Playing on Bad Equipment

PocketSpeed11

PocketSpeed11

AzB Long Member
Silver Member
I usually play on top-notch equipment (it's a half hour drive for me to get to the pool hall), but there is a bar close to my home with two barboxes that has felt that probably hasn't been replaced in years. For quite a while I've been avoiding this place in the fear that playing there will hurt my overall game.

Well, I saw a thread from 2008 in the main forum where somebody commented that playing on such equipment would probably help your overall pool game. He pointed out that the guys from the Philippines and Mexico who grew up playing on crap equipment and went on to be among the pool-playing elite (especially Filipinos, of course). He said, "...if you learn to play good on these tables, you will only play better on good equipment."

I wanted to ask the instructors...do you agree with this assessment?

I'll be basing my decision to play there or not on the feedback. Thanks in advance
 
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I agree with that line of thought. With the ultra good equipment today, super fast rails and felt etc it's easy to get action without a good stroke. I learned to play in crappy equipment with slow rails, super slow felt and dirty balls on raddleing pockets. I feel like that is one thing that helped me a lot on my game looking back, it helped me develop a stroke because with only a good stroke I could let's say draw the length of the table or more, then when I started playing on good equipment it did take a bit of adjustment but I tell you it's a whole lot easier to go from playing good on bad equipment to good equipment than the other way around.
 
oshua86 said:
I agree with that line of thought. With the ultra good equipment today, super fast rails and felt etc it's easy to get action without a good stroke. I learned to play in crappy equipment with slow rails, super slow felt and dirty balls on raddleing pockets. I feel like that is one thing that helped me a lot on my game looking back, it helped me develop a stroke because with only a good stroke I could let's say draw the length of the table or more, then when I started playing on good equipment it did take a bit of adjustment but I tell you it's a whole lot easier to go from playing good on bad equipment to good equipment than the other way around.
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What's good equipment ---- Super fast tables with no nap where you have no choice but to soft roll every shot? That's good equipment?

Why do you keep giving advice in the ask the instructor forum?
 
I'm confused. (opening for a personal slur)

I have had quite a few PM conversations with Yoshua regarding different topics & he has never indicated to me that he was an instructor.

Also odd is that, those that are not instructors should indicate such, but instructors do not have to indicate that they are instructors. Perhaps Sean was correct. It's backwards on AZB.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Yoshua has only been playing for about 2 years.

PS Perhaps I should have charge a consultation fee.
 
Rick...Not for nothing, but his name is Joshua, not Yoshua...and he is a PBIA instructor, in the Charlotte NC area. He's posted several times that he's an instructor, in the instructor forum...but I wouldn't expect you to have caught that. :rolleyes:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com


ENGLISH! said:
I'm confused. (opening for a personal slur)

I have had quite a few PM conversations with Yoshua regarding different topics & he has never indicated to me that he was an instructor.

Also odd is that, those that are not instructors should indicate such, but instructors do not have to indicate that they are instructors. Perhaps Sean was correct. It's backwards on AZB.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Yoshua has only been playing for about 2 years.

PS Perhaps I should have charge a consultation fee.
Click to expand...
 
Scott Lee said:
Rick...Not for nothing, but his name is Joshua, not Yoshua...and he is a PBIA instructor, in the Charlotte NC area. He's posted several times that he's an instructor, in the instructor forum...but I wouldn't expect you to have caught that. :rolleyes:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Actually Youshua & I have 'spoken' several times in PM & he & I know what Yoshua stands for. I have a son named Joshua like him. Do you notice his handle has no 'J'? It is oshua86. He was born the same year as my son. 1986.

Regardless of your opinion of yourself, you are not omniscient.

Whether you believe it or not, I do not read every post. If I did read such, it did not register long term. Apparently Ms. Crimi, a fellow PBIA member was also not aware of him being a PBIA instructor. I had the addition of PMs with him & no mention of a PBIA certification to throw me off as well.

Also, everyone that did not read that post stating that he is an instructor does not know as well. That is partly why Sean was asking if the practice of non 'certified' instructors indicating such perhaps was a backwards approach. This is a good indicator that he was perhaps correct.

Your personal slurs directed at me are noted. I have just deleted a long & revealing response out of deference to your livelihood.

I doubt seriously that you appreciate my generosity. Please keep in mind that it is not of an unlimited quantity.

I believe that is within the forum rules as I do not wish to be banned from the site since I do enjoy most of it. But...
 
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FranCrimi said:
What's good equipment ---- Super fast tables with no nap where you have no choice but to soft roll every shot? That's good equipment?

Why do you keep giving advice in the ask the instructor forum?
Click to expand...

