For People who play well but cant tell you how to Aim.

336Robin

336Robin

Multiverse Operative
Silver Member
I thought it would be interesting to find out as much as we could from people who play well how long they have been playing, also how long they have been playing this time, how long they have quit and come back to pool and perhaps how long it took them to be able to get their aim back online with what they feel their skill level is.

336Robin :thumbup:

http://274928807619529663.weebly.com/
 
I Play at B++ to A speed. I have played for 28 years never took a break. I learn center to edge 5 years ago from Hal Houle I have never been more constant. Very small peaks and valleys in my game. I just can't make a ball on the break no lie.
 
I've played 30 years but I've took one break of about17 years. When I started playing again it was sort of strange. The game was fresh and fun . I played at my previous level ( I never played in league play in my younger years) for short time periods, a couple of hours. After about 2 months I was playing at a 9 in BCA play. I don't think I ever was as consistent as I was from ages 19-25, but I still played strong. With age came wisdom and that possibly allowed me to play at the same level before I quit. Another comment, no aiming technique. I had severe arthritis since I was eleven, so I never really aimed by looking at the cue ball & ghost balls and such. I play almost standing straight up because of stiffness and pain and the degenerative nature of the disease. I have retired because I can't roll like I used to. The key to making a comeback after a long lay off, is practice and heart. Everything else is window dressing.

Iron Mike
 
I've played 28 years. I only play a few times a month now and am consistantly at a high B. When I play daily I am a consistant low to mid level A. I've taken a break up to a year a few times in the 28 years. I don't use any aiming system other then natural play, which is likely considered ghost ball to the pool techies. I don't see anything wrong with anyone trying a system as my thoughts are each person will be different and what works for one will not for another. And obviously some of these systems being talked about here WORK. I'll use JoeyA as an example on my thoughts. I've watched him play on several streams and since he has been using the CTE system I can see his progression. He is also an older gentleman and progression at an older age of that level is harder to acheive then that of a younger person. "just my opinion on that of course"

I also believe regardless of how much and attempt from certain individuals to excell at this game they will never reach an upper teir as they just do not have the hand/eye coordination or simply cannot understand billiards basics, decision making, and the ability to WIN. As in life some people thrive to acheive upper success with fortune and some try & never succeed. Again "just my opinions on it".

All in all I see this game as one of the most misunderstood games ever invented which takes special natural ability to get to that elite level which we can all see players like myself at an A / B level are just small fish in a big pond. There are a lot of us out there and more so now due to the information available to become better. But the fact is 999 out of 1,000 of us will not reach that Next Level and the 1 that does still won't be good enough to make a living at the sport.

Good luck with your book Robin. I haven't read it but it sounds like some interesting concepts.
 
I have been playing for 25 years, over the last 22 years I have been in the Navy so I have had mandatory breaks from pool on a regular basis. So to makes thing easy to explain, if you break my 22 years down to a 2 year intervals then it averages out to be about 12 months of playing pool then 6 months of every other month no pool, and then for the next 6 months no pool except when hitting ports.

Well I dont know an aiming system or any special system, I guess you could consider my aiming style as ghost ball but I dont know. I look at where I want to hit the object ball with the cue ball and hit it there and the object ball goes in.

Wow, after I wrote that, I feel sorta dumb that I dont know an amiming system, or maybe that I am missing out on something.

Well how long does it take me to get back to playing at the level to where I feel I was at prior to not playing. I honestly think I played a lot better prior to joining the military so I will say never. But to get back to an A player level I would say it takes about a month of me playing three to four nights a week. At the beginning of playing again after 6 months of not playing its interesting,,,over cut a lot of balls that are over 45 degrees and over throw a lot of balls, but whats harder than making balls is cue ball control.

Oh yeah, as per my playing ability, havent been out to sea in over a year and on retirement leave now and starting to get back into the game. I am considered a Master according to the Western BCA.
 
I play AA speed and every time I take a break from the game it takes 6 months to get comfortable again. I have been playing for about 50 years.
I can't tell people how to aim other then if you under cut the shot hit the ball thinner and if you over cut the shot hit the ball thicker.
Most of the strokes and spin I put on the cue ball to make it do something are automatic and I seldom think about it. Sometimes player will ask "How did you make the cue ball do that? and I honestly have to think about it and recreate the shot to see what I did. And when they ask "Why does the cue ball do that?" there are times I have no idea of why it reacts as it does and I just say "I don't know but that's how you do it".
 
