With all the great iunstructional materials why are there still just a few greats

CocoboloCowboy

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
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With all the great instructional materials why are there still just a few greats



In the last 55 years there has been such a huge improvement in the amount of free, or reasonably price Pool instructional material, be they Book, DVD, VHS Tape, U-tube material. But still there are relatively few really great consistent players.

My theory say the hardest part to teach, or lean is the winning attitude, or never give up attitude, or what some say is the MENTAL part of the game.

agree, or disagree?
 
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IMO...

Up until the 80's or so, you had the gamblers that could find a game anywhere. There were more pool rooms everywhere and people liked to gamble.

In the 80's to late 90's or so, you had pro's starting to pop up more because of the tournaments, television, IPT etc that started to make people feel they could do pool for a living.

Since 2000, everyone has internet, so gambling went down big time because it was impossible to be an unknown for long. The IPT dream came to an end and nothing else really replaced it. As other's mentioned, all expenses have gone up, but prize money hasn't followed.

So now you have a handful of American youngsters that are hitting em pretty good, but there's only enough prize money to go around. So the 2nd and 3rd tier players need to work for a living, and therefore are not sharp enough to take it to the next level.

Now you've got the youngsters where many of them are making the less exciting decision of going to school rather than try to make a go at it in pool. Some others may not have college as an option, so may play their way up to that level.

If pool did have even a fraction of the money to be won as golf or other sports, you'd see a lot more putting more time into becoming great.

All the training tools are available to bring people's play up in a quicker amount of time. But time at the table is what gets to you that top level.

Again, just my opinion.
 
In other sports it's called 'heart' & you are correct. It can not really be taught. It can be brought out of someone if it is in their nature to begin with & they have been keeping it bottled up. But most that truly have 'heart' don't keep it bottled up. You can usually see it as soon as they start to play any competitive sport. You can't measure heart, but you sure want it from your team mates & players that you are coaching.

Also IMHO, those types of players are all about getting it done anyway that it takes & when one is locked into certain methods & mind sets that others that don't have 'heart' have taught them then it limits an individuals ability to be creative in that just get it done department.

To true champions losing is a stab in the 'heart'. To others that don't have 'heart' losing is just disappointing & elicits an 'Oh well' type reaction.

All of the above are just my take & opinions.
 
I think it is KILLER INSTANT, like teaching someone to be a Sniper. He could be a Expert Shooting Paper, but when it comes down to pulling the trigger, and seeing another human being head, or body parts being splatter by a bullet in scope, it takes someone special to to that time and time again.
 
skill and dedication, combined with concentration. In any game, many aspire to and dream of greatness. Few achieve it. It takes a special type of person to totally concentrate during the time it takes to play a long match, to be totally into the game and not be distracted.
 
when the action stopped 20 years ago the level of pool in the US has been in a steady decline. Players are beat into greatness. When I started playing back in the 70's there were like may be 500 players roaming the country looking fro action and playing competition everyday. They all had a dream of becoming a world champion or at least a great money player. We all got our brains beat in in the early part of our career but when that first big win happened against another good player a light went off that said I can. It still took years of losing to better players and winning most of the time against lesser money players. You could always make money anywhere as long as you had a couple of dollars and a quarter for the bar table. You never go without losses that make you into a great player, this is motivation and you work so next time you can win. In today's pool world players have jobs and no reason to be all in when competing because they are usually steaked. Mostly tournaments only and no matches against an equal player that might take all weekend to decide the winner. The greatest players were beat into greatness. Ask world champion and they will tell about a defeat motivated them into the player they are today.
 
always exceptions like Brandon Shuffet but not too many years ago there were 100 prodigies and a few came to be great players, now how many are there. No matter how you look at it professional pool in the US is hanging on by a thread,
 
I honestly think there's more great players now than ever before because of the availability of instruction, like you said Bruce. But I think most of them are actually making a living doing something else, reluctantly I'm sure.
 
the kidd said:
Mosconi practiced for 12+ hours per day for many many years...
Click to expand...

Here is the reason.

Anyone who is so dedicated to any sport as to spend the majority of his (or her) waking hours practicing can become great.

But right now, 99.77% of those who have potential to become great have to work 8+ hours a day to eat and sleep in relative comfort. This does not leave the required 12 hours a day to practice and 8 hours of sleep (let alone eating, socializing, cleaning, bathing, drinking, and otherwise dealing with the reality of life,...)
 
Diamond69 said:
IMO...

Up until the 80's or so, you had the gamblers that could find a game anywhere. There were more pool rooms everywhere and people liked to gamble.

In the 80's to late 90's or so, you had pro's starting to pop up more because of the tournaments, television, IPT etc that started to make people feel they could do pool for a living.

Since 2000, everyone has internet, so gambling went down big time because it was impossible to be an unknown for long. The IPT dream came to an end and nothing else really replaced it. As other's mentioned, all expenses have gone up, but prize money hasn't followed.

So now you have a handful of American youngsters that are hitting em pretty good, but there's only enough prize money to go around. So the 2nd and 3rd tier players need to work for a living, and therefore are not sharp enough to take it to the next level.

Now you've got the youngsters where many of them are making the less exciting decision of going to school rather than try to make a go at it in pool. Some others may not have college as an option, so may play their way up to that level.

If pool did have even a fraction of the money to be won as golf or other sports, you'd see a lot more putting more time into becoming great.

All the training tools are available to bring people's play up in a quicker amount of time. But time at the table is what gets to you that top level.

Again, just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Good post.

One other point that I would like to add is that there was always a rather large segment of the pool room players who were there strictly for the gambling. Some that we all knew were compulsive gamblers as well as very good pool players. Unfortunately we lost them to the casinos. I know that I miss many of them because of a very special flavor they brought to the room.
 
"Killer Instinct"

CocoboloCowboy said:
I think it is KILLER INSTANT, like teaching someone to be a Sniper. He could be a Expert Shooting Paper, but when it comes down to pulling the trigger, and seeing another human being head, or body parts being splatter by a bullet in scope, it takes someone special to to that time and time again.
Click to expand...


This is very wise, and true in many aspects of life.

I presume you mean "Killer Instinct" :thumbup:

akillerinstinct.jpg
 
With all the great English teachers in our schools, why are there online forum users that still can't get a thread title right to save their lives?



Maybe Coco is right, it has to be that killer instant coffee, that shit destroys everything.
 
Things are so different nowdays, I remember 80's up to early 90's it was quite rare to find something in Europe. Only a few people here seemed to be in touch with the "motherland" of pool.
Today the gap between great players and all the rest is narrow compared to 20 years ago, and better access to valuable information has certainly played a part.
That together with change of rules (alternate breaks, etc.) has made it mouch tougher for the pros to survive, still the great ones stay on top, usually for shorter periods.
Regarding champions of up to 90's era, some have adjusted well enough to the game changes and some not.
Everything is so relative and it's not possible to estimate the overall progress of the game in each era before some years pass...
 
one stroke said:
X2. There are some who have this ridicules notion that the best are the best because they practiced harder nothing could be farther from the truth


1
Click to expand...

X3 One in a million have the natural talent. A lot of them are smart enough to
seek other employment. Soooo Sad..........
 
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