Pleasures Of Small Motions

LOL this is the greatest. It's you man. How many different ways do you need it spun for you. Pool, girls, meeting people. You ask about all of them.

You knock this book and then start several threads about it, maybe just for the attention positive or negative.

Your friend going to a seminar on how to meet girls, something tells me you were also at that seminar or paid to attend it but couldn't make it.


I am just wondering if its like a buddy of mine told me about his class on "How To Meet Girls." he said all the instructor(s) basically did was tell you that "You can do it!" and "Have confidence in yourself!" He said that was $150 down the tubes.

Mike[/QUOTE]
 
I can just see this "buddy" at the how to meet girls class. So um we drop the pill in her drink when she gets up to go to the bathroom, not when she is sitting here right?




PaulieB said:
You actually have read this book and then put up a question like that? Throughout the book the author states that empty, non directed and non focused ideas like "have confidence in yourself" is exactly what is wrong with much of pool advice these days. Did you actually read the book or did you just fan through the pages, then go try a few shots at the table, realized you didn't immediately get better, felt you put yet more money into another bag of "magic beans" that didn't work for you, and declare it as useless and worthless?

You want a quote from the book? Go read Chapter 8, the section on "The disaster of single-mindedness." You remind me of the character Joe, except for the fact that Joe is actually good at pool.
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u12armresl said:
Your friend going to a seminar on how to meet girls, something tells me you were also at that seminar or paid to attend it but couldn't make it.
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Sorry to say man, but you are way off base here. If DCP was at that seminar trying to learn how to meet girls he would be posting here about how the instructor was wrong, the techniques didn't apply to him, and how he wasted his money as he didn't immediately get instant results. If he paid money for the course he would expect hundreds of girls to throw themselves at him as soon as he left the hall ... just because he paid money for the course, not because he actually listened to the instructor and applied the advice given.

Don't you realize, you can pay for results, you don't have to work for them! DUH!
 
Paulie, You are 100% right, I am sorry.

What's the over under on him getting so upset that the girls don't throw themselves at him and he challenges the instructor to a pool match and he loses at that?

PaulieB said:
Sorry to say man, but you are way off base here. If DCP was at that seminar trying to learn how to meet girls he would be posting here about how the instructor was wrong, the techniques didn't apply to him, and how he wasted his money as he didn't immediately get instant results. If he paid money for the course he would expect hundreds of girls to throw themselves at him as soon as he left the hall ... just because he paid money for the course, not because he actually listened to the instructor and applied the advice given.

Don't you realize, you can pay for results, you don't have to work for them! DUH!
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sfleinen said:
Folks:

If you discount the Acknowledgments and For Further Reading sections, this book is EXACTLY 140 pages. It is a small, and I repeat, small paperback book. It's not even half the size of most pool instructional books. The TV Guide is bigger than this book! Heck, I've even seen certain Cliff Notes editions themselves larger than Pleasures of Small Motions!

Are we actually saying that reading 140 pages of medium-faced type is a stretch for this crowd? We want Cliff Notes on 140 pages??

When reading books, sometimes you have to slog your way through material that won't immediately catch your fancy; that's standard fare with *any* written material. It doesn't mean you abandon the whole volume right then and there. Many times, if you slog through something that's not interesting, it'll come to you later, when you read the subsequent sections, and then a huge lightbulb will illuminate. Or, you can use the skimming technique, flipping through the book and stopping at something that catches your eye, and reading from that point, discovering that you really *do* need to read the book from start to finish. The skimming technique "lights your fire" to read the book in its entirety.

Folks, nothing comes for free in this world. You have to expend at least a little effort for it. At least those things worthwhile pursuing, anyway. And while I myself can probably write a decent "here's 'Pleasures of Small Motions' boiled-down into 10 pages for the DCP crowd" style of Cliff Notes, I simply won't. It's not worth the effort for folks that won't meet those of us [who've read the book] halfway.

As for Steve J.'s comments about the OP posting questions in the Ask The Instructor forum, and then arguing with those that give him direct answers to his questions, yup, I've seen it. Ya gotta wonder what people's motivations are...

Read the book. If after you've read it, questions arise about what you've read or there's something that you don't understand, post 'em here -- we'll be glad to answer!

-Sean <- consumes at least 200 pages of written material a day, often in one sitting

P.S.: "...if it's like a buddy of mine told me about his class on 'How To Meet Girls' ...?" Oh my...
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Major props to you sir! I was thinking the same thing, and like you I read all kinds of stuff daily. Currently reading Hesse's "If The War Goes On", and Jowett's 1871 translation of "The Essential Plato". I'm bored to tears with the short attention spans so prevalent now. Why does everything have to be reduced? Condensed? Accelerated? WTF--slow down!

IMO-- "The Pleasures of Small Motions" is a great book and deserves to be read cover to cover by all pool aficionados looking for a window into why we play, and how we play.

Fancher is a pool player. And if my memory serves me well, he used to hang out in one of the two old Amsterdam Billiards in NYC. That would have been about the time when he had an online column on one of the billiard sites. I believe the name of it was "The Pool Shrink"

If someone is willing to practice for hours to get better at our game, why should he be unwilling to read 140 pages? One thing is good for your table skills and the other's good for your mind.
 