When I state "super fast rails and cloth" etc it's obviously a form of speech or expression to newer equipment, it's pretty common to hear many players nowadays in the pool room or even I've heard comentators drop a similar line and it's understood that they are referring to new top notch equipment, obviously the OP knows the difference between good/bad equipment and his question was not to define what good equipment was.

As far as why i give "advise" here, Scott answered that for you. Last time I checked there was not a sticky or "ask the instructor" enforced rules anywhere around here on which states the minimun requirements to be considered an instructor on this forum. Also, I don't see anywhere where I "must" sign my name saying that I am a PBIA instructor.

English, why does it matter that I've been playing pool only a few years? I did not know there was a minimun of years required to give any kind of advise or be an instructor. There are several levels of instructors too, I've never claimed to be a master instructor or world greatest instructor; I've always been honest about myself, in many posts I've mentioned how long I've been playing and how recently I got the PBIA certification mainly for personal reasons and help my own game.

I graduated in 2007 from FIU with a degree in computer engineering and a degree in math. I completed both degrees in 2 years rather than the usual 4 year curriculum. Everytime I get a job interview and they see I have a bachelors degree there's never a problem as to why I got to complete it in 2 years rather than 4, same goes for people that complete it in 7 years rather than 4; matter of fact I always get a compliment for how much effort it required to do that in such amount of time.
But now pool, that's just a game, not nearly as complex as engineering I'm being looked down for having been playing a short period of time and being certified an instructor.
But it's ok, I'm already used to it, I was looked down at the beginning too in different pool halls, by instructors non instructos, people that have been playing 20,30,40 years. Now lots of these people get 2 and the 8 and I still rob them.
 
I am going to have to say I whole-heartedly agree with oshua! Tell the pro's that are 19-23 years old they haven't been playing long enough to be good :) Time does not equal skill. If a player has a high aptitude for learning, decent comprehension of pool physics, a strong desire to apply what has been learned and a strong state of mind - then they can excel more quickly than someone who has used the HAMB philosophy.

Steve
 
I don't think there's such thing as equipment that can hurt one's game in the long run. Sometimes, it's good to play on total garbage equipment just to get a good feel for how total garbage plays. Someday, you might have to play the play the set of your life on total crap to get the cash. If you're someone who only plays on pristine tables, you'll falter on the crap equipment and then blame the equipment later.

Remember, both players have to play on the same table, under the same conditions. If you were a golfer and only played in San Diego with a perfect climate and developed your game to a good speed and then was forced to play a round in Florida with wet conditions and a pounding wind, you'd lose and probably blame the weather.

Well rounded players of all sports prepare themselves for any/all conditions. NEVER NEVER avoid equipment (generally speaking) when practicing. Good practice on crap equipment is as valuable as good practice on a pristine table.

That said, players "adjust" to conditions faster than others based on the time they have invested in certain equipment. If you don't have a ton of time invested into playing on so-so/strange equipment, don't practice on it immediately before you need to play well on the equipment you're used to using. Give yourself a few days in between playing environments. Over time, you'll find that your "adjustment time" decreases as you learn more about how certain tables react and how to adjust your stroke for such.

Adjusting quickly to strange equipment is one of the very most important skills to learn. You won't always be playing on perfecto stuff, so prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
 
tap, tap, tap! Don't forget that you were trained by one of our best instructors too, so you have a leg up on many others! The reasons you pursued becoming a PBIA instructor don't matter...we're glad to have you in our ranks! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

oshua86 said:
When I state "super fast rails and cloth" etc it's obviously a form of speech or expression to newer equipment, it's pretty common to hear many players nowadays in the pool room or even I've heard comentators drop a similar line and it's understood that they are referring to new top notch equipment, obviously the OP knows the difference between good/bad equipment and his question was not to define what good equipment was.

As far as why i give "advise" here, Scott answered that for you. Last time I checked there was not a sticky or "ask the instructor" enforced rules anywhere around here on which states the minimun requirements to be considered an instructor on this forum. Also, I don't see anywhere where I "must" sign my name saying that I am a PBIA instructor.

English, why does it matter that I've been playing pool only a few years? I did not know there was a minimun of years required to give any kind of advise or be an instructor. There are several levels of instructors too, I've never claimed to be a master instructor or world greatest instructor; I've always been honest about myself, in many posts I've mentioned how long I've been playing and how recently I got the PBIA certification mainly for personal reasons and help my own game.