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measureman...That's a very accurate and extraordinary way of describing how most great players (including pros) play. That's why it's almost always better to go to a qualified instructor who DOES know how to explain things, in a manner the student can understand, and demonstrate techniques to teach why things happen the way they do on a pool table...as well as clearing up the myths and misunderstandings that are part of almost every players' "knowledge base".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

measureman said:
I play AA speed and every time I take a break from the game it takes 6 months to get comfortable again. I have been playing for about 50 years.
I can't tell people how to aim other then if you under cut the shot hit the ball thinner and if you over cut the shot hit the ball thicker.
Most of the strokes and spin I put on the cue ball to make it do something are automatic and I seldom think about it. Sometimes player will ask "How did you make the cue ball do that? and I honestly have to think about it and recreate the shot to see what I did. And when they ask "Why does the cue ball do that?" there are times I have no idea of why it reacts as it does and I just say "I don't know but that's how you do it".
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Not a single person showed any desire to learn what it is they should being working on.[/QUOTE said:
one person did ...

aiming is the easy part, no one can teach you how to become great you either have in your dna or you don't
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fabfastfredyy said:
A lot of people are frustrated with the whole idea of teaching the mass a shortcut to a very long and arduous process towards becoming a pool player. They feel that it is something valuable and special to them, so when something expresses the idea that you don't have to go thru what they went thru to achieve the same results, it's almost like slapping them in the face. It's not that they don't know how to explain how they do what they do, it's more that they only reserve the knowledge for people they find worthy.

I'm sure there are quite a few unknown true players lurking around that have either tried to give their 2cents or are just blasted from trying and have given up.

Further, it seems that most people aren't even open to this idea. In a previous thread about aiming, a well known pro stated " Most people work on the wrong things". Not a single person showed any desire to learn what it is they should being working on.
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FabFastFreddy,

Commenting on the first paragraph.

Yeah I wish it werent so but you are right I mean how dare someone to really show folks how to approach aiming so as to eliminate 2 to 3 hundred thousand maybe more of the balls that you have to hit in the million it takes to be your best.

On the second paragraph I have a few quotes in my book that come from some old seasoned players where I asked for advice and they told me what they knew to tell me. Sometimes it made sense at others not so much. The one I liked the best really doesnt make any sense without the diagram and that was a guy named Joe told me "All you have to do is hit the eye of the ball", it was a priceless quote and when I thought about it it made perfect sense in relationship to a visualization I learned to use. You have to hunt through a lot of stuff to get some of those gems the old players know.

Comments on the 3rd Paragraph:

I find a lot of people/men in particular have a condition known to me as Testosterone Blindness. You couldnt help them if you tried. I saw a guy in a place I play shooting so terrible it looks like he just picked up his first cue and he has been doing this for years. I tried to help the guy but no way doesnt want to hear it so I laid back and he continues just as before getting mad at himself because "he" cant figure it out. Ive never had a lady/girl/woman ever look away or discount what I said to them concerning aiming the ball maybe except one and she had taken some lessons from a WPBA pro and was just sure she had the nuts on everyone.

You mentioned that there were probably some players around that has just gotten tired of trying and quit trying to help people and I can see that folks can get vicious.

Oh yeah just try asking someone how to aim the ball, you either get the attitude you mentioned or the one I mentioned so is there any wonder why pool is having trouble? Players are probably part of the problem no one wants to give up the goodies. I just wonder where they are playing when the rooms close up?

Thanks for the comments,

336Robin
http://274928807619529663.weebly.com/
 
I just can't make a ball on the break no lie.
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Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Most league games I couldn't make one on the break if my life depended on it. After league, we might play a few fun games and then I drop balls like theres no tomorrow. Go figure.
 
Scott Lee said:
measureman...That's a very accurate and extraordinary way of describing how most great players (including pros) play. That's why it's almost always better to go to a qualified instructor who DOES know how to explain things, in a manner the student can understand, and demonstrate techniques to teach why things happen the way they do on a pool table...as well as clearing up the myths and misunderstandings that are part of almost every players' "knowledge base".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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Accurate and extraordinary! thanks! :grin:Great player? Not quite.
But you are right. I can do some wild stuff with the cue ball but I can't tell someone why it does that. Just that I have been doing it for decades but don't know why it does it. A lot of the juice I put on the cue ball was from watching the greats in NJ back in the '60s and I would see them do something and then I would recreate the shot but still not know the mechanics involved . But i knew it worked. Good enough.
 
Been playing for around 27 years.
Other than the first 5 years of playing (everyday) it has been one long layoff with occsional short stretches of playing.

When I was at my best I don't remember ever aiming, I would just instinctively know where to hit the ob. The only thing I thought about was what english I need. I don't know what level I would have been considered but I was able to make backwards cuts with regularity and banks came very naturally, I think because I was such a good shot maker that I never worked to bring my position play to the same level.