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As far as my comments are concerned attention span has absolutely nothing to do with my statements about this book. As I have said repeatedly, it has nothing to do with the book being too big, just too big for its subject matter. I wouldn't care if the book was 5000 pages of small print and long as the info was not over inflated and pointless repetition. Which is what this book suffers from in my opinion. Some feel that the repetition is needed to make a point. I don't think so but that's just my point of view, I feel that if you need repetition that read it over and over!

There are allot of books that are on the market that suffer from excess for excess sake. What would you rather have as a person that is seeking information. 20,000 words to explain something that can be sufficiently explained in 5,000 words, or the other way around.

The pleasure of small motions is a good book that could have been great, sometimes less is more.
 
Someone said that if you find at least one sentence in a book that could really help your game, that is a good book. I have found lots of them here, and I didn't mind read the hole 140 pages :) I don't mind that some things are repeating, this way I will remember them. I agree it has similarities with The Inner Game of Tennis especially regarding the 2 Minds, Conscious and Unconscious
 
Understood.

I don't agree, but to each his own. It's just difference of opinions. :smile:

This quote pretty much sums up my opinion.."It has been said: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing up is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful."--Kurt Koffka, 1935
 
So looking back over this thread, I only have heard one person state that reading the book was a worthless waste of time. The majority seem to have found something helpful in the book, and many have found it to be a valuable resource full of good information.

I'm thinking that the person who found the book a waste of time, probably found all the responses to this thread to be of similar value.

Steve
 
u12armresl said:
LOL this is the greatest. It's you man. How many different ways do you need it spun for you. Pool, girls, meeting people. You ask about all of them.

You knock this book and then start several threads about it, maybe just for the attention positive or negative.

Your friend going to a seminar on how to meet girls, something tells me you were also at that seminar or paid to attend it but couldn't make it.


I am just wondering if its like a buddy of mine told me about his class on "How To Meet Girls." he said all the instructor(s) basically did was tell you that "You can do it!" and "Have confidence in yourself!" He said that was $150 down the tubes.

Mike
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[/QUOTE]

I doubt DCP attended that seminar.

When he needs advice about women he comes here to azb for advise, of course he doesn't take it.


http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=69419&highlight=date
DrCue'sProtege said:
surprise! this isnt about a shot, or position, or a How To thread, or how i messed up again.

anyway, this gal calls me last night about 1130, i was already in bed. between 1130 and 3:30 this morning she called me four times. she even invited me to come up so we could lay in bed and just talk. it was an hours drive, so i told her it was too late, and i was too tired - which was the truth.

we were supposed to go to the drive in theater tonight, but she didnt call when she was supposed to, and then sent me a text msg cancelling due to still being at her sisters house and running late.

so, what do i do next? she looks pretty sexy, so i want to sort of hang in there without seeming like i am needy.

DCP
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There were some good things in the book. It wasn't an easy read for me as I enjoy fiction.:eek: There were some good "nugets" in there though. I have it at work, and working a rotating shift, when I get a slow night soon I will reread it again.
There is no majic in the book, it does explain some things though. I thought it was worth reading.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
I think i have this book somewhere, just dont know where it is. anyway, so many on here think this book is an outstanding read for the mental aspect of pool. so, could you posters tell me what page, sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc, in this book that you feel is so worthwhile? I would be very interested in all of this, especially if i have overlooked something.

Mike
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One of the most important and beneficial things about reading a book like "TPoSM" is that it gets (or should get) you thinking about why it is that you yourself play the game. What motivates you; how to concentrate; why rhythm is important; how emotions can impact your performance; why we seek competition (or avoid it); and how confidence can be developed.

Reading this book is not so much about finding wondrous nuggets as it is about broadening how your mind thinks about the game and the pleasure of reading a well-developed thesis about the game and then using that framework to understand more about yourself.

Lou Figueroa
 
140 pages reduced to two paragraphs. Good Job Lou.

A agree, but Bob did use a repititious style to this book. I found the book rather boring, IMO too general for a pool player. Maybe for a High School student trying to 'find themself'

lfigueroa said:
One of the most important and beneficial things about reading a book like "TPoSM" is that it gets (or should get) you thinking about why it is that you yourself play the game. What motivates you; how to concentrate; why rhythm is important; how emotions can impact your performance; why we seek competition (or avoid it); and how confidence can be developed.

Reading this book is not so much about finding wondrous nuggets as it is about broadening how your mind thinks about the game and the pleasure of reading a well-developed thesis about the game and then using that framework to understand more about yourself.

Lou Figueroa
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lfigueroa said:
One of the most important and beneficial things about reading a book like "TPoSM" is that it gets (or should get) you thinking about why it is that you yourself play the game. What motivates you; how to concentrate; why rhythm is important; how emotions can impact your performance; why we seek competition (or avoid it); and how confidence can be developed.

Reading this book is not so much about finding wondrous nuggets as it is about broadening how your mind thinks about the game and the pleasure of reading a well-developed thesis about the game and then using that framework to understand more about yourself.

Lou Figueroa
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Nice summary Lou. I see the Zen connection :)
 
Tom In Cincy said:
140 pages reduced to two paragraphs. Good Job Lou.

A agree, but Bob did use a repititious style to this book. I found the book rather boring, IMO too general for a pool player. Maybe for a High School student trying to 'find themself'
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Yeah, I'd agree it was a bit repetitive, but still a good read, IMO. Some folks automatically think of things in the terms he addresses, and some don't and can find more value.

Lou Figueroa
 
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