My first progress video; feedback and advice is welcome

Pidge said:
I don't think you've only been playing 3 months. You may have not been playing long but much longer than 3 months.

So here is some advice I hope you don't take offense to as it could really help you out.

First, you move a hell of a lot during your shots. Starting with the head. Focus on keeping the head still and the body will follow suit.

Then the quick fire warm up strokes. You aren't trying to break on every shot. The warm up strokes aren't to loosen up your arm... You should've done that after a few balls, they're to gauge where you are striking the ball. The slower you are, the clearer it becomes on where you're hitting the ball.

Your pull back is far too quick. It shows as a result in your lack of speed control. Pulling the cue back slowly not only helps improve accuracy on the white but makes it easier to slop the pull back where you intend which means better control over speed.

You showed you can draw the ball back, without much control sometimes. This is because draw is harder to judge than follow or stun. The majority of my shots are played as a stun run through, pure stun or a little follow. These types of shots are easier to not only perform, but gauge how the ball will react.

Shot selection wasn't the best. Partly down to running out of position. Things have a tendency to spiral once you get out of position. Shots start to become harder and harder. In the first rack with 2 balls left.... Pretty example of how towards the end of the rack you can leave yourself a tough shot if you don't reign that position back. You picked shots that involved too much movement of the CB. With so many balls on the table in the first rack at the start, 3 or 4 shots in and my cue ball wouldn't have been moving more than a foot. This is down to picking the right patterns. It's hard to learn but it just involves approaching the table and thinking 3 or 4 balls ahead in simple patterns. As the table clears then it's time to get the white moving.

Like I said it isn't meant to offend you but to shorten the learning curve. You can play for years, decades even before what I say may finally click.

I apologise if you have only been playing 3 months. If it's the case then you are one of the best I've seen after such a short time.
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I disagree. I had a guy in my shop who took up pool from zero after watching me play on my table in the shop. I gave him a few pointers and then he proceeded to spend almost every night in the pool room for a couple months. After that short time he was actually able to run four or five balls on occasion with some semblance of shape. His stroke was decent but needed improvement and his speed and touch needed a lot of work but he looked about as good as this kid with only whatever experience and instruction he was getting at the pool room. He was also (stupidly) gambling every night and didn't grasp the concept of a hustler stringing him along.

Edit: I agree with you Pidge. Something doesn't add up here.
 
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iusedtoberich said:
If he wants good feedback, why the hell is he here? He has a top player as his mentor. This player placed top 10 in the Turning stone a few times, then disappeared for 15 years, then placed high again in recent tournament. AND, this guys is a teacher, not just a player. So he's got a guy he can learn all he needs to learn from.

Yet, he comes here asking for AZ advice? Keep your head down. Don't draw every shot. Don't hit so hard. And then makes them all bullet points!!! ??? Are you for real, this isn't stuff his mentor can tell him?

And at the same time he is starting threads of the most contraversial topics every other day?

The only logical explanation is he is doing this on purpose to get a rise out of AZ. That, is the definition of a troll.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll

"troll - One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument"
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A "BANGER" (and not a good one) who has been playing for 1-2 years (at least) but thinks he is a very good player.

Definitely a troll BUT HE ALSO THINKS HE CAN PLAY !!!!!
 
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Sam is getting world class instruction and seems very interested in getting better. Add that with natural talent and I don't doubt it at all.

On top of that, he seems very serious about getting better and willing to learn from multiple sources. On recommendations from here he has started a blog detailing his progress, posted a video (with plans to make more to track his progress) and even tried straight pool as a training aid. I am very doubtful he would have made a video the length he did just to 'troll' on here like some are suggesting.

For the glove comments - Some of the top pros use em unlike 15-20 years ago where you didnt see anyone with them (or very few). Off the top of my head I have seen earl, svb and shaw use them.

I am really looking forward to updates Sam.
 
I still want to know why you switched to a break cue, with a phenolic tip, after the first rack was finished on your vid.

You don't need that cue for straight pool.
 
