Do you take advice from players below your level?

There are 2 guys that come into my pool hall, I was watching them thru the window while I was out having a smoke, I noticed them both miss the same shot. Now, I am still learning myself and am by no means someone to teach someone how to play, but I thought I might help. So when I went back in to told them both that as they were shooting the ball they both started to walk away from the shot just as they shot the ball. I told them to stay down and follow thru on the shot. Well the next day one if them came up to me and thanked me for the help, because it actually helped. I was just telling them what I have been told , so u really can learn from anyone. :)
 
It depends upon whether the other person's advice merit's consideration. Some people talk the talk and others walk the walk. If she plays better routes than you do, you had darn well better listen. You can learn something from practically anyone.

I like learning new things, especially about pool so I read, watch, listen and take pool lessons on a regular basis.

One caveat though, most "good" 9 ball players utilize the rails a lot more than "average" 9 ball players. They utilize the extra rails to maximize their opportunity to pocket the ball and maintain the best shape on the next ball or to get back into better shape or to get into a position so that they can break out trouble balls.

If the other person just likes to talk about their opium pipe dreams then I just half-listen, then get back to playing/practicing as quickly as possible.

JoeyA
 
The Renfro said:
"Learn everything and then use what works" -Bruce Lee

Advice from players below your level may be hard to swallow but you can learn something from just about anyone. I would definitely listen to what she says and then take a good look at what you have been doing and figure out where she is correct.

I am pretty sure that most of the instructors out there are not world beaters but I am betting a few world beaters still like to use them since they see things from outside of the internal perspective which allows them to broaden their students horizons.
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Exactly.
:p
 
Thanks for the advice so far. There are a lot more saying "listen" than "don't listen".

When we play again, I'll have her tell me which routes she disagreed with, and then I'll set it up and see which one she likes. In some cases I've stopped her when I see her cueing low and I think it's a draw position shot, and vice versa. She has permission to do the same to me. I'll never know if she's right or not without specific situations.

If we come to one where we both completely disagree with each other, maybe I can post the situation on here for more feedback.
 
I liked that Bruce Lee quote.

You can learn something from everybody. Even in pool you may be able to pick something up that on its surface may not seem pool related but it is.
 
The Renfro said:
"Learn everything and then use what works" -Bruce Lee

Advice from players below your level may be hard to swallow but you can learn something from just about anyone. I would definitely listen to what she says and then take a good look at what you have been doing and figure out where she is correct.

I am pretty sure that most of the instructors out there are not world beaters but I am betting a few world beaters still like to use them since they see things from outside of the internal perspective which allows them to broaden their students horizons.
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I agree. There may be a weakness in my game that a lower level player can help me with. Maybe a kicking system that I don't know. It doesn't hurt to listen and be polite, whether I accept the advice is another thing.
 
I'll take advice from anyone as long as i feel its good advice, and anything that will improve my game i will listen.
 
sometimes it doesnt hurt to get that perspective from someone a ball or two below your level. i know my game began to suffer at one time when i shot run out all day every day and twice on tuesday and it took a lower level player chiming in and making me realize how much i neglected my defensive game
 
I expect that your likelihood to listen also comes with the delivery of said advice. I, as a lesser player, will often times mention something like "do you mean to be shooting that such-and-such a way" or "wasn't ball-x a better option there" as a means of deflecting that feeling of trying to give advice to the better player. And quite often I get back the response of what I had missed in the situation earlier. Though occasionally something I'm pointing out is valid to the player, too. But by trying to deliver it as a means of making my understanding it better, it sometimes makes the whole exchange easier for all concerned.

And I learn a lot more that way. Help a little, learn a lot.
 
CreeDo said:
Recently I was playing with a friend and later that night I said something like "you seem to get the cue ball where you're trying to move it... but I don't like some of your choices for positional routes".

She came back with "I don't like your position routes. You don't always play for the easy sensible shape. And you seem like you go more rails than you need to, always following with the cue ball and playing these 2 and 3 rail shapes when you don't have to. And you don't draw enough" ...etc.

Here's the thing. I'm a solid B. But I don't have a big stroke and I play much better 8 ball than 9 ball. She plays a couple of speeds below me but does much much more 9 ball. I won't say she beats me at 9 ball but she can break and run sometimes. Also she has reached that level in just 2-3 years and it took 11 to get where I am.

So, do I listen to her even though I beat her pretty solidly?

PS: hope she's not reading this and getting offended. I wouldn't be asking at all if I didn't take her seriously :)
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There is a difference between advice and criticism. In this case, I think it was a defensive reaction. She was just putting you in your place after giving her unsolicited criticism.

I've had great advice from average players and poor advice from excellent players. You have to just use your head. In pool there are many options and many ways to get it done.

Over the years, I've played some really good players and have come to the conclusion there are different styles of play and they are equally effective and not totally in agreement. Eventually, players aspire make to the simplist and most effective shots for themselves and their own skill set.

