What Do You Look For in a Pool Instructor

ShootingArts said:
If I knew somebody was going to stay with me a set amount of time like a tournament set I tried to crush them like a grape the first game or two. A few other tricks I am sure you are familiar with but they were all about intimidation. I liked to see that look in their eyes and on their face that they knew they had stepped off in it, even if it wasn't always true!

Kinda works with another maxim of mine that I often applied working, "If you can't confound them with wisdom, baffle'm with bullshit!"

Hu
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Amen! Put a quick W or two on your side and watch them sweat!

Never let em see ya sweat! Especially in competition. Show no self judgement on made or missed shots. Just keep your pace and go on to the next shot or to your seat. On a bad result just think "well, they run out this round or I do next." Go sit down and relax. If you get back finish the rack. Don't let them get a read on you, keeps them off balance and thinking the pressure is on them.

Negative talk is self sharking. Don't put blood in the water and wonder how you got devoured! ;)

The truth is, you may be playing terrible but if you give them no read it leaves them wondering wtf is going on. Did you just set a trap? They will think about stuff... like did he leave me a scratch shot? Sure enough if they imagine it, they do it.

It doesn't work on all players but many pool players imagine nightmares that don't even exist other than in between their ears. Having no "tell" or giving them nothing to read makes most people at least slightly uncomfortable. That uncomfortable feeling is ripe ground for their head to run wild.
 
The power of Stephen's Father's words showed in Ronnie's expression when Stephen told the, "Get Your Head Up!" story.
 
There is no mystery to hitting center ball. The best aiming point except an edge. Those that like to can split the top of the cue ball in their view as they drop the tip down. More common I believe, find the contact point of the cue ball on the cloth and come up from there.

I am not sweating being a hair off center. What if I am? The object ball almost always still pockets, I am within inches of where I planned to play shape.

Now if I move to one side or the other there are a few bad things to happen. First off, I am eyeballing my offset, no real landmark to aim at.
boogieman said:
Amen! Put a quick W or two on your side and watch them sweat!

Never let em see ya sweat! Especially in competition. Show no self judgement on made or missed shots. Just keep your pace and go on to the next shot or to your seat. On a bad result just think "well, they run out this round or I do next." Go sit down and relax. If you get back finish the rack. Don't let them get a read on you, keeps them off balance and thinking the pressure is on them.

Negative talk is self sharking. Don't put blood in the water and wonder how you got devoured! ;)

The truth is, you may be playing terrible but if you give them no read it leaves them wondering wtf is going on. Did you just set a trap? They will think about stuff... like did he leave me a scratch shot? Sure enough if they imagine it, they do it.

It doesn't work on all players but many pool players imagine nightmares that don't even exist other than in between their ears. Having no "tell" or giving them nothing to read makes most people at least slightly uncomfortable. That uncomfortable feeling is ripe ground for their head to run wild.
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One of the advantages of the old ten footers. If you were banking straight back you could move to your next shooting position while the balls are rolling. I rarely looked to see if I pocketed a ball on those long banks but you can be sure my ears were wide open!

No read most of the time was a given but when I made a really flashy shot I liked to look over at my opponent or a spectator and say in a flat calm voice, "It was dead." Sometimes it really was, just a shot most wouldn't see. Just plain fun to find ducks when others think they have played a good safety.

Hu
 
Patrick Johnson said:
"Been trying to miss that for months."

pj <- with a frown and head shake
chgo
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The frown, the headshake, maybe shaking the cue violently, house cue of course, maybe a bit of cursing or a yell depending on the place, all might go into selling the miss if I was on the stall at the time.

A sneaky old road player scouted me for three nights. After watching me play for about fourteen to sixteen hours total he decided it was too risky to play me and elected to talk instead. He told me he had traveled from coast to coast and I was the best he had seen. We were in a bar and I had been careful to never shoot more than bar room level shots so I have to assume he was talking about my theatrics! Not major things, just the kind of crap I learned from the people that were trying to convince others they were too good to miss a shot or lose a game or match.

