but is it really still the case that people "keep secrets" of the trade today? sounds really antiquated. that genie's out of the bottle
Another Euro Phenom...........
- Thread starter garczar
- Start date
There's a lot of info out there, but somehow a lot of players remain blissfully unaware. Just check out the pool forums on Facebook. For those players. ideas like BHE are amazing secrets.
so they ventured out to facebook but youtube remains a mystery?
stewie
Active member
well, that's up to each and every one of them.
Rather imagine a world where there is a tiered playing system, where, once you rise high enough, you get access to additional coaches and support? All those government incentives everyone on here from the US is jealous of are not paying anybody a living, they support you to go out and compete on higher levels.
my point was, why not share knowledge? especially in this time and age. if you play in the same room there should be a sense of community, especially if you aspire higher than just playing your local competition over and over
Not All of the Genie has escaped. I would venture to bet Know matter how many, 'How to do this' vids come out, Pros have to keep some tidbits close to the vest. Perhaps in the racking/breaking areas.
That Old saying still applies, "I taught him everything He knows, Not everything I know!"
In the mid 1970’s, in an excellently managed pool room, I entered what amounted to a 14.1 league. Everyone would play one other opponent each week for twelve weeks at a scheduled time. When that “league“ ended—after innumerable phone calls to reschedule matches and forgive forfeits—I took a vow that I would never again play in anything similar.
I have kept this vow.
I have kept this vow.
Taking up Jay Helfert’s post #55 above, I was at a pool tournament twenty years ago and made the following observation to a group of friends:
”Friends,“ I said, “I have just had a thought. Suppose real money ever came into pool. I mean money like snooker in the United Kingdom. I have had the cold feeling run up my spine that then the people who would be at the top of pool would be names we’ve never heard of.”
I never considered that the replacements would be from European nations and Asian archipelagos. But I was seeing darkly through a clouded glass.
”Friends,“ I said, “I have just had a thought. Suppose real money ever came into pool. I mean money like snooker in the United Kingdom. I have had the cold feeling run up my spine that then the people who would be at the top of pool would be names we’ve never heard of.”
I never considered that the replacements would be from European nations and Asian archipelagos. But I was seeing darkly through a clouded glass.
I can see this for sure.
Ever set up a back cut ball where you are trying to use some follow? You know it’s going to hold the tangent line a little longer, so you use a blocker ball to dial in where you start moving forward; maybe cheat the pocket a little bit.
Same distance between the balls and same cheat, but you will hit a different point on the first rail if you’re playing on a bigger table, right? That would throw you off because now you have to use a little different side to come into the expected spot on the next rail.
Lack of familiarity.
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If 95% or more of the country plays Mickey Mouse pool for patches....where they play a short set of handicapped bullshit rules pool on league night and think a APA 7 is good enough to go pro...
You get what we have which a nothing...
I play big table games, giving weight or getting in tough...even behind because if I never tested myself...I'd never know what I'm capable of.
You need game, bankroll.and heart....without all 3 the pool world eats you alive.
So stay on the porch unless you can run with the big dogs
If they use bots to boost social media scores, then you use bots to boost social media scores.
Cyber warfare is brand new.
If they steal usernames and passwords for later operations, then you do the same.
If pool had cyber operations, it would secure a stream for gambling on a protected financial network.
European players are amazing, its unfortunate China and Asia fell off due to COVID.
Cyber warfare is brand new.
If they steal usernames and passwords for later operations, then you do the same.
If pool had cyber operations, it would secure a stream for gambling on a protected financial network.
European players are amazing, its unfortunate China and Asia fell off due to COVID.
Kowing something....is one thing
Practicing it...until you can do it 95% of the time or more is quite another.
You ever learn permutations?
Percentage of times you run out an open table of 9 ball after throwing 1 ball of the break if every shot if every shot is made 95%
95 % x 95% x 95% x 95% x 95 %×.
95% × 95% x .95%=
66.34%
Now at 90% for every shot = 43.05%
Big difference....
Now if you throw in a few 50% shots....or worse it all falls apart.
You gotta be able to get out under pressure....only way is to train under similar pressure
Only guys I ever see get really good at pool got tired of losing.
I was one of them.
Get a table at home and practice minimum 20 hours a week for 2 years....read or watch everything you can find about pool ...put yourself in situations that push you.
I can tell people how to do something....they still need the drive to learn it.
People might share bits and pieces, if you donate thru cheap sets you might get a few more tips, but generally no, people want to keep you easy to beat so you'll gamble and lose, unless you become good friends with someone then it's different story, even then some of the good friends I've had in the pool room have told me "if anyone asks we play for x or the lesson cost you x" because they didnt want word to get around that they were helping for free and potentially ruin their action.
