A little information from a pro

paksat

paksat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
No no I don't mean me :frown:

I was listening/watching TAR last night and the match between Corey and Archer when Mr. Schmidt came along to help commentate.

One of the people in the chat asked just how many hours he practiced per day and the guess was 10-14.

Just as I had assumed before, John said that his average "per day" was probably 20 minutes.. Surprised? I'm not.

He went on to say that he might play 20 minutes one day, then not play again for 4 days and then he might play an hour or 2 after that and so on.

He also noted that the average player shouldn't believe that the pros practice "hours and hours a day."

Obviously, SVB is an exception to this and I would say it shows as he is THE money man in the USA. But as for his comments, they come as no surprise.

JoeW on his site has an article stating that 3 sessions of focused practice time of just 45 minutes is more effective then 8 hours all together ( that's not word for word as i'm stressed for time here and i'm just getting the message out there ).

So for those aspiring to be pro or a great player... just some food for thought.
 
That's funny John would say that. :)

I remember when we all used to play at The Cue and Cushion in Reno in 1996. The rest of us would be hanging out away from the tables a bit, but John would continue to hit balls while he contributed to the conversation, and practice - which is what he did all day.

In the beginning on his way to being a pro, he practiced and played hours on end. That is how I know any pro to be a pro. However, to maintain now I am sure it may only be that 20 min every other day or so.
 
paksat said:
Just as I had assumed before, John said that his average "per day" was probably 20 minutes.. Surprised? I'm not.
...
He also noted that the average player shouldn't believe that the pros practice "hours and hours a day."
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The pros may not practice hours and hours a day, but ask him how much he played to get to that level. No one here is going to wake up one morning and just decide to play great pool. I have spoken with many "new" phenomenal players and watched a few come up. These guys are playing every day, sometimes all day. Their game jumps during these periods. At some point, they will plateau or at least slow the learning curve.

You kid yourself to think that anyone will "become" pro practicing/playing 20 minutes per day.
 
In the history of pool in America, the best ever were always putting in long hours. Guys like Strickland, Sigel, and Hall practiced, gambled, and/or participated in exhibtions virtually every day in their primes. That's why when the biggest moments came in major championship events, they were ready for success. Any player today who thinks they can be one of the elite, which is what you need to be if you want to make a living at this game, without putting in a huge number of hours over the green felt consistenly would be wise to ignore the fact that every once in a while, there is a player as gifted as John Schmidt that is able to maintain top world class speed without working as hard at it as the greats customarily have had to.

Want to be a great player? Plan on tons of practice, because, in all likelihood, you're going to need it.
 
Why do people always have to come in and say "yeh but..."


Take it for what it is. I'm aware of the yeah buts......
 
He also said...

that he played a couple of sets of competitive tennis, and rode his cycle 4 hours to the event, and had yet to play, but was tired. LOL Not exactly the best time management example to follow. :smile: He's obviously reached a point in his career where he is comfortable and enjoying the fruits of his labors. Tap tap tap for his planning to allow for this lifestyle and all the benefits of it, but there is a price when you lose the 'eye of the tiger'. Hope he still has it, and can represent us (USA) in the next Mosconi cup.... he's definitely capable when he wants it.

A while back I thought he said that he wouldn't let himself out of the house to play golf until he had run 100 in 14.1. That was the 'carrot' he gave for himself to chase. Probably not that difficult for him, but still a great self incentive for practice time.

I hope John does well since he has only a couple of degrees of separation from my roots in Grand Rapids, Mich.

td
 
paksat said:
Why do people always have to come in and say "yeh but..."

Take it for what it is. I'm aware of the yeah buts......
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Unfortunately, whether you are aware of them or not, you have not spent any time on the "yeah buts" and my concern is that you are broadcasting a message that could steer impressionable members of this forum who are pursing excellence in our sport in the wrong direction. Sorry, but anytime I see a message going out that amounts to "you may not have to work as hard as you think to achieve sustained excellence in pool" on this forum, I'll take a stand against it.
 
paksat said:
Why do people always have to come in and say "yeh but..."


Take it for what it is. I'm aware of the yeah buts......
Click to expand...

Because this is a dissusion forum. The reply button is for people to speak thier mind on your topic. That is, exactly, the point of a forum and why we are here. If you simply start a thread and everyone replies with, "yep" and "thanks", it's pretty lame. Is that what you wanted?
 
SVB proves practice makes perfect. Love the article of Shane when he said he can practice for a long session by himself.
 
cleary said:
Because this is a dissusion forum. The reply button is for people to speak thier mind on your topic. That is, exactly, the point of a forum and why we are here. If you simply start a thread and everyone replies with, "yep" and "thanks", it's pretty lame. Is that what you wanted?
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yep, thanks :) I love cuetec cues !
 
