Pro players who did not start playing at a very young age?

J

justinb386

Banned
I have been told that all the great players started out at a very young age, and I am just curious how true this is?

Just curious about some of the great players that did not start playing until they got older.

Was just watching this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_kOqK9o2QI) on an interview with Oscar Dominguez, and he said in the interview that he had only been playing for 5 years, and that he did not start playing until his Senior year of high school, and this really amazed me (from beginner at 17 or 18 to pro caliber in such a short amount of time).

He must have worked really hard on his game, and had a lot of natural talent.

Anyways, just curious about some of the other great players who did not start playing at a really young age (like most probably did).
 
justinb386 said:
I have been told that all the great players started out at a very young age, and I am just curious how true this is?

Just curious about some of the great players that did not start playing until they got older.

Was just watching this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_kOqK9o2QI) on an interview with Oscar Dominguez, and he said in the interview that he had only been playing for 5 years, and that he did not start playing until his Senior year of high school, and this really amazed me (from beginner at 17 or 18 to pro caliber in such a short amount of time).

He must have worked really hard on his game, and had a lot of natural talent.

Anyways, just curious about some of the other great players who did not start playing at a really young age (like most probably did).
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His dad's a pro and he never hit a ball till his senior yr in High School .. not buying a word of it ,,

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one stroke said:
His dad's a pro and he never hit a ball till his senior yr in High School .. not buying a word of it ,,

1
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Not hitting a ball and taking it seriously are different things. One thing for sure is that Oscar is NOT a liar.

If he says he didn't take pool seriously and only started at 17 then that's exactly what it means.

Mike Davis also started late iirc. He was the cook at a pool room and never played until he decided to come out from behind the grill.
 
Late bloomer

Pretty sure John Schmidt played golf as a youngster and didn't start pool until much later. I want to say early 20's. He discussed it in one of the tar matches if I'm not mistaken.
 
one stroke said:
His dad's a pro and he never hit a ball till his senior yr in High School .. not buying a word of it ,,

1
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Agree...the only reason he would say that is for people to think he have some kind of natural talent. Trust me he was hitting balls long before 17-18. Not picking on him but he just a bad example for this thread. That said, there are players out there who play at very high pro caliber level and they never started until late. It can and does happen.
 
When I play pro speed in 3 years I'll let you know. In 3 years time I'll have been playing for 5 years.
 
hustler said:
Agree...the only reason he would say that is for people to think he have some kind of natural talent. Trust me he was hitting balls long before 17-18. Not picking on him but he just a bad example for this thread. That said, there are players out there who play at very high pro caliber level and they never started until late. It can and does happen.
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Yes ,, that's the natural talent thing ,,,Yang started at 14 won a major event at 16 ,,,


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Also, I joined AZB on 3/23/14 and at that time I had only been playing for about 3-4 months. As of right now (11/14/15), I've been playing for about 2 years flat. So, pretty close to around 3 years from today I'll report back :P
 
JB Cases said:
Not hitting a ball and taking it seriously are different things. One thing for sure is that Oscar is NOT a liar.

If he says he didn't take pool seriously and only started at 17 then that's exactly what it means.

Mike Davis also started late iirc. He was the cook at a pool room and never played until he decided to come out from behind the grill.
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I think Mike started playing at 14 ,, he took the job to get free pool time and was taken under the wing by the top player there

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gxman said:
about how many hours are you playing a week?
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Depends. When I'm working I play at least 20+ hours weekly, probably closer to 30+ actually. Right now, I play league Friday nights (that's about 5 hours of practice usually), and again on Mondays because I go with my sister to help her team out (anywhere between 1 and 5 hours depending on my access to a table), and again when I'm working I'll grab a special (6 to 10 hours) twice a week, and may play a few hours outside of that.

Seriously, when I've got free time all I want to do is play.
 
I was just talking to Ernesto the other day and he was telling me how he built a mini pool table for his kids...
 
Zphix,

dont let these AZ guys knock your dreams man. This site is the worst thing that could happen to a young player with big dreams. I get on here and browse and comment from time to time but I avoid it for the most part because there are way to many naysayers and has beens that never actually made it.

August of last year I was a 5 in 9 ball and a 6 in 8 ball in APA and Im now a 7/9 and have been for 6 months. I decided, after playing in my first big tournament, that I wanted to take my game to the next level. Im not where I want to be yet but I hope to be making myself known, like you, in the next 3 years.

Good luck to you in accomplishing your dreams. Stay away from the haters and negativity in this game and you will be fine.
 
BlueCollarBar said:
Zphix,

dont let these AZ guys knock your dreams man. This site is the worst thing that could happen to a young player with big dreams. I get on here and browse and comment from time to time but I avoid it for the most part because there are way to many naysayers and has beens that never actually made it.

August of last year I was a 5 in 9 ball and a 6 in 8 ball in APA and Im now a 7/9 and have been for 6 months. I decided, after playing in my first big tournament, that I wanted to take my game to the next level. Im not where I want to be yet but I hope to be making myself known, like you, in the next 3 years.

Good luck to you in accomplishing your dreams. Stay away from the haters and negativity in this game and you will be fine.
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Nobody can knock my dreams but I fully embrace people like you who want to support it. I have a life coaching mentor who is teaching me to coach while also giving me coaching to test his product. I was asked to decide between my 3 loves and focus on one to build my life around: Pool, life coaching, or martial arts.

He told me the answer is not where the money is at but where I derive the most passion and pool was my immediate answer. My entire heart and soul is in this game and it's pure. Because of that, nobody can knock it.

I sincerely appreciate your kind words buddy.

-Richard
 
I tell people that even though Ive been playing for 20 years, If we both started a rigorous training program right now that in 5 years they would have a better chance of becoming a pro than I would. This is because they have the oppurtunity to learn the right way from the beginning where I did not.

Having a good mentor is essential.
 
Zphix said:
20. Will be 21 in Feb.
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You're not going to make it. I don't give a crap what all these Millennials say about passion, and following your dreams, you are simply starting too late.
You can get good. You can get damn good. But, you'll never get to the Pro level as far as ability goes.
Stay in school, son. Get a good job. :)
 
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