Side trail here, race car theatrics after listening to all of the genuine whiners and complainers: I kept and maintained my stock car at a service station or shop I was half partners in. When customers asked how I was doing on the track I would tell them not too good, my driver wasn't much. "Why don't you get another driver?" "I can't, he has money in the car."

When I was at the track and people asked how the car was running: "Not too good, my mechanic isn't much." They would ask why I didn't get a better mechanic. "Can't, he has money in the car." Of course I was the sole owner of the car just aping the complaints I heard from others! It didn't seem fair that as owner, driver, and sometimes half of the pit crew I couldn't use the same whines as everyone else. Of course I never told most people that the complaints were purely tongue in cheek!

Hu
 
Patrick Johnson said:
If you put the same amount of spin on the CB your cue squirts the same amount. What matters for both (for the umpteenth time) is the direction the tip is traveling at contact, not the cue's angle or the path it took to get there.
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Patrick Johnson said:
Start making sense or stop pretending to be an "instructor".

pj
chgo
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As shown from above AGAIN in this diagram, a cue ball will not take the same initial path/direction striking through C-D as striking through C-E.

My students improve quickly, but you cannot shut up to listen and learn. You have the emotional responses of a five-year-old. No wonder you've been banned from AZ four times!
 

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SpiderWebComm said:
It's not going to matter what you post from now and forever. You are totally screwed due to the lemming tribe. When the head
lemming posts his decree, then all of the others follow whether it's jumping over a cliff into the sea or pecking away on a daily basis until you just go away or die. You won't be the first, that's for sure. Identification of the King and followers is pretty evident
as long as the thread stays alive, and you post. The first time started 26 years ago with Hal Houle and then those who followed. Hal, what he created, and those who followed will live forever. Well beyond the life of the lemming tribe. You won't be so lucky. Just sayin'.
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Yessir. I appreciate your prayers!

These people cannot enjoy their day without being rude to their peers--or their betters.
 
BilliardsAbout said:
As shown from above AGAIN in this diagram, a cue ball will not take the same initial path/direction striking through C-D as striking through C-E.
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Duh? Who has claimed otherwise? Start making sense.

Let’s take one easy question at a time (ignoring the obvious fact that it’s impossible to hit the CB on the C-E line without miscueing so badly the CB would barely move)…

What does any of this have to do with your ridiculous claim that sliding an angled cue is (1) physically possible and (2) if possible, would reduce squirt?

pj
chgo
 
WobblyStroke said:
Still...you can avoid the whole mess by just habitually (better word than always) playing a trace of side like Ronnie, Siegel, and Earl.
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You left CJ Wiley out of the mix who uses a touch of inside on his shots. He used to post a good bit on AZ but got sick of it and said bye-bye after the "all knowing ones" who reign supreme here kept telling him he was wrong and didn't understand the physics of it. Can you imagine some 14 handicap who has never played in a tournament of any magnitude playing in a PGA event and how he would piss his pants playing in front of 20,000 people? And then telling Jon Rahm his swing was wrong because of the left bowed wrist and short backswing? It happens here though. Hacks tell pros.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
You left CJ Wiley out of the mix who uses a touch of inside on his shots. He used to post a good bit on AZ but got sick of it and said bye-bye after the "all knowing ones" who reign supreme here kept telling him he was wrong and didn't understand the physics of it.
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So you agree with CJ that using a little inside increases the pocketing margin for error? That's what he claimed - even compared it with a hook/slice shot in golf.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
So you agree with CJ that using a little inside increases the pocketing margin for error? That's what he claimed - even compared it with a hook/slice shot in golf.

pj
chgo
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Those are good comparissons. Golfers are keenly aware that the game is a game of misses and deliberately playing a small fade or draw rather than a straight shot helps them control their miss by cutting out one side.

