one of my top choices.

For me, if I lived in Chicago, I'd track down the Beard and become his best friend. I'd play with that guy until he couldn't hack it anymore. All I know is I wanna know what he knows.
 
lol

SpiderWebComm said:
Larry is a great guy. He'd be one of my top choices.

For me, if I lived in Chicago, I'd track down the Beard and become his best friend. I'd play with that guy until he couldn't hack it anymore. All I know is I wanna know what he knows.
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Larry is a good choice, I love his 9 ball game, it's so clean and precise. I guess it's all those years of playing straight pool. I never get tired of watching people who can play the cue ball so quietly. As for the Beard, I would choose him as long as he's wearing his suspender's. :)
 
Red Shoes or Pockets

Call red Shoes in Alsip at 708.388.3700. You can find Jeff Carter, John Zaksys, Bobby Hunter or Sergio Perez there. Or try Pockets in Crestwood and ask for Rob Talchik 708.371.7665
 
I think Freddy the Beard teaches out of that super fast table in his basement as well, but charges a good amount of $$$ from what I hear.

also Scott Lee is an excellent choice.
 
My opinion is unless you can for sure find a quality lower price person it will be a better value for your time and money to go with the best brand name you can afford.

You want a teacher/mentor not a instructor they sound the same but a teacher/mentor can diagnose, correct and develop your game a instructor can only regurgitate things he or she has heard or give information from a lesson plan.

I would stay with one on one instruction and avoid a "group" instructor. More expensive but a greater return for your money. Once you get solid instruction than the group clinics can help because you can understand how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I had the opportunity to take lessons from a good teacher (Sabrina Anderson Ca.) and I can't recommend the experience enough.

I was in the gun business for a long time and received instruction from the best firearm instructors in the business. The best I learned from taught a 4 day course for $200.

I never understood why people will spend $1000 on a cue and not blink an eye but refuse taking lessons.

If I lived in Chicago I would sure check on Jeff Carter's instructor qualifications that guy had some of the most solid fundamentals of any pro.
 
AZ rate

100kbet said:
I think Freddy the Beard teaches out of that super fast table in his basement as well, but charges a good amount of $$$ from what I hear.

also Scott Lee is an excellent choice.
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Special rate for AZ'rs is $100 an hour. $200 minimum. One hr of actual personal instruction. None of this -- I talk for 2 min. and then have you shoot for 10 min. Student can stay and practice for several more hrs.

the Beard
 
accustatsfan...You're incorrect in your assumption that a pro player can better "diagnose" problems. Top instructors are TRAINED OBSERVERS, and have the teaching skills to communicate concepts and techniques, that many great players do not know how to do. I'm not saying that the pro players mentioned here are not good choices. I am saying that you're wrong, about good instructors vs. players. Qualified instuctors use video review, as a means for better teaching...most pro players don't. A GREAT instructor will offer a money-back guarantee. I've never seen a pro player, when teaching, offer that. No insults intended for the players mentioned here...but there are often big differences between an excellent instructor, and an excellent player.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

accustatsfan said:
My opinion is unless you can for sure find a quality lower price person it will be a better value for your time and money to go with the best brand name you can afford.

You want a teacher/mentor not a instructor they sound the same but a teacher/mentor can diagnose, correct and develop your game a instructor can only regurgitate things he or she has heard or give information from a lesson plan.
I would stay with one on one instruction and avoid a "group" instructor. More expensive but a greater return for your money. Once you get solid instruction than the group clinics can help because you can understand how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I had the opportunity to take lessons from a good teacher (Sabrina Anderson Ca.) and I can't recommend the experience enough.

I was in the gun business for a long time and received instruction from the best firearm instructors in the business. The best I learned from taught a 4 day course for $200.

I never understood why people will spend $1000 on a cue and not blink an eye but refuse taking lessons.

If I lived in Chicago I would sure check on Jeff Carter's instructor qualifications that guy had some of the most solid fundamentals of any pro.
Click to expand...
 
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