Tony_in_MD said:
I still want to know why you switched to a break cue, with a phenolic tip, after the first rack was finished on your vid.

You don't need that cue for straight pool.
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My guess is that this is his first time playing straight pool as he is doing it based on a suggestion from azb.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
Pidge said:
......You showed you can draw the ball back, without much control sometimes. This is because draw is harder to judge than follow or stun. The majority of my shots are played as a stun run through, pure stun or a little follow. These types of shots are easier to not only perform, but gauge how the ball will react....
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Draw is not nessesarily harder than follow to judge. In fact in most cases follow is more difficult. Speed control plays a bigger part in follow position. Even more, the harder you hit due to the length of shot complicates things more for follow. Especially when using a stun shot stroke trying to get a bit of draw or follow afterwards. Imo follow is much harder to judge and takes a lot of practice to gauge... A lot of people use draw because it slows the cue ball down. It's kind of an unintentional thing new players do without knowing it sometimes... The more the ball moves the harder it is to control...
 
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caff3in3 said:
My guess is that this is his first time playing straight pool as he is doing it based on a suggestion from azb.
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Pretty much that. I only played straight pool once or twice before that. I never really bothered learning the game and just went with what I felt I should do. If it wasn't for the suggestions on here to try the game, I probably wouldn't have tried it before a long while.

I asked Sylvain about practicing by playing straight, he told me it was a good way to practice the easy shots, which definitely are shots that I still miss a lot. I think I could benefit from playing straight pool a few hours a week for the time being, but he was pretty adamant that I needed to do drills mostly, which was evident once he showed me a few to try. I think I wanted to believe for a while that I would get better pretty much as fast by playing, but after my lesson with Sylvain yesterday, it has become obvious that drills are the way to go.
 
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SamLambert said:
Pretty much that. I only played straight pool once or twice before that. I never really bothered learning the game and just went with what I felt I should do. If it wasn't for the suggestions on here to try the game, I probably wouldn't have tried it before a long while.

I asked Sylvain about practicing by playing straight, he told me it was a good way to practice the easy shots, which definitely are shots that I still miss a lot. I think I could benefit from playing straight pool a few hours a week for the time being, but he was pretty adament that I needed to do drills mostly, which was evident once he showed me a few to try. I think I wanted to believe for a while that I would get better pretty much as fast by playing, but after my lesson with Sylvain yesterday, it has become obvious that drills are the way to go for now, at least at my level.
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Correct again.
 
SamLambert said:
Pretty much that. I only played straight pool once or twice before that. I never really bothered learning the game and just went with what I felt I should do. If it wasn't for the suggestions on here to try the game, I probably wouldn't have tried it before a long while.

I asked Sylvain about practicing by playing straight, he told me it was a good way to practice the easy shots, which definitely are shots that I still miss a lot. I think I could benefit from playing straight pool a few hours a week for the time being, but he was pretty adamant that I needed to do drills mostly, which was evident once he showed me a few to try. I think I wanted to believe for a while that I would get better pretty much as fast by playing, but after my lesson with Sylvain yesterday, it has become obvious that drills are the way to go.
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This advice was already given to you in your previous thread by a few posts....

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=408050&page=2

If you are really trying to improve in the least amount of time, stop all playing of leagues, tournaments, etc. One year just do drills. Dr.Dave's tests, German PAT tests, check billiard app. Etc

The "ask the instructors" part of the forum will be your best friend.
 
Cardigan Kid said:
This advice was already given to you in your previous thread by a few posts....

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=408050&page=2

If you are really trying to improve in the least amount of time, stop all playing of leagues, tournaments, etc. One year just do drills. Dr.Dave's tests, German PAT tests, check billiard app. Etc

The "ask the instructors" part of the forum will be your best friend.
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Indeed it was mentionned a few times! I'm not too sure why I didn't listen. It wasn't the first time Sylvain told me about doing drills either, it's just that yesterday was the first time that I saw such quick improvement just from trying a few things over and over and it stuck to me. After a while, I even found it very much just as fun as playing. It's great to be able to make a shot that I was struggling with with more confidence now.
 
ps611846 said:
A "BANGER" (and not a good one) who has been playing for 1-2 years (at least) but thinks he is a very good player.