I've visited and played in pool rooms in probably 30 states in the US. And I ran weekly tournaments for a decade with Sunday handicapped on 7-foot tables and Monday open and on 9-foot tables.
The table size in those tournaments wasn't a big deal. It was for the most part the same players, and they didn't somehow become less skilled or less serious when they played on 7-foot tables.
And environments where stronger players are more than happy to help teach and mentor weaker players are far more common than you would think reading this thread. Sure you can find players who view everybody else as some sort of opportunity to be managed. But it is also common to find higher-rated players generous with their time and knowledge with weaker/newer players who are truly interested.
I have watched at least 500 hours of pool instruction in the last two years since I got back into the game. What I have found is that there is an unlimited supply of great information on pool, most of it free, to anyone who looks for it.
Per Bob Jewett's point, no one needs to get sporadic tips from players at the local bar anymore. It's all out there.
And yet .... lots of good players at my pool hall are unware of it or don't know where to look.
I find criticism of barboxes misplaced. I grew up on an 8-foot table, own a 7-foot table (all I can fit for now) and play regularly on a 9-ft GC at a local pool hall.
I can practice everything on my 7-footer. Everything. I'd much rather have it than not.
Does it take awhile to translate to the 9-footer? Of course. But I am making the transition pretty well. The key is speed control, but I find that if you practice precise pattern play on a 7-footer, it greatly aids the transition to a 9-footer.
If all of a sudden every pool table in America was a 9-footer, the American Josh Filler would not be springing up overnight.
Per Bob Jewett's point, no one needs to get sporadic tips from players at the local bar anymore. It's all out there.
And yet .... lots of good players at my pool hall are unware of it or don't know where to look.
I find criticism of barboxes misplaced. I grew up on an 8-foot table, own a 7-foot table (all I can fit for now) and play regularly on a 9-ft GC at a local pool hall.
I can practice everything on my 7-footer. Everything. I'd much rather have it than not.
Does it take awhile to translate to the 9-footer? Of course. But I am making the transition pretty well. The key is speed control, but I find that if you practice precise pattern play on a 7-footer, it greatly aids the transition to a 9-footer.
If all of a sudden every pool table in America was a 9-footer, the American Josh Filler would not be springing up overnight.
So why are there seemingly fewer great American players? Lots of reasons, some of which were touched on already. And some of which is probably still a big mystery.
A few things I'd throw out. First, it's simply impossible for a young American to become really good without owning a table. Bars won't let you in, or are too expensive, or there's not enough. We all know this.
Which brings us to who owns tables at home these days. Most new tables are being bought by people with ample financial means to both acquire or table or have enough house to fit it. Just look at Houzz to see what I mean.
That's not to say Americans of lesser means can't own a table. Heck, American houses are bigger than anywhere in the world. Lots of houses can fit a table in the basement. And there's tons of cheap used tables available for sale.
In any case, kids in upper-middle income families that own tables are not going to be encouraged by their parents to pursue pool as a profession. Not with the limited amount of money and life on the road. They are going to go to college and work as professionals.
That's probably even true for kids from families of lesser means.
Pool isn't on mainstream TV, what's more, so there is very little exposure in popular culture. And there is no developmental system in the U.S. like there is in Europe. Kind of like European soccer-player development vs. U.S. (non)development until very recently.
Americans also have a lot more competition for their entertainment than in Europe, where soccer is really on the only big national sport. Ditto for Asia.
What if anything could change this situation in the U.S.? big money, as some have noted. Getting back on mainstream TV is another thing.
But there's just little incentive for most Americans who are passionate about pool to pursue it. Not sure that is going to change.
A few things I'd throw out. First, it's simply impossible for a young American to become really good without owning a table. Bars won't let you in, or are too expensive, or there's not enough. We all know this.
Which brings us to who owns tables at home these days. Most new tables are being bought by people with ample financial means to both acquire or table or have enough house to fit it. Just look at Houzz to see what I mean.
That's not to say Americans of lesser means can't own a table. Heck, American houses are bigger than anywhere in the world. Lots of houses can fit a table in the basement. And there's tons of cheap used tables available for sale.
In any case, kids in upper-middle income families that own tables are not going to be encouraged by their parents to pursue pool as a profession. Not with the limited amount of money and life on the road. They are going to go to college and work as professionals.
That's probably even true for kids from families of lesser means.
Pool isn't on mainstream TV, what's more, so there is very little exposure in popular culture. And there is no developmental system in the U.S. like there is in Europe. Kind of like European soccer-player development vs. U.S. (non)development until very recently.
Americans also have a lot more competition for their entertainment than in Europe, where soccer is really on the only big national sport. Ditto for Asia.
What if anything could change this situation in the U.S.? big money, as some have noted. Getting back on mainstream TV is another thing.
But there's just little incentive for most Americans who are passionate about pool to pursue it. Not sure that is going to change.