Umm no. Good rotation players always play good 8 ball but it doesn’t work the other way a round. You’ll see the guys who play nothing but 8 ball show up for a 9 ball tournament and be out quick. But the good rotation players show up in the 8 ball tournaments and it’s business as usual. They are still in the money or winning it. You can be average at position and if you’re good at seeing the pattern you’ll play good 8 ball. . 8 ball is about patience and finding the path of least resistance. I know from personal experience. I was that guy. I had to really put time into position play and understanding the rails that I didn’t need to be a good 8 ball player when I started playing nothing but 9 ball. I wasn’t any where near as good as I thought I was . Look at apa lol all 9s in 9 ball are 7s in 8 ball But it’s not even close to being the other way around.
The problem to me is 8 ball is suited for bar box pool. Balls cluster up and then the chess that is 8 ball comes into play more. On A 9 foot table everything is pretty much open and for The best in the world its just child play to make the balls in any order they want. maybe you could make it a little harder by the table not being open to choice after the break

but these rules make it a snooze fest.