Definitely a troll BUT HE ALSO THINKS HE CAN PLAY !!!!!
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trolls rarely if ever post a video of themselves playing........
 
iusedtoberich said:
If he wants good feedback, why the hell is he here? He has a top player as his mentor. This player placed top 10 in the Turning stone a few times, then disappeared for 15 years, then placed high again in recent tournament. AND, this guys is a teacher, not just a player. So he's got a guy he can learn all he needs to learn from.

Yet, he comes here asking for AZ advice? Keep your head down. Don't draw every shot. Don't hit so hard. And then makes them all bullet points!!! ??? Are you for real, this isn't stuff his mentor can tell him?

And at the same time he is starting threads of the most contraversial topics every other day?

The only logical explanation is he is doing this on purpose to get a rise out of AZ. That, is the definition of a troll.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll

"troll - One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument"
Click to expand...

Tthis came about because of his thread about going pro in 5 years. He decided to do a video diary of his progress... That was the main reason for the videos, not asking for AZ's advice.

So why not ask for advice from some people here who might be experienced in the process. Really gotta weed out the hacks here though.
 
Pop quiz ?’s
A Beginner I am,
With many comments suggesting that Sammy hits the ball too hard;
Does Sammy’s play constitute him to be a banger?

If so, it gives the story line to be of a young stallion. Is this natural?

I’ve mentioned it once or twice before and likely again in the future, having boundaries will force you to control that cue ball, if not; you lose.

What I do know is that a few 4Ball tickets will start the control of those speed demons and it has nothing to do with that Casper fellow.

To start I'd recommend ball in hand, however, pro speed will require the mastering of the 2 rail inbound.


Link to the ticket
and the how to

enjoy,
 
Icon of Sin said:
Tthis came about because of his thread about going pro in 5 years. He decided to do a video diary of his progress... That was the main reason for the videos, not asking for AZ's advice.

So why not ask for advice from some people here who might be experienced in the process. Really gotta weed out the hacks here though.
Click to expand...

I think very few of us that post here, know how to take a player who just picks up a stick on day 1, and turn them into a Pro, or for argument sake lets just say an A player who can beat the 9 ball ghost more than half the time, in 5 years time.

Whether the advice is gamble till your brain falls out, or do drills until your eyes fall out, or take lessons from an instructor until your arm falls out, those ideas are just that, ideas. They are our beliefs of what will make a top player. I doubt there is a single one of us on here who has put these ideas into practice, and actually taken a player from 0 to A. Hell, most of us here are not anywhere near an A player.

Regarding the trolling, that is my opinion. I've never accused anyone of being a troll before. But Sam comes on here, and in a period of 3 months of ever picking up a cue, knows all about nature vs nurture and its relation to pool, CTE, the best ways to improve, etc. Every topic he has started are the ones that we argue about all the time. There are too many red flags that are flying in my view. I'll stand by this opinion until proven otherwise.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I think very few of us that post here, know how to take a player who just picks up a stick on day 1, and turn them into a Pro, or for argument sake lets just say an A player who can beat the 9 ball ghost more than half the time, in 5 years time.

Whether the advice is gamble till your brain falls out, or do drills until your eyes fall out, or take lessons from an instructor until your arm falls out, those ideas are just that, ideas. They are our beliefs of what will make a top player. I doubt there is a single one of us on here who has put these ideas into practice, and actually taken a player from 0 to A. Hell, most of us here are not anywhere near an A player.

Regarding the trolling, that is my opinion. I've never accused anyone of being a troll before. But Sam comes on here, and in a period of 3 months of ever picking up a cue, knows all about nature vs nurture and its relation to pool, CTE, the best ways to improve, etc. Every topic he has started are the ones that we argue about all the time. There are too many red flags that are flying in my view. I'll stand by this opinion until proven otherwise.
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I agree, which is why I'm not giving advice.

