A Lot Easier Now A Days

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
IMO there is no excuse today for most people if they can play an average of 2-3 hours a day of good practice and matching up (no money is OK but gambling will get there faster) for 1-2 years to become at least a “B” player.

With good instructors in every state, videos, books, drills, and streaming and PPV with the much improved camera angles and close ups, it is fairly easy to learn quickly. Add to that the better tables with fast cloth and new types of equipment and all you need is to do the work/practice. Just my thought of the day. I’m off to build a new ball cleaning machine and then hit a few. Later. Johnnyt
 
In my opinion, C level is the furthest a genetically ungifted individual will get after years of gambling, study, and practice.

I've seen it with a bunch of hardcore players.

I think B and above you need to have a bit of an athleticism gene in you.
 
iusedtoberich said:
In my opinion, C level is the furthest a genetically ungifted individual will get after years of gambling, study, and practice.

I've seen it with a bunch of hardcore players.

I think B and above you need to have a bit of an athleticism gene in you.
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What's an athletiscm gene?

I agree with Johnny. Every person on the earth who has no physical or mental handicap can reach b player status with solid practice and instruction.
 
JB Cases said:
What's an athletiscm gene?

I agree with Johnny. Every person on the earth who has no physical or mental handicap can reach b player status with solid practice and instruction.
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Oh No, I'm going to have the big one. JB agreed with me. :eek:. Johnnyt

PS: Have a great new year.
 
This is probably going to sound amateur and dumb, but even after years of playing pool, the only rating system im familiar with for pool players are the APA or the BCA or other league rating systems of a "7" or an "8" and so forth. Can anyone link me to a page or explain what makes a player a "B" player or a "C" or "A" etc. I know an A player is obviously better than a B, and a B better than a C, but im just curious what gets someone these ratings. Like being able to run 5 balls, or 2 racks, etc. Thanks in advance!
 
demon627 said:
This is probably going to sound amateur and dumb, but even after years of playing pool, the only rating system im familiar with for pool players are the APA or the BCA or other league rating systems of a "7" or an "8" and so forth. Can anyone link me to a page or explain what makes a player a "B" player or a "C" or "A" etc. I know an A player is obviously better than a B, and a B better than a C, but im just curious what gets someone these ratings. Like being able to run 5 balls, or 2 racks, etc. Thanks in advance!
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It's generally subjective, but the best explanation that I've seen was in Play Your Best Pool by Phil Capelle. Here is a link to it (and other information about rating systems) on Dr. Dave's website http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/ratings.html
 
JB Cases said:
What's an athletiscm gene?
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Hand-Eye coordination. You have it, as do most people who continue playing pool. But many people don't have good hand-eye coordination; they quit any athletic endeavor and take up bridge (although shuffling a deck will always be a challenge for them :D)

Back to johnnyt's topic: the other modern godsend is the video camera. You can almost be your own instructor by watching video of your fundamentals...something earlier generations couldn't do.
 
Practice will make you better but some things can hold you back. Eyesight for example is important. If you have a cataract like I do it can be frustrating.

But as usual I mostly agree with Johnny. If you hit enough balls you should be able to get to at least B level.
 
There is NO WAY you are going to hit a million balls (HAMB) in two years.
JoeyA
 
I haven't played avidly in almost 20 years.....I think it will take a while to knock the rust off. Just reading around here, a lot has changed in the time since I've quit and the time I decided to get back into it.....its a little overwhelming.....
 
StraightPoolIU said:
It's generally subjective, but the best explanation that I've seen was in Play Your Best Pool by Phil Capelle. Here is a link to it (and other information about rating systems) on Dr. Dave's website http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/ratings.html
Click to expand...

Thanks. According to that, i'd be maybe a B+ or so. And thats playing one day a week for a few hours. But I've played most of my life off and on, but never daily and never owned my own table. I just play when i can.
 
More nature vs nurture. I'm obviously firmly on the side of nature. Others are firmly on the side of nurture.

Many of us here are hard core pool junkies. Probably spent 10 hrs a day in our teens playing non stop. At the expense of school, non-pool friends, and sunshine.

When you are around the pool hall that much you see the new bangers come in and some of them get the pool bug and turn into players.

Every player I've seen with my own eyes, reached pretty much 90% of their game in like 2 to 3 years. And I'm talking 2 to 3 years of addiction to pool hours a day every day.