Chris
 
Knowledge is like gold

It's where you find it.
When i was a kid an ex-boxer i always gave serious weight to offered some advice about using the bridge.He showed me his foot work as he
threw rights and lefts and then suggested i do the same with the
'crutch'.He explained that shooting with the bridge is like throwing a
backhander and i should put my opposite foot forward as a brace.
I immediately shot 3 levels higher.

Next time he asked what i wanted to do i said "If you want my money
you can borrow it."
From then on we only bet on each other.
thanx George,and may you rest in peace
 
HAKurtz said:
There are 2 guys that come into my pool hall, I was watching them thru the window while I was out having a smoke, I noticed them both miss the same shot. Now, I am still learning myself and am by no means someone to teach someone how to play, but I thought I might help. So when I went back in to told them both that as they were shooting the ball they both started to walk away from the shot just as they shot the ball. I told them to stay down and follow thru on the shot. Well the next day one if them came up to me and thanked me for the help, because it actually helped. I was just telling them what I have been told , so u really can learn from anyone. :)
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Hats off Honey :-) ...have had a big grin on my face reading this! This made my day better :grin-square:


@CreeDo
Do you think each Trainer is shooting better that his student?
Think about it...
And by the way- you can learn anytime about this difficult game- from the guy at the nearest table, a pro, your mum^^ anyone.

lg
Ingo
 
IMO, I'll take advice from anybody provided I approve with the delivery. I'll try anything out but I also understand that some things work for some but not others. If you start to pick and choose what you hear, you'll miss out on a whole lot.
 
There are a couple of guys on my league team who are appreciably better players than me. I watch their games closely so I can learn. But now and then I see them playing shots I would never play in that situation and which often turn out to be errors of judgement. I then have to decide whether it's rude of me to point these things out later. Depends whether they won the match or not ;)

Of course, it's always easier to criticise others' work than to produce good work of your own. That's true in any human endevour.
 
I will listen to anyone and if it makes sense I will use it. I am always open to helping improve my play. But, I have learned not to give out advice unless asked. Most times even though I am better than the other players most don't like it and take offense because they don't appreciate unsolicited advice.
 
I always listen to what everyone has to say about my game. If they take that much interest to pay attention to my game, I'm going to listen.

BUT!!!

I always ask them to show me an example on the table. I do it my way, then I do it their way. Then I decide which way I like better.

Case in point... I love throwing the ball in the corner pocket when I have a straight shot to move around the table. I even try to do it when the OB is almost on the short rail. My friend consistently tells me that I can just shoot rail first and it works better. He's right.... but I never remember that shot.
 
On the unsolicited advice thing - that's a good point and it's true she may have been punching back and feeling like she had to defend herself. What I didn't mention is we were discussing her game and how even though she feels like she's hitting 'em well, sometimes she's just not playing up to her ability and getting out.

I'm not sure if my comment was out of line but for a while we were doing the teacher-student thing and I can't help chiming in sometimes. I guess chiming in works okay on the forums, maybe not so much in real life.

A different friend agreed that I seem to avoid draw. So maybe there's something to it. I'd like to think I use the best route on any given shot and I don't avoid draw when that's what's called for. But maybe I do avoid it sometimes.

---

Something I don't necessarily agree with is "playing this route is the best shot FOR THAT PERSON" and that each player has his or her own personal best cue ball route. While some situations are a little funny and there will be tossups, most 9 ball routes are just completely obvious, there are practically tracks worn in the table from them... and I would say you'd get 98 out of 100 pros to agree on the best path for any given 3 balls-plus-whitey layout.

If I thought someone didn't have the ability to get enough draw, follow, or spin on a ball to play the same route as I'd take... I'd tell them to try their best anyway, and later on work on their stroke so they can pull it off. I'd never tell them to just play a different path. Recently I was playing with a buddy (he was actually playing the ghost) and he had to forcefully stun over and missed it. He reached to rerack but I wouldn't let him stop until he shot it at least once successfully.

I truly feel that the best option is clear in most situations, and a player is obligated to shoot it... or figure out why he can't (or doesn't want to) execute it.
 
CreeDo said:
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Something I don't necessarily agree with is "playing this route is the best shot FOR THAT PERSON" and that each player has his or her own personal best cue ball route. While some situations are a little funny and there will be tossups, most 9 ball routes are just completely obvious, there are practically tracks worn in the table from them... and I would say you'd get 98 out of 100 pros to agree on the best path for any given 3 balls-plus-whitey layout.
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Let's test that.

Pool has lots of options and there is no obligatory route someone should do. There are some bad decisions to be made, but generally players shoot what they're comfortable doing. We can't test 100 pros, but we can get opinions here to show different decisions people make and why. I just want to show you the different styles people have.

The 3 ball pattern is 7 to 8 to 9. The 5 and 6 are positioned to give a player many options on how they will get to the 8 and 9. No ball in hand here because all angles count.

There are three ways I prefer to play this and I do know why. I also know how a couple of my opponents would play this. Using cueball A, B, etc show me the route you would use to get on the 8 and explain why. A couple of different preferences would be fine.

Chris

CueTable Help

 
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