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John, re-read the parts I put in blue. There you have your answer, but have been too shortsighted to even see it. You totally contradict yourself, and see no problem with it. Which is why you are still at the level you are.
No Neil you totally misunderstand me.
The point is again, that pool playing is a HOBBY for 99.9% of us. We aren't on the path to become pros and if we are we are not on AZB trying to learn how to play.
But even so when a person reads anything about how to play or watches a video then they have to decide for themselves whether to try out these methods or not. You don't get to decide for them what they are ALLOWED to play around with or not.
You like aiming systems. John Schmidt does not. Who to believe?
You don't like CJ Wiley's advice (I am guessing because I didn't actually read your exchanges) - who to believe?
My point is that if you think something is bad advice then put it out there as to why. No one is stopping you. Pat does it, Lou does it, Bob does it. Then the readers can decide for themselves if they care to try the techniques advocated or not.
When I said that most people don't have a situation that allows for them to put forth the effort and time to get to pro level I wasn't saying that there is only a finite amount of technique that they have time for in their life.
You seem to think that there is a finite amount of time a person has to play pool and if they waste a single minute on what you consider to be bad advice they are then ruined forever as a player. I don't think that way. I think that when someone tells me something then I can take it to the table and afford to give it a good workout and if I don't get it then all I have done is to see for myself. Then I go back to what I was doing and life moves on with me being no better or worse as a player.
However IF that technique happens to open a few doors for me then I can continue to use it and refine it and be a better player for it. So there is ONLY upside to trying out whatever you are told to try by anyone willing to help you out.
I mean to be absolutely ridiculous someone could come on here and say that shooting all shots behind the back is the sure fire way to becoming a pro. It won't take anyone five minutes at the table to figure out that this is nonsense. And five minutes after that ten people will be on AZB saying that they tried it and it's nonsense. Case closed, shooting behind the back for all shots debunked as path to stardom.
You seem to forget the pure enjoyment of playing pool. Playing pool is a lifelong journey.
A few years ago I was at the BCA show and Mike Massey and Artie Bodendorfer and several other folks were standing around trading shots. They were each trying to one-up the other one with shots that the other one didn't know. It was delightful watching these two veterans having a ball enjoying the intricacies of the game that they discovered over a lifetime of playing.
That's what pool is about Neil. It's about getting on the table and figuring things out and sharing those things. Not about trading theory on forums until we are ready to kill each other.
As for me being at the level I am at the reason is because I decided when I was 21 that I didn't want to devote the time and effort needed to get as good as the guys who were that good. Had I chosen that path then I would most certainly be one of the pros you disagree with on AZB. As it is I am a hack who has had a lot of great experiences gambling, playing tournaments, and playing league in Germany and the USA. I have always been up there with the better players wherever I have gone, good enough to beat most but not good enough to beat the shortstops and pros.
Don't fool yourself into thinking I can't play and using that as a stepping stone to attack me. I can play but I am aware of my game and my current ability enough to know where I stand. I know enough to know I don't know everything but in my travels I have been incredibly fortunate to have experienced pool in a myriad of ways and alongside the world's best players.
