Honestly, after all that has been written already by the few negative cynics in this thread, an apology at this point would not mean very much to me, even if it were sincere (which I doubt would be the case anyway).
Regards,
Dave
$200 for a billiard university diploma!!
- Thread starter His Boy Elroy
- Start date
Regards,
Dave
Bruce and Sean,
Thank you for the supportive and very-well-state posts.
Best regards,
Dave
Do you think "His Boy Elroy" is "Fast Larry" reincarnated yet again? What about "English!?" Is it possible that he is also "Fast Larry!" or maybe one of his multiple personalities?
I assume that you were kidding, but now that you mention it is does sound plausible.
Thank you for you support Randy.
Best regards,
Dave
For over a month I have been believing that English and Elroy are one in the same.
Never thought about Fast Larry though.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
Never thought about Fast Larry though.
Do you think "His Boy Elroy" is "Fast Larry" reincarnated yet again? What about "English!?" Is it possible that he is also "Fast Larry!" or maybe one of his multiple personalities?
I assume that you were kidding, but now that you mention it is does sound plausible.
Thank you for you support Randy.
Best regards,
Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
Sorry, Rick, I'm calling BS. Mercedes does not get out of bed to sell parts at $1.64. I'd like to see that receipt.
You could not even buy license plate screws for a $1.64 from Home Depot, let alone MB !!!So, basically, there was about 6 hours of labor involved that you decided to do yourself. Well, bravo, I don't have a spare 6 hours to work on my cars anymore. So, is MB wrong for charging the appropriate labor rates ($130 per hour in these parts).
What is your logic? Nobody here believes that could not get the scores themselves but some want it documented and the actual degree, big whoop.
And no, I have not taken the test, most likely will not, and you can take it to the bank that I will not pay the $200, but I do understand the free market, and folks buy what they like.
But for whatever reason, you woke up with a hard on, yet again, for the instructors at AZB. Well played Rick.
That is kind of an interesting thought...
Lou Figueroa
he's out there somewhere
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My Review of a CTE Based DVD:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=2871644&postcount=77
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Well brother, why didn't you just say that at the beginning and save all the mofo drama
Man, next time I'm sending in the "wolf"... pulp fiction style 
I think ENGLISH might have been trying to be facetious by calling the exam a test for drills. Which I kinda agree. I watched the videos last night and that's what I got out of it. Shooting the same shot five times and getting to make adjustments. Don't get to do that in a game. Good test for drills but not for testing your true ability. There was no opponent unless you count the fact that your taking a test. However you get to record your test and send it in whenever you want. So just guessing here. The test that were sent in, were in some cases the best score they could achieve after several attempts. Maybe I am wrong.
I haven't taken the test, but I believe there are pattern drills, safety drills, and kicking drills.
My take on drills is this
They might not measure a true playing ability, but if someone is really good at them, they probably aren't the worst pool player. A true APA 4 isn't going to get a really high score on these.
Those that want to get better are either doing drills, or better start doing them. Those that want to stay at what level they are, or think they know it all and still can't play very well, don't do the drills. Those that think drills only relate to doing drills, well....they have a lot to learn yet about the game.
That is true, with some of the BU Exam drills (e.g., the wagon wheel, target position, and safety drills) you are given multiple attempts at the same shot. The purpose for this is to test consistency and to see how well one can make adjustments if the first attempt is off. This was done by design. Now, with most of the "drills," every shot is different. This was also done by design to make things more challenging than typical drills where you repeat the same shot over and over again. The purpose for the progressive-practice drills, where the shot changes after each attempt, is not only to have the shots get easier or more difficult based on player ability; the purpose is also to prevent exact repetition of shots, which, as you point out, is too contrived a situation.
Now, with the line-of-balls, rail-cut-shot, 9-ball, and 8-ball run-out drills in Exam II, if you don't have good run-out skills, you won't do well on these "drills." You need to have good cue ball control, good shot-making ability, and good run-out strategy. And you must be consistent and be able to execute.
Also, with some of the special-skill drills, like the jump shot and break drills, if you don't have reliable technique, you won't be able to execute consistently.
You might think the BU Exams just require "drill skills," but it takes a good player with good skills, good run-out ability, focus, and consistency to score really high over complete runs of both exams.
Have you tried the exams yet? Please do. I think you might be surprised how difficult it is to score really high, even if you are a top player. Also, please consider posting your scores on the AZB BU thread with any comments you might have after your experience.
