Among them are Ruijsink, Lely and Eckert, but there are many others. As you note, they do not typically travel with their students. Then again, Lely was present when his student Pijus Labutis won the 10ball at Derby City this January.
SJM at 2025 Mosconi Cup: Way too Late Thoughts
- Thread starter sjm
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middleofnowhere
Registered
Good instructors are few and far between. Any decent player can instruct a beginner and actually bring them pretty far. Training in advance player is a whole different thing. Those instructors really would be few and far between.
The ability to play also does not make a good instructor. I used to have a world champion player came in my poolroom every day and gave lessons off and on and I'm going to tell you they were terrible. In fact I used to lose customers cuz ultimately he'd end up borrowing money from them and trying to pay it off with lessons.
lol....
I am probably generalizing a lot, but all over Europe, if there are pool rooms, it is highly likely to find a 12’ snooker table or more. The reason is that Eurosport has broadcasted snooker world pro tour for decades and there are a lot or recretional players who play snooker exclusively. It is common that a young player if showing cuesport interest and skills will usually choose between snooker and pool, but never quits the other. I know a lot of pro level pool players who have played several snooker tournaments and find practicing snooker a refreshing change into practice routire. And eventually will also find developing more snooker style mechanics effective on a pool table as well. For instance Mika Immonen started his career in snooker.
Oh and there are hardly any other size than 12’ snooker tables around. And 99% of players are playing, learning and practicing snooker on it. I have hardly ever seen any other game played, no ”golf” etc. The snooker culture is far far away from the gambling culture. The cornerstone of snooker culture is highly structured practice programs, lots of solo practice like endless lineup variations etc. that truly develop your game. There is so little money in amateur level snooker the players really love the game and not the money that they could win one day. Edit: I also think that the same game developing mentality is carried over to the pool table. I have hardly seen American players posting videos of doing drills over and over again.
to be great at pool you need to have the abilities of an athlete. and those that do that have it, the top exceptional ones go on to sports where there is money to be made and able to get famous.
in europe big money is not available as easily in sports as the u.s., so pool money gets closer to sports money and is easier to make.
thus more elite top athletes may gravitate to pool where in the u.s. it is mostly a dead end economically.
so pool is not profitable in our country for someone that can play other sports.
in europe big money is not available as easily in sports as the u.s., so pool money gets closer to sports money and is easier to make.
thus more elite top athletes may gravitate to pool where in the u.s. it is mostly a dead end economically.
so pool is not profitable in our country for someone that can play other sports.
DaWizard
Well-known member
Oh cmon 'Murica.. Imagine you again lost the Superbowl against a couple Germans, Scottish and Hungarians... for the 4th or 5th time in a row!
Would there not be any rich football fan that would be able to set aside some spare change to set up a training site to nurture talents to regain pride in one of the national sports? At worst you lose some money, at best you are the godfather of the Renaissance of a national sport!
I guess there's not enough money or not enough care.
Would there not be any rich football fan that would be able to set aside some spare change to set up a training site to nurture talents to regain pride in one of the national sports? At worst you lose some money, at best you are the godfather of the Renaissance of a national sport!
I guess there's not enough money or not enough care.
None of that really makes a lot of sense. We aren’t losing top pool players to the NFL or the NBA, lol. What promising other worldly young pool geniuses have turned in their cues for lucrative pro careers in anything? What famous pool players of the good old days were high level athletes?
You can’t replicate the developmental programs that exist in Europe and elsewhere. Pool is not part of what America wants for its young people. So we have to go forward with what we have. SJM mentioned bringing in our youth. Absolutely and I think a coach that stays with the team for the long haul. Switching up coaching so frequently doesn’t work. We just can’t go at this a few weeks before the Cup and expect players to have their “team game” ready to go. Adding Canada and Latin America to the cup would help.
I think that in Poland, they start pool in school at about 11 to 12 years old. At the start of high school, the top youngsters are offered special training. I've heard that it is about 700 per year.
In the US, the vast majority of teens have no exposure to the game, and if they do, it's in a family room with marginal equipment and no training. The exceptions seem to be when the parents are interested in the game and really encourage participation. If the kid doesn't run racks occasionally by the time they're 15, they are unlikely to become a champion.
Judging from the US Junior Nationals, the comparable number for that annual group of 700 Polish kids starting serious training is less than 70.
On the other hand, it seems that Poland has very little help for its pro players. The emphasis is on youth sports.
there was less things to do to occupy yourself then no cell phones or computers. and if you could play pool you could easily make money,
and parents give give the kids much or any.
there is no incentive nowadays as few gamble at it. other than self satisfaction there needs to be a reward for getting good.
and parents give give the kids much or any.
there is no incentive nowadays as few gamble at it. other than self satisfaction there needs to be a reward for getting good.
i think probably generalizing. in some countries on the continent you're more likely to find a carom table than a snooker table, especially outside of a capital / metropolis city. even discounting the french speaking countries, cue sport history in most countries comes from carom games, like carolina and kägel (sweden), nine pin (italy), danish kegle, etc. snooker has come late to many countries. i would venture to guess that in the career of 90% of current european pros, playing snooker has played almost no part at all.
but snooker is an excellent complement to pool. if you're stroke/aim is off, go torture yourself on the snooker table for a couple of weeks. i was lucky to live close to a "snooker immigrant" run pool room for many years
One of my favorite Matchroom WNT events was in Kielce, Poland. There not only is a strong pro pool contingent there with the Polish Federation, but the youth are enthusiastic about pool as well. This photo speaks volumes.
But getting started in pool would be at a young age - that's really nothing to do with wanting to be a pro athlete at age 10 or 11 or 12 and so forth. These high level athletes aren't necessarily even identified when they'd be picking up a pool cue, which is more likely going to be at their own home, or a friend's table just because of where the opportunities are. But they are playing pee wee football, basketball, Little League and of course those that go on to lucrative careers in any are the fewest of the few. Pool is more recreational hobby than sport in terms of perception for most of America. "All were high level athletes"? No. High level skills for what it takes to play pool at the highest level? Sure. In general, high level athletes and what all that is these days or even those days? Not even close - Mosconi? Varner? Earl? Shane? Thorpe? Hall? Mizerak? No.
Yes, excellent point. These rookies earned their way on to Team Europe, so this infusion of new talent happened perforce.