This means the guys who have the "nature" of poor eye-hand coordination become C players. The guys who have average eye-hand coordination become B players. And the guys who have extraordinary eye-hand coordination become A players.

Now, after the 2 to 3 years the player might still improve, but it's a very small amount at that point. This is why I have NEVER in my 20 yrs of in person pool or 10 yrs of online pool forums ever heard of a single player who has jumped speeds from a C player for years to an A player.

All the instruction in the world, the practice drills, the video, the stroke trainers, etc, won't change that.

You have people who take lessons. But a year later they are still gambling the same weight with everyone they were before.

You take a 10 yr break from playing, come back, and the pecking order in your local room is the same. No one moved up. No one moved down. You hit balls for a month and your place in the order returns right where it was too. It never changes.

If the nurture was a lot stronger than the nature, I think we would see a LOT of class jumps in pool. But the opposite is true. Just look around your own local room.
 
I have seen some of the younger guys my age improve dramatically over a short period of time. I think it is much easier to get from a C to a B level than from a B to an A. Especially with structured practice. I went back to my university a while ago for a tournament. There were a lot of guys there who are capable of kicking my ass now, but couldn't run a table a year before. Also, nobody would play for cash... maybe one or two out of 30 people. Might be because they were all students, might be times are changing, might be i'm bad at hustling!

Anyways, I do think it is easy to get lost in CTE, TOI, BS, etc aiming systems and articles on learning pool. When it comes down to it, you need to have a goal and put in time on the table.
 
Interesting debate nature vs nurture.

It does seem to me the improvement happens with younger people.

I can't really recall when say anyone 35+ made great improvement strides.
 
I would argue that I have...

JoeyA said:
There is NO WAY you are going to hit a million balls (HAMB) in two years.
JoeyA
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I would say that I could pull at least three different two year periods in my life that I've hit a million balls in.

The first two years I took the game seriously, I was working at a pool hall and playing pool 12-15 hours a day 6 days a week...

When I wasn't practicing during work, I was going around playing in at least 4-5 local tourneys a week or matching up...

Jaden
 
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Jaden said:
I would say that I could pull at least three different two year periods in my life that I've hit a million balls in.

The first two years I took the game seriously, I was working at a pool hall and playing pool 12-15 hours a day 6 days a week...

When I wasn't practicing during work, I was going around playing in at least 4-5 local tourneys a week or matching up...

Jaden
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I'm talking about Methuselah, Jaden!

JoeyA
 
What I see today is most 'average' players repeating the same mistakes over and over .
Most get to a level and never try to get better. They dont have many 'good' local players to watch and learn from. Once they get to a level where they can gamble, they stop improving. It takes some 'work' to get better. Most players I see have a job. They dont come to the pool room to work...they come to 'play'.Pratice is 'work' and they just left work, so they play the same way they played last week, last month, last year....and never improve.
As to being 'easier' to be a better player, I feel it was easier in the 60's and 70's, at least in VA and Cali. We got to see the greatest players play every month at Beenies and other rooms across the country. Road players were traveling all over the country and action was non stop. I agree that today there are a lot of aids you can use ( youtube, books, instructers, etc ), but a player has to 'seek them out', and thats work. We didnt have to go anywhere, do anything. They came to us.
As I've said before, it was the 'golden age of pool'!
 
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Johnnyt said:
IMO there is no excuse today for most people if they can play an average of 2-3 hours a day of good practice and matching up (no money is OK but gambling will get there faster) for 1-2 years to become at least a “B” player.

With good instructors in every state, videos, books, drills, and streaming and PPV with the much improved camera angles and close ups, it is fairly easy to learn quickly. Add to that the better tables with fast cloth and new types of equipment and all you need is to do the work/practice. Just my thought of the day. I’m off to build a new ball cleaning machine and then hit a few. Later. Johnnyt
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With table at home, i agree, but using tables at pool rooms it will take at least 5-6 years if not more for a B level.
 
Maybe I'm just lucky because I had a Dad that was a road player, boxer and bought a pool room when he sold his businesses. He taught me the basics of pool and then when he saw I wasn't listening much anymore he told me to go out and play for money and come and see him when I went broke. I learned boxing a bit faster as he would hit a little harder when I did something wrong. Johnnyt
 
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