How long should it take to become a very good pool player?

I remember Grady Mathews once saying that he believed you had to shoot roughly 2 million shots to become world class. According to the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, many studies show it takes about 10,000 hours at pretty much any endeavor to become great. Which aligns pretty well with what Grady said - 200 shots per hour for 10,000 hours = 2 million shots. If you shoot 1000 shots everyday (in earnest) it would take about 7 years.
 
mr441 said:
i remember grady mathews once saying that he believed you had to shoot roughly 2 million shots to become world class. According to the book outliers by malcolm gladwell, many studies show it takes about 10,000 hours at pretty much any endeavor to become great. Which aligns pretty well with what grady said - 200 shots per hour for 10,000 hours = 2 million shots. If you shoot 1000 shots everyday (in earnest) it would take about 7 years.
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1,2,,3,,,4,,,,5,,,,,6,,,,,,,7,,,,,, ,,,,,,8,,,,,,,, ,,,,,, ,,,,,,9,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,10,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ummm, how many was that again???
 
Thanks for your input, Lalouie....

LAlouie said:
If you're a teenager with potential, it takes roughly 6years 3months.
If you're an absolute beginner with no ostensible talent for the game, it would obviously take much longer. I'd say 18years 9months on a 3x floating algorithm.

This is assuming your idea of "good" is just pocketing balls. However if by good, you mean understanding the nuances of the game, I'd multiply that by 7.58x and then divide it's inverse by pi, based on Ormond's Bell Curve Of Sustainable Polarity.

Hope this helps.
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Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. Some good points as well.... Sure is good to get all of this good input. Thanks again.
Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
If you want to get as good as you can get.......

Celtic said:
It entirely depends on the person and what you mean by "good". If you mean making the money in the BCA Open most people can get there, if you mean having a chance to win the Grand Masters most players cannot get there no matter how much time they put in because they don't have the natural talent to get to that level.

I know a fairly well known player who lives in California now who used to live in Calgary and he had not alot of natural talent but a huge amount of drive and heart and spent years straight where he was always on a table shooting and gambling. He barely edged into the Masters level of the BCA. I know another player who was young at the time that played way less pool (although still alot) and reached Masters level in no time and then beyond. Ended up getting top 17 in the US Open 1 year and is one of the better players in Canada when he feels like he wants to be.

Both of those players put in different amounts of time into the game, and the guy who put in "less" time got better then the guy who put in "more". One beat Tommy Kennedy, Buddy Hall, Tony Robles, and a couple more pros in a US Open, the other is a relatively decent master level player in the BCA.

Natural talent matters. I have more then the one guy and less then the other and I know it.
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It's simple.

You have to eat, sleep and shit pool all the time. You really need to be around good players and learn from them.

It's not an accident that alot of the pro players wifes played on the womens pro tour.

You need to get some lessons and not from just anyone. Someone that has worked with and taught some pros.

Then whenever you play that ball going in that hole and the shape you get with that cue ball have to be the most important thing going on in your life.

If you have that drive to play pool everyday you will get there very quickly. To be the best that you can be.

Then once you get to that top level you need to play even harder than before to stay where you are at.

All of the great players that I've known in my life got there in a real quick hurry, within a year or 2 they were competing at a very high level.

I think anyone can become a very skilled player in as little as 6 months.

After that it's all heart. you can go as far as the heart will take you.

Good Luck
 
softshot said:
start with some good instruction and your own table with new cloth.. then do what the instructor taught you ..as often as possible (I practice daily).. until the cloth is completely worn out..

should take you about 3 years..
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I've been playing 6/7 years and I've just become a solid B :( I definitely could have a much more structured practice routine.
 
Geno, you telling it like it is!

genomachino said:
It's simple.

You have to eat, sleep and shit pool all the time. You really need to be around good players and learn from them.

It's not an accident that alot of the pro players wifes played on the womens pro tour.

You need to get some lessons and not from just anyone. Someone that has worked with and taught some pros.

Then whenever you play that ball going in that hole and the shape you get with that cue ball have to be the most important thing going on in your life.

If you have that drive to play pool everyday you will get there very quickly. To be the best that you can be.

Then once you get to that top level you need to play even harder than before to stay where you are at.

All of the great players that I've known in my life got there in a real quick hurry, within a year or 2 they were competing at a very high level.

I think anyone can become a very skilled player in as little as 6 months.

After that it's all heart. you can go as far as the heart will take you.

Good Luck
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That was just right, Geno and to the point exactly!! You said it all...
Thanks for your great input!
Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Thanks for the input on my thread... Very helpful!!

I wish to thank all of the AZB, members who took their time out and responded to my thread. I am and was very sincere with this thread. I appreciate your input and response!

I thought this was a good thread, because it could help a number of people just starting out and short time players, with some of the input and answers. Plus it would give me more options to teach my students. With all of the great answers and input..... Thanks again.
Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Mastering Pool

Playing pool you have tobe one with the table, takes years for most to achieve, if you ever once experience that state of mind , where you see every correct shot and know without a Doubt your not going to mis-a-ball for hours, and wonder why you haven't seen it in this way before.