Exactly. The scores and videos most people are posting (me included) are the best achieved after multiple attempts. For examples, the videos I have posted are the best I've done over at least 20 full attempts at each exam (not counting all of the practice I've put in on individual drills). The videos and BU rating don't indicate my "average" level of play. They indicate the best I can possibly do on the best day. But remember, you are not allowed to film the drills separately; otherwise, it would be fairly easy to post an edited video with a perfect score on both exams. That would be silly. You must do the entire exam straight through. Regardless of how good you are, it is still challenging to not make mistakes over a complete exam run through.
The good thing about the "post your best" approach is that it motivates people to keep trying to see how high of a score they can document on video, and to see how high of a diploma level they are able to achieve. This motivation can help drive one to put in a lot of practice time, which can help improve a person's shot making, cue ball control, and run-out strategy and skills. Isn't this a good thing? All of the time I have put into the BU Exams the last couple of months has certainly helped improve my game quite a bit. I don't think I would have put in a fraction of the practice time that I had if I didn't have the BU Exams and video posting motivating me.
Again, I hope you and others who might doubt the usefulness of the BU Exams will give them a try some day. And if anybody thinks they are a top player, please post videos and your scores (on the AZB BU thread for free) to show us how easy it is. I am hoping somebody will be able to post a perfect score some day; although, I think this would take lots of practice and many attempts, even for a top pro on his or her best day.
Regards,
Dave
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I want to apologize if my comment sounded negative. My intention was only to state what I thought of the test. I have watched and read so much of what Dr. Dave has put out and find it very helpful. He could charge for everything and it would be well worth over $200. However, most is free and it's a hell of a lot of good info. I am 45 and have never done drills in my life until recently. Sure they can be boring. I am sure doing somersaults over and over can be to but it done so you don't have to think about how to do them. You just do them. I am thankful for everything anyone does to educate players. Take applying English to the cue ball. There are several methods to do that. Backhand or parallel for example. Playing high right can give you different results depending on which you choose. Some players might not know this if someone didn't inform them. I have a friend who plays outstanding inside English. I could not achieve the position he was until I applied parallel English. What a difference it makes. Again thank you and I will be taking the test when I think I am ready.
Sounds good. Thanks for the follow up, and for your kind words about my stuff. Sorry if I sounded defensive in my previous post. I guess I am a little defensive in this thread because I have worked really hard on this stuff the past year or so.
Catch you later,
Dave
My 14 y/o son did not believe drills were good either. But we did them anyways. We spent the winter, indoors, hitting the batting cages 3 times per week, and one day per week, me just throwing him change ups, curveballs, fastballs at the knees, on both corners. He must have hit 8 - 10K pitches, or varying kind, over the winter.
This season he hit .658, slugging percentage of 1.22, One Grand slam (340 feet) and only struck out 6 times all summer. Yeah, drills suck
My 14 y/o son did not believe drills were good either. But we did them anyways. We spent the winter, indoors, hitting the batting cages 3 times per week, and one day per week, me just throwing him change ups, curveballs, fastballs at the knees, on both corners. He must have hit 8 - 10K pitches, or varying kind, over the winter.
This season he hit .658, slugging percentage of 1.22, One Grand slam (340 feet) and only struck out 6 times all summer. Yeah, drills suck
That's a good point that I was going to make earlier and never got around to it. Pool isn't the only sport with drills. Not by a long shot. Every football, baseball, basketball, and hockey team in america does drills from peewee up to pros. If a coach had his players do nothing but scrimmage he'd be thought an idiot.
Walter Lindrum
I remember reading a story about Walter Lindrum the great Austrailian Billiards champion. It was probably Billiard Digest back in the 1980's. So my memory might not be perfect. It seemed like it said his father only let him have one ball to practice with for the first month.
Check out the grave stone!
I remember reading a story about Walter Lindrum the great Austrailian Billiards champion. It was probably Billiard Digest back in the 1980's. So my memory might not be perfect. It seemed like it said his father only let him have one ball to practice with for the first month.
Check out the grave stone!
My 14 y/o son did not believe drills were good either. But we did them anyways. We spent the winter, indoors, hitting the batting cages 3 times per week, and one day per week, me just throwing him change ups, curveballs, fastballs at the knees, on both corners. He must have hit 8 - 10K pitches, or varying kind, over the winter.
This season he hit .658, slugging percentage of 1.22, One Grand slam (340 feet) and only struck out 6 times all summer. Yeah, drills suck
If you've ever set up the same shot over and over and over again in order to master it, you've done a drill.