I graduated in 2007 from FIU with a degree in computer engineering and a degree in math. I completed both degrees in 2 years rather than the usual 4 year curriculum. Everytime I get a job interview and they see I have a bachelors degree there's never a problem as to why I got to complete it in 2 years rather than 4, same goes for people that complete it in 7 years rather than 4; matter of fact I always get a compliment for how much effort it required to do that in such amount of time.
But now pool, that's just a game, not nearly as complex as engineering I'm being looked down for having been playing a short period of time and being certified an instructor.
But it's ok, I'm already used to it, I was looked down at the beginning too in different pool halls, by instructors non instructos, people that have been playing 20,30,40 years. Now lots of these people get 2 and the 8 and I still rob them.
Click to expand...
 
I gave you green for this post earlier today.

oshua86 said:
When I state "super fast rails and cloth" etc it's obviously a form of speech or expression to newer equipment, it's pretty common to hear many players nowadays in the pool room or even I've heard comentators drop a similar line and it's understood that they are referring to new top notch equipment, obviously the OP knows the difference between good/bad equipment and his question was not to define what good equipment was.

As far as why i give "advise" here, Scott answered that for you. Last time I checked there was not a sticky or "ask the instructor" enforced rules anywhere around here on which states the minimun requirements to be considered an instructor on this forum. Also, I don't see anywhere where I "must" sign my name saying that I am a PBIA instructor.

English, why does it matter that I've been playing pool only a few years? I did not know there was a minimun of years required to give any kind of advise or be an instructor. There are several levels of instructors too, I've never claimed to be a master instructor or world greatest instructor; I've always been honest about myself, in many posts I've mentioned how long I've been playing and how recently I got the PBIA certification mainly for personal reasons and help my own game.

I graduated in 2007 from FIU with a degree in computer engineering and a degree in math. I completed both degrees in 2 years rather than the usual 4 year curriculum. Everytime I get a job interview and they see I have a bachelors degree there's never a problem as to why I got to complete it in 2 years rather than 4, same goes for people that complete it in 7 years rather than 4; matter of fact I always get a compliment for how much effort it required to do that in such amount of time.
But now pool, that's just a game, not nearly as complex as engineering I'm being looked down for having been playing a short period of time and being certified an instructor.
But it's ok, I'm already used to it, I was looked down at the beginning too in different pool halls, by instructors non instructos, people that have been playing 20,30,40 years. Now lots of these people get 2 and the 8 and I still rob them.
Click to expand...
 
oshua86 said:
When I state "super fast rails and cloth" etc it's obviously a form of speech or expression to newer equipment, it's pretty common to hear many players nowadays in the pool room or even I've heard comentators drop a similar line and it's understood that they are referring to new top notch equipment, obviously the OP knows the difference between good/bad equipment and his question was not to define what good equipment was.

As far as why i give "advise" here, Scott answered that for you. Last time I checked there was not a sticky or "ask the instructor" enforced rules anywhere around here on which states the minimun requirements to be considered an instructor on this forum. Also, I don't see anywhere where I "must" sign my name saying that I am a PBIA instructor.

English, why does it matter that I've been playing pool only a few years? I did not know there was a minimun of years required to give any kind of advise or be an instructor. There are several levels of instructors too, I've never claimed to be a master instructor or world greatest instructor; I've always been honest about myself, in many posts I've mentioned how long I've been playing and how recently I got the PBIA certification mainly for personal reasons and help my own game.

I graduated in 2007 from FIU with a degree in computer engineering and a degree in math. I completed both degrees in 2 years rather than the usual 4 year curriculum. Everytime I get a job interview and they see I have a bachelors degree there's never a problem as to why I got to complete it in 2 years rather than 4, same goes for people that complete it in 7 years rather than 4; matter of fact I always get a compliment for how much effort it required to do that in such amount of time.
But now pool, that's just a game, not nearly as complex as engineering I'm being looked down for having been playing a short period of time and being certified an instructor.
But it's ok, I'm already used to it, I was looked down at the beginning too in different pool halls, by instructors non instructos, people that have been playing 20,30,40 years. Now lots of these people get 2 and the 8 and I still rob them.
Click to expand...

Yoshua,

I do not look down upon you & you should know that from our private contact. What lit your fuse. I think you may have misinterpreted me. I think it is impressive that you have advanced to the level you are at in such a relatively short time. You are an example why I am of the opinion to not put anyone on a specific schedule where learnng pool is concerned. Please see my quote in my signature.

Please keep in mind that I was also aware of your age, that being the same as my son. Given your other scholastic accomplishments, as well as your advancement in pool, I would dare say you are an exceptional young man.(Perhaps a bit too young to marry my daughter.:wink: Private joke.)

As I have told you, you are extremely fortnuate to have had contact & access to Mr. Martin as well as others. I wish you nothing but the best in your pool playing endeavors & I think you will have a wealth of pool knowledge to pass on if & when you decide to focus on being an active instructor.

Best Regards & Best Wishes,
 
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