You will chase that feeling like a drug addict, but one thing about it "you can ketch it" In-Dead -Stroke and keep it longer periods of time, so the next time you play you may not search within yourself as long to get that mind set., in other words after all your practice, hours of devotion to the game it becomes more easily readily attainable.

I have no idea what I just wrote down, but if I ever get that feeling again, I'm going to bottle it!


David Harcrow
 
Honestly, it only took me about 3 weeks. After that, it took about 12 years for me to learn how not to lose. That was the difficult part.
 
It took 2-3 years for George Ginky SanSouci to become world pro speed.


According to this interview, by Jim Murnak, Ginky stated that Greg Hunt of Amsterdam let him practice for free.

Ginky's interview
http://www.go4pool.net/
 
You know, this has been beat left and right.. but in the end, i think it all comes down to one thing..... TALENT
 
Difficult to say it depends on the individual - the ones I have come to know all showed a TALENT early . Then if they continue with the game they improve - strange to say it has been my experience in talking to these individuals that they did not take lessons but learned a lot from better players playing against them and in some instances one player in particuler. Im not putting down instructers or anything like that it has just been my experience regarding the good players I have known.
 
Here's the bad news. You may play forever and never be a good player. Some's got it and some's don't! For me the reality is that (like Geno said) you have to eat, sleep and breathe pool non-stop, day and night, for about three years. At the end of that time, you should be somewhere in shortstop territory. If not, then you probably never will get there.

My opinion is that for the average person (not the most talented or the least talented) it will take approximately a year to learn how to see the angles, and make balls from anywhere on the table with consistency. That is, to be a decent shot maker. Then it is another year to learn how to control the cue ball and put it where it needs to go. In the third year, a player will develop the refinements in his/her game that teaches them proper strategy and table management.

All of the above is accelerated with good coaching, careful observation of good players (especially ones with a similar style), and watching DVD's of top players. But a three year period of obsession is probably a good yardstick to see how far one can go as a player. And by obsession, I mean no girlfriend, no job, no nothing. Just pool! This can work for a young man/woman living at home with their parents. For an adult who has bills to pay (unless they already have funds) it can be near impossible.
 
jay helfert said:
Here's the bad news. You may play forever and never be a good player. Some's got it and some's don't! For me the reality is that (like Geno said) you have to eat, sleep and breathe pool non-stop, day and night, for about three years. At the end of that time, you should be somewhere in shortstop territory. If not, then you probably never will get there.

My opinion is that for the average person (not the most talented or the least talented) it will take approximately a year to learn how to see the angles, and make balls from anywhere on the table with consistency. That is, to be a decent shot maker. Then it is another year to learn how to control the cue ball and put it where it needs to go. In the third year, a player will develop the refinements in his/her game that teaches them proper strategy and table management.

All of the above is accelerated with good coaching, careful observation of good players (especially ones with a similar style), and watching DVD's of top players. But a three year period of obsession is probably a good yardstick to see how far one can go as a player. And by obsession, I mean no girlfriend, no job, no nothing. Just pool! This can work for a young man/woman living at home with their parents. For an adult who has bills to pay (unless they already have funds) it can be near impossible.
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It is the same with Golf.
 
Mr. Jay, I am excited about hearing from you! Great Input as well...

jay helfert said:
Here's the bad news. You may play forever and never be a good player. Some's got it and some's don't! For me the reality is that (like Geno said) you have to eat, sleep and breathe pool non-stop, day and night, for about three years. At the end of that time, you should be somewhere in shortstop territory. If not, then you probably never will get there.

My opinion is that for the average person (not the most talented or the least talented) it will take approximately a year to learn how to see the angles, and make balls from anywhere on the table with consistency. That is, to be a decent shot maker. Then it is another year to learn how to control the cue ball and put it where it needs to go. In the third year, a player will develop the refinements in his/her game that teaches them proper strategy and table management.

All of the above is accelerated with good coaching, careful observation of good players (especially ones with a similar style), and watching DVD's of top players. But a three year period of obsession is probably a good yardstick to see how far one can go as a player. And by obsession, I mean no girlfriend, no job, no nothing. Just pool! This can work for a young man/woman living at home with their parents. For an adult who has bills to pay (unless they already have funds) it can be near impossible.
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You, said it right to the main point, Mr. Jay. I appreciate your response and input. Very glad to get your very good points of interest. My current student, who is a female, just won the Tuesday night tournament at Buffalo's Billiard. She defeated some heavy hitters in her win. I have a new student now. Plus I am still their for her if she needs me. Thanks again, Mr. Jay.
Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Cat, tell em how it goes!

catpool9 said:
Playing pool you have tobe one with the table, takes years for most to achieve, if you ever once experience that state of mind , where you see every correct shot and know without a Doubt your not going to mis-a-ball for hours, and wonder why you haven't seen it in this way before.

You will chase that feeling like a drug addict, but one thing about it "you can ketch it" In-Dead -Stroke and keep it longer periods of time, so the next time you play you may not search within yourself as long to get that mind set., in other words after all your practice, hours of devotion to the game it becomes more easily readily attainable.

I have no idea what I just wrote down, but if I ever get that feeling again, I'm going to bottle it!


David Harcrow
Click to expand...

Now, you are telling them how it goes! And like it is!
Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
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