Im really just interested in watching his progression.

I suck at pool, I know this. I'm not anyone to give advice.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I think very few of us that post here, know how to take a player who just picks up a stick on day 1, and turn them into a Pro, or for argument sake lets just say an A player who can beat the 9 ball ghost more than half the time, in 5 years time.

Whether the advice is gamble till your brain falls out, or do drills until your eyes fall out, or take lessons from an instructor until your arm falls out, those ideas are just that, ideas. They are our beliefs of what will make a top player. I doubt there is a single one of us on here who has put these ideas into practice, and actually taken a player from 0 to A. Hell, most of us here are not anywhere near an A player.

Regarding the trolling, that is my opinion. I've never accused anyone of being a troll before. But Sam comes on here, and in a period of 3 months of ever picking up a cue, knows all about nature vs nurture and its relation to pool, CTE, the best ways to improve, etc. Every topic he has started are the ones that we argue about all the time. There are too many red flags that are flying in my view. I'll stand by this opinion until proven otherwise.
Click to expand...

Some of the ideas/opinions I get from here are actually quite helpful, and it's not hard to weed out the bad ones. If I hesitate with one of them, Sylvain tells me whether an advice is good or bad, and he usually add to them in a very good way.

Now I don't think I have to defend myself from these accusations, but I still want to address them, because why not :
- I don't think there is any way to prove that I am not a troll. You'd have to ask Sylvain and my close friends I guess!
- I've always been of the belief that it's important to have some talent, but I think good discipline and being open to all critique and help is much more important, so I guess that would make me a nurture kind of guy. That definitely doesn't only apply to pool.
- I really don't know much about CTE, I haven't even tried it yet. I just don't really feel the need to actually. I'm starting to be pretty satisfied with my pocketing skills. Maybe eventually I'll try it, but I don't think that's gonna be in the next few weeks.
- As for the best ways to improve, for me it definitely seems to be drills, at least for now. Sylvain thinks so, many people on this forum think so and I'm very much starting to think so too. Maybe it's different for other people!
- It's true that I seem to have opened a lot of can of worms in the short time I have been on here. The thing is, I believe those are questions that everyone eventually ask themself, and most just either brush them off or draw their own conclusion instead of asking them directly on here. "Can an aiming system actually help me?" is a very valid question in my opinion. Even my thread about angry pool players is justified IMO, I have played a lot of sports in my life, but never have I seen what I see with pool players. So obviously I started to wonder why it was so.

So yeah, you can believe I am a troll, to be honest I don't really care (although some might say that I care since I bothered replying!), but that won't really change anything on my side and I'll just keep opening (accidentally!) some can of worms occasionally and I'll keep asking for feedback.
 
Personally you gotta be pretty courageous to post a video on here for everyone to dissect your game. If it was me, I'd contact an instructor and soak up as much knowledge as possible.

For the record, if you've only been playing for a few months you ain't doing too bad..

When I started playing about 12 years ago I was brutal. I listened to the wrong people and developed some terrible habits. My dad worked at a hall in his teens and advised me against learning from the owner whom he cleaned tables for, who in fact was Cliff Thornburns instructor at one point.. Well as a 19 year old you think i listened? I started learning fundamentals from him things changed very quickly.
 
SamLambert said:
- I really don't know much about CTE, I haven't even tried it yet. I just don't really feel the need to actually. I'm starting to be pretty satisfied with my pocketing skills. Maybe eventually I'll try it, but I don't think that's gonna be in the next few weeks.
...
"Can an aiming system actually help me?" is a very valid question in my opinion.
Click to expand...
"Aiming systems" like CTE do offer tangible benefits for many people, but all of these benefits can exist without an "aiming system." Most (practically all) top players do not use a conscious, prescribed, and/or procedural "system" for aiming basic cut shots; although, they routinely do many of the things on the aiming system benefits list.

Good luck with your continued improvement,
Dave
 
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