Pool Myths Explained

Myth: It's always better to play with your pinkie off the cue.

This style of play originated when players stood taller at the table and did a lot of wrist-flicking.

Wrist-flicking can still be helpful on occasional shots, but overall, the pinkie on the cue can also serve as a stabilizer.
 
West Point 1987 said:
Your mother was right. "Accomplished" is the perfect word to describe what Shane is. That's what 6-10 hours of practice/play per day can do. I've seen it with guitar players..."man, that kid's only been playing for two years, yet he's better than anyone I've seen who've played for decades"...what they miss is that fact that that "kid" was locked in his room with that guitar for many, many hours every day, totally absorbed in it, while the guy who's played for decades probably plays his guitar for a couple of hours a week.

I've played pool for over 30 years...but most of the total hours I've played were concentrated in the first 5 years. That's when I was at my best, playing 6 hours a day 7 days a week. Now I'm lucky to get 6 hours a week...and it shows. Am I less talented? nope. Less skilled? nope. Less intelligent? nope. Less accomplished? absolutely.
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Excellent and highly accomplished observation! You hit the nail on the head.
 
puma122 said:
Not sure I agree. I think some folks have fantastic hand eye coordination, and this makes it easier for them to gain a higher level of skill. Of COURSE practice is absolutely needed, but natural skills help.
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There could be natural skills that help, but I think the point I'm trying to get across is that accomplished players gained their abilities through many hours of practice and had to work really hard at it. Any beneficial innate skills will not make a huge factor for shooting pool. Thus, there are no "natural" players - they have ALL practiced a lot! :)
 
puma122 said:
Not sure I agree. I think some folks have fantastic hand eye coordination, and this makes it easier for them to gain a higher level of skill. Of COURSE practice is absolutely needed, but natural skills help.
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Irving Crane was quoted in Billiards Digest as saying that to be a great player you had to have natural talent. The practice time they put in simply improves on that talent and teaches them how to use it.
 
West Point 1987 said:
I've seen it with guitar players..."man, that kid's only been playing for two years, yet he's better than anyone I've seen who've played for decades"...what they miss is that fact that that "kid" was locked in his room with that guitar for many, many hours every day, totally absorbed in it, while the guy who's played for decades probably plays his guitar for a couple of hours a week.
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In my experience the guitar example is 100% in the other direction. I've known countless guitarists who mastered the instrument with very little practice (entirely on natural talent for ear, tempo and hand coordination) who could play circles around guitarists who practiced for hours every day for years. If you don't have the ear and don't feel the tempo in your bones, no amount of practice will get you there.

It's like a guy in my bowling league who bowls 3 times a week, has taken countless lessons but averages 120. He simply has no hand-eye coordination. He'll even tell you that it's a crapshoot every time he rolls the ball down the alley. I bowl twice a month (only on league night), never taken a lesson or even thought much about bowling and I average 179. Initally it was hard for me to accept that someone could have so little hand-eye coordination (it's not like he's a stumbling goofus), but his body just doesn't communicate will with his eyes.
 
cleary said:
I don't think saying "accelerating through the ball" would be considered a "myth". Yes, when the tip his the cueball, your cue will slow down (though not enough to notice) but the concept of following through applies to pretty much very single sport I can think of... boxing, baseball, soccer etc.
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Yes, following-through applies to many sports, especially pool, but accelerating through the cue ball (in a literal sense) is just not a physical possibility and when that term is used, perhaps we should be saying it a different way, one that is more "accurate". An example is: If a player is having trouble maintaining the desired cue speed on the shot, thinking "accelerate through the cue ball", may assist in maintaining the desired speed of stroke. I'm sure there are other ways to express this and others might offer their solutions.

I believe that if thinking, "accelerate-through-the-cue-ball" helps you to maintain the desired cue stick speed, then do so. I'm not a stickler for proclamations of any kind that inhibit a person's ability to play better pool.

I also think it is healthy to clear the air of the so-called "myths" and explain why the terms or statements are used and shared so freely with all of us as well as the explanation of why they are genuine myths.

These "myths" OFTEN have valid reasons for their creation but we should take off the blinders and allow the science to explain what is really happening.

JoeyA
 
cleary said:
... Yes, when the tip his the cueball, your cue will slow down (though not enough to notice) ...
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As the theory says and as high speed video demonstrates, when the tip hits the ball, the cue stick is slowed down to about 50% of the speed it had just before tip-ball contact. This slowing happens in less than 2/1000ths of a second. Maybe it's not noticeable but it sure happens.
 
JeremiahGage said:
There could be natural skills that help, but I think the point I'm trying to get across is that accomplished players gained their abilities through many hours of practice and had to work really hard at it. Any beneficial innate skills will not make a huge factor for shooting pool. Thus, there are no "natural" players - they have ALL practiced a lot! :)
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Ok, I understand and absolutely agree. There is no easy path. HUGE amounts of practice is absolutely needed. I do think there is a ceiling. If you do not have natural skills, you are not likely to ever get to the highest level, no matter the practice time and pressure situations you are in. I also think, while not a ceiling, natural talent is sure helpful in more rapid progress.