Mass practice leads to being tired. Tire mentally and your concentration suffers. Then you allow bad habits to develop such as banging at balls, not caring about the shot, etc. I think that when you really want to improve you practice for 20 minutes at a time. That is about all your mind and body can take of intense, real effort. After that you are not as serious about what you are trying to learn. You need to take a break for ten minutes so that you do not slip into sloppy play.

Multiple sessions are useful but not if they lead to bad practices. Over time the individual can, and should, learn to extend the sessions and to have multiple sessions emphasizing different aspects. The idea is to monitor one’s self and not lose that mental edge. Research studies (I am too lazy to go and look them up right now) lead to the conclusion that you can get up to 30% improvement by playing the game in your imagination. Visualizing your play away from the table should also be part of one’s training regimen.

Don’t get me wrong, I too play for hours at a times with friends and enjoy the activity but I do not kid myself into believing that I am improving my game. Improving one's skill is not the same as playing. I suspect that many excellent players spent far more time than they needed just banging balls and not enough time learning to play well or they would have played well sooner.

Think about the way coaches train athletes. Sessions may go on for lengthy periods but they take breaks and are continually shifting gears and working on different aspects of their sport. The player who is serious needs a training regimen. Playing ten or more hours a day is just that – playing.
 
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I think can learn a lot practicing when you are tired. Learn more about yourself and your game. You don't aleays play fresh. In a tounament, you might play 7 sets or so that day and by the finals, you are very tired. Learning to grind through the tired times and stay focused isn't easy. Those times when you focus at the end of a long preactice session will pay off.

I played football on highschool. During the summer we worked very hard. Running, lifting, hitting each other. Trying to shape up for the season. Once the season starts, you don't practice as hard during the week because you want to be sharp for Fridays game. You still worked out but not nearly the same ad before. I think this is a similar situation for John. He has put in the hard work and I'm sure he will still put in tough sessions to keep himself sharp.
 
paksat said:
Just as I had assumed before, John said that his average "per day" was probably 20 minutes.. Surprised? I'm not.
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Pool like most sports does not require a tremendous amount of time to "stay" at a certain level.

What you fail to mention is that almost every single top player in this game DID go through a stage of their life when they were playing a tremendous amount of pool each day to GET to that level of play that we see. Once you get there you don't need to put in 10 hours a day to stay at that level, but to get to that level in the first place you need to put ALOT of time into the game.

Also, much like the amature and semi-pro players out there they might not play alot of pool in the "offseason" when there are no tournaments they are playing in but those players WILL put in some solid amounts of practice before and during major events that they want to play well in to get their stroke back up to that peak level. So when you watch a pro playing in the4 BCA 10-ball or the US-Open you are not exactly watching a guy who just stepped off the golfcourse and has not shot more then 2 hours of pool in the last 2 weeks.
 
Great thread that caught my eye. I wish that all if not most pros that exsit in this forum would contribute to this thread. Finding out there staying sharp routine would be great information, or what help them the most in becoming the player they are today.
 
grindz said:
that he played a couple of sets of competitive tennis, and rode his cycle 4 hours to the event, and had yet to play, but was tired. LOL Not exactly the best time management example to follow. :smile: He's obviously reached a point in his career where he is comfortable and enjoying the fruits of his labors. Tap tap tap for his planning to allow for this lifestyle and all the benefits of it, but there is a price when you lose the 'eye of the tiger'. Hope he still has it, and can represent us (USA) in the next Mosconi cup.... he's definitely capable when he wants it.

A while back I thought he said that he wouldn't let himself out of the house to play golf until he had run 100 in 14.1. That was the 'carrot' he gave for himself to chase. Probably not that difficult for him, but still a great self incentive for practice time.

I hope John does well since he has only a couple of degrees of separation from my roots in Grand Rapids, Mich.

td
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Yeah I think unfortunately he may start to lose his touch if he doesn't stay hungry.

Fortunately, for that matter, though he has the talent to make up for it.
 
cleary said:
Because this is a dissusion forum. The reply button is for people to speak thier mind on your topic. That is, exactly, the point of a forum and why we are here. If you simply start a thread and everyone replies with, "yep" and "thanks", it's pretty lame. Is that what you wanted?
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No, but they can certainly word it a little more user friendly don't you think?
 
You kid yourself to think that anyone will "become" pro practicing/playing 20 minutes per day.
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paksat said:
Did I say that?
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From the original post.

paksat said:
So for those aspiring to be pro or a great player... just some food for thought.
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You sure as heck implied it. Try to make more sense the next time you post if you were not trying to imply that people can reach pro level by putting in small amounts of practice. Because if you aim the above at "those aspiring to be pro or a great player" you will get called on it, and for good reason.

This forum will protect it's readers from bad advice, so get used to the "yeah but" replies if you post stuff like that to others who might be unaware.
 
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