what separates levels of players?

[Poolplaya9]

The brain-eye-hand connection is what separates speeds. It’s maybe 90% of what determines your speed.

Knowledge, strategy, handling pressure, attitude, etc, is about 10%.

Every single post in this thread is opinion, and this is mine

This is exactly right. Lots and lots and lots of things all contribute to differing abilities, but the most important, by a large margin, is the innate physical talent.

 

[evergruven]

thanks all for the replies.
there's a lot here to digest
I admit to wondering most
about the levels of pro players
I know I'm ignorant
but pros are so smart
and experienced
what separates them?

if they know/can execute 99/100 shots
is it the one shot that makes the difference?
is it the ability to manage one's game
when the chips are up, and down
is it how they deal with pressure?
is it what they were born/not born with?
is it how much they want it
and how much work they put in
to be the best they can be
on, and off the table
apparently, it is all these things
and more...

 

[Poolplaya9]

thanks all for the replies.
there's a lot here to digest
I admit to wondering most
about the levels of pro players
I know I'm ignorant
but pros are so smart
and experienced
what separates them?

if they know/can execute 99/100 shots
is it the one shot that makes the difference?
is it the ability to manage one's game
when the chips are up, and down
is it how they deal with pressure?
is it what they were born/not born with?
is it how much they want it
and how much work they put in
to be the best they can be
on, and off the table
apparently, it is all these things
and more...

Your last sentence is the answer. It is all of those things because they all make a difference. Any skill that you can do better than your opponent gives you an advantage. Now think about how many skills there are that can be and are utilized in pool. I bet collectively we could come up with many dozens, probably some amount in the hundreds. Well that's your answer for which things make a difference in separating speed. They all matter.

That said, some provide a bigger advantage/make more difference than others. The one that makes the biggest difference, by far, is natural talent. As for what makes the second, third, and fourth most difference etc? That can be debated, plus it almost certainly varies based on your relative skill level. For a very beginner player for example, knowledge and how straight you shoot would probably have to be right near the top of the list for what could have the most affect on how well you played in comparison to others of your relative/general skill level as just a couple of examples. For top pros, ability to handle pressure and amount of time spent practicing/staying in dead stroke would probably have to be right up there as some of the biggest differentiators as just a couple of examples.

Off the top of my head, for somebody who isn't yet a top player I would probably most be working on knowledge, position play, and the amount of time/quality of effort you put into improving, because those three things make a lot more difference than most other things, and because you have a lot more control over them/ability to improve in them than most things.