Similarly, the pool players (plus Ronni O) who advocate for a trace of spin are factoring in that it is very difficult to hit directly on the center axis of the ball so rather than be left guessing if they get a little bit of left or right on a shot, they make sure it is definitely one side or the other. I don't know of any reason for inside specifically helping increase the margin of error, but just knowing for sure which spin will be on the ball should help. That has been my experience as well.
 
WobblyStroke said:
Golfers are keenly aware that the game is a game of misses and deliberately playing a small fade or draw rather than a straight shot helps them control their miss by cutting out one side.
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That principle doesn't apply to pool (not even sure it applies to golf). Hitting the CB with a little more or less side than intended produces the same squirt error as hitting a little off center. "Cutting out one side" of errors isn't a thing in pool.

pj
chgo
 
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Patrick Johnson said:
So you agree with CJ that using a little inside increases the pocketing margin for error? That's what he claimed - even compared it with a hook/slice shot in golf.

pj
chgo
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Get in touch with him yourself and ask for clarification. You're the one who ran him off. There are a number of other areas I don't agree with you, and we've gone at it for over a decade. The way you play the game vs. the way I play the game is in direct opposition regarding styles, what we see, how we stroke, the way spin is applied, and the thought process for all of it.
 
Patrick Johnson said:
That principle doesn't apply to pool (not even sure it applies to golf). Hitting the CB with a little more or less side than intended produces the same squirt error as hitting a little off center. "Cutting out one side" of errors isn't a thing in pool.

pj
chgo
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Well you can put to bed any ideas of this not applying to golf as it is a common part of strategy and course management. Jack Nicklaus based his entire game around his fade and taking the left side of the course out of play for himself. The thinking being, if he hits it amazing, his miss will be a str8 hit which will be okay, and if his regular shot comes off then he will fade to the right. A powerful shot to have with hazards on the left side. Most guys play 'their shape' and adjust accordingly, but some like Phil Mickelson choose draws or fades based on what the highest percentage play is for that particular hole. Either way, whether they play one shape or both, they don't try to hit str8 which brings in a 2 way miss. Mo Norman was the only guy to ever master a straight ball flight. One guy.

As for pool, I'm sure Ronnie or Siegel or Earl could give you an explanation that is beyond me. But a bit of spin does seem to simplify the game a bit. Maybe it is that the balls behave a bit differently with a little left vs a little right. Is the difference between 1/8tip right spin and 1/4 right spin the same as the difference between 1/4 left and 1/4 right? Intuitively the answer seems like no. Definitely coming off cushions for positions I'd rather risk 1/8 tip extra running english or centerball vs an 1/8tip reverse. And that's assuming the cueing error is only 1/8 tip. Reverse reacts way differently off rails than running english, so I def rather have (let's try bigger errors) 1/2 a tip of running english instead of a 1/4 tip (or center with a miss on the other side) rather than going for centerball and ending up with either a 1/4 tip running or reverse some of the time.

Recently I posted a Ronnie O technique video where the guy showed Ronnie's interview denouncing trying to hit centerball and the guy tried to apply this. As a guy new to it, it took him a bit to adjust but he mentioned that it gave him less to think about and really simplified the adjustments he needed to make when aiming.

Sometimes stuff just works. When you have pros reaching a consensus on definitely hitting an open table shot with spin that amateurs would never spin on, I will side with the pros. They probably know more than SL6s. Their experience has taught them hitting it this way is better. I don't need to go out and learn the same lesson the hard way so just ape em. Works for me. If you like centerball all the time except when absolutely necessary, you do you.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
It's not going to matter what you post from now and forever. You are totally screwed due to the lemming tribe. When the head
lemming posts his decree, then all of the others follow whether it's jumping over a cliff into the sea or pecking away on a daily basis until you just go away or die. You won't be the first, that's for sure. Identification of the King and followers is pretty evident
as long as the thread stays alive, and you post. The first time started 26 years ago with Hal Houle and then those who followed. Hal, what he created, and those who followed will live forever. Well beyond the life of the lemming tribe. You won't be so lucky. Just sayin'.
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Who is the head lemming?

Lou Figueroa
 
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