Now I suck. I just p/u a used GC and I have a desire to get my game back. I feel like I am starting from scratch. Nothing is instinctive anymore and I find myself aiming (with little success). I think it's just a matter of hitting thousands of balls to get that instinct back, however, my eyesight is not what it used to be either.
 
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Snake Plisken said:
Been playing for around 27 years.
Other than the first 5 years of playing (everyday) it has been one long layoff with occsional short stretches of playing.

When I was at my best I don't remember ever aiming, I would just instinctively know where to hit the ob. The only thing I thought about was what english I need. I don't know what level I would have been considered but I was able to make backwards cuts with regularity and banks came very naturally, I think because I was such a good shot maker that I never worked to bring my position play to the same level.

Now I suck. I just p/u a used GC and I have a desire to get my game back. I feel like I am starting from scratch. Nothing is instinctive anymore and I find myself aiming (with little success). I think it's just a matter of hitting thousands of balls to get that instinct back, however, my eyesight is not what it used to be either.
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Snake,
Ive been there, done that and got the tee shirt. Its funny you mention eyesight, Ive got a friend who is cant read at all without glasses but he can murder you on a table. I dont think that the vision is everything if you understand the framework of what you are supposed to do. Sure vision is important but I think the key is having a reference point, knowing its there and playing off of it with that nice feel youve developed. It must work for my buddy Frank he shoots em lights out just dont ask him to read menu or a road sign!!

336Robin
http://274928807619529663.weebly.com/
 
336Robin said:
Oh yeah just try asking someone how to aim the ball, you either get the attitude you mentioned or the one I mentioned so is there any wonder why pool is having trouble? Players are probably part of the problem no one wants to give up the goodies. I just wonder where they are playing when the rooms close up?

336Robin
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I honestly think that people getting "attitude" when they ask how to aim is way low on the list of reasons why pool is struggling.

Here's a much bigger reason that ties in nicely with your thread:

Even when someone is lucky to receive valuable, time-saving, advice on how to up their pool game, it still is a long road to becoming good at this game. And it's an even longer road to achieving greatness. It's like the famous George Harrison song goes; "Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues [play pool] and you know it don't come easy".

The very same demographic that could be sending pool soaring high (15 - 35 y.o. males) have turned to a much easier game that requires zero physical skill, hand-eye coordination, or a perfected muscle memory. It's called Poker.

Poker has provided a place for young men to go and play a game that requires much less time to realize their potential. And, oh yeah, there's some big money to be had playing poker, as well.

I would compare the skill it takes to play poker with just one aspect of pool, choosing the right patterns.

IMHO, it comes down to 'Do I want to spend weeks (poker) or years (pool) perfecting my game to become competitive?'

And again, there's the allure of big money.

Best,
Brian kc
 
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Reply to Brian

Kickin' Chicken said:
I honestly think that people getting "attitude" when they ask how to aim is way low on the list of reasons why pool is struggling.

Here's a much bigger reason that ties in nicely with your thread:

Even when someone is lucky to receive valuable, time-saving, advice on how to up their pool game, it still is a long road to becoming good at this game. And it's an even longer road to achieving greatness. It's like the famous George Harrison song goes; "Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues [play pool] and you know it don't come easy".

The very same demographic that could be sending pool soaring high (15 - 35 y.o. males) have turned to a much easier game that requires zero physical skill, hand-eye coordination, or a perfected muscle memory. It's called Poker.

Poker has provided a place for young men to go and play a game that requires much less time to realize their potential. And, oh yeah, there's some big money to be had playing poker, as well.

I would compare the skill it takes to play poker with just one aspect of pool, choosing the right patterns.

IMHO, it comes down to 'Do I want to spend weeks (poker) or years (pool) perfecting my game to become competitive?'

And again, there's the allure of big money.

Best,
Brian kc
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Brian,
As much as I hate it, youve made a wonderful point. Pitifully enough even darts has more money in it from what Ive been told. I hear the Dart Leagues have all kinds of fun, tournaments. Are Dart people as anal about their sport as we are? I would tend to think ---not--- given you are slinging something through the air 20ft heck anything could happen but some of those guys are really good!!

Thats it I will write a Dart Slinging Book!! Can you bank shots in with darts?

336Robin
http://274928807619529663.weebly.com/

Come to think of it I think pool is on the same realm as chess. Its more concentration and zone than it is----fun. Darts are fun, Poker is fun with strategy.

I think pool lost something way back when not sure what. Maybe everything else just gained something.
 
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