It's golf...but I heard one time that a now pro golfer was a scratch golfer after two years, and taking up the game at an age of early teens. Something like a + 2 after another year or so. I don't think that's possible without a bunch of natural talent. I think there are parallels that can be drawn to pool. (I think the story was about Ernie Els, I could be wrong...)
 
bdorman said:
In my experience the guitar example is 100% in the other direction. I've known countless guitarists who mastered the instrument with very little practice (entirely on natural talent for ear, tempo and hand coordination) who could play circles around guitarists who practiced for hours every day for years. If you don't have the ear and don't feel the tempo in your bones, no amount of practice will get you there.
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When I stared APA, I was told that it normally takes years to progress and that very few reach a 7 and not to set my goals too high. In less than a year I was a 6, passing or catching up to many of those people that told me how long it would take. I played quite a bit after work, also while drinking, so it wasn't nearly the "quality time" of (myth) playing better players to improve or (myth) needing instruction to improve. I just took to it and understood the strategy rather quickly, taking different routes because of my lack of CB knowledge and mediocre shot-making.

Another huge myth is that many people on the internet play as well as they say! It holds true for some, but probably not for most. I'm not that good and I accept that. :o
 
Pushout said:
Irving Crane was quoted in Billiards Digest as saying that to be a great player you had to have natural talent. The practice time they put in simply improves on that talent and teaches them how to use it.
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Irving said it much better than my bumbling long winded posts above...:)
 
Pushout said:
Irving Crane was quoted in Billiards Digest as saying that to be a great player you had to have natural talent. The practice time they put in simply improves on that talent and teaches them how to use it.
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People who are at the top of their field sometimes say natural talent. Others say pure hard work.

I think it's desire. What is desire though? Is it then something a person is born with or not?
 
Seneca Steve said:
Wow didnt take long to get the wolves out. But I do not agree with the experts on this. Guess I have never been able to figure it out in 51 years of trying. :wink:
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Here's a simple one for you.

Freeze the CB to the rail by a corner pocket. Place the OB about a half diamond away(1/2" off rail) so a straight shot would be to the first diamond. Now cut the ball slightly to hit at 1/2 diamond with 1/2 to 1 tip of outside english, firm hit.

The outside English overcomes the cut induced spin and imparts enough extra spin to pocket the OB in the corner from where the CB started. There is no way to make the ball without spin. Try it for the next 51 years:smile:
 
Bob Jewett said:
As the theory says and as high speed video demonstrates, when the tip hits the ball, the cue stick is slowed down to about 50% of the speed it had just before tip-ball contact. This slowing happens in less than 2/1000ths of a second. Maybe it's not noticeable but it sure happens.
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That's interesting that an object three times heavier than a cue ball loses 50% of it's power on impact. I wonder if this happens on the break as well with a 30mph break shot? In that type of shot the shooter is trying for the maximum acceleration that they can control.
 
puma122 said:
Irving said it much better than my bumbling long winded posts above...:)
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I think that's pretty much true for ANY sport that involves skill/accuracy more than athletics.
The younger you start, the better it is to hone that talent .
I think 90% of the pros today started really young.
 
JB Cases said:
That's interesting that an object three times heavier than a cue ball loses 50% of it's power on impact. I wonder if this happens on the break as well with a 30mph break shot? In that type of shot the shooter is trying for the maximum acceleration that they can control.
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The 50% loss of speed of the cue stick is not much influenced by the speed of the shot. A more efficient cue tip (like a phenolic break tip) will cause slightly more slowing of the cue stick as you are getting more speed into the cue ball.
 
JoeyInCali said:
I think that's pretty much true for ANY sport that involves skill/accuracy more than athletics.
The younger you start, the better it is to hone that talent .
I think 90% of the pros today started really young.
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One of the points that the Sports Gene made was that for some athletic events you are better off developing general athletic ability before specializing in the event. I don't recall the details, but it had something to do with learning things with your young body that didn't apply when you got older and larger and stronger.

On the other hand, there are relatively few expert musicians or chess players who started after 14.

I think pool is probably more like the latter.
 
Myth: Players in XYZ era were better.

Myth: A custom cue is better because it's custom.
 
Bob Jewett said:
One of the points that the Sports Gene made was that for some athletic events you are better off developing general athletic ability before specializing in the event. I don't recall the details, but it had something to do with learning things with your young body that didn't apply when you got older and larger and stronger.

On the other hand, there are relatively few expert musicians or chess players who started after 14.

I think pool is probably more like the latter.
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I think so too.
Efren at 12 years old already beat a top 10 player in the Philippines.
Parica at 15 years old already impressed Grady in Japan. Parica was running 15 ball rotation by the time he hit 13 according to him.
I don't know how old Varner was when he started. He did start a little later I think. He might be the only exception among the hall of famers.

Even great boxers usually start out young ( Louis, Robinson, Ali, Leonard, Duran, Tyson among them ). One exception I can think of was Dwight Braxton who took up boxing while in the can in NJ.

There is some great value in learning a skill while really young .
 
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