Was pool better 50 years ago?

MitchAlsup said:
A top player could make a decent living {both Tourneys and gambling}

Likely (60%-80%) more fun to watch because the top players were not mechanical machines.
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I agree.

I am only 30, so I didn't exist back when pool was in it's "glory" days, but compared to what I read, watch, and hear from people, pool today is pretty vanilla, dare I say boring.


Todays pool is like watching a chess match. It's logical, rhythmic, slower paced, little emotions allowed on the playing field.

Yesteryears professional pool matches had drinking, smoking, cussing, outbursts from the audience, players getting into it with the audience, players arguing with refs, players throwing hail mary shots or shooting the cannon often. Players weren't afraid to lose in spectacular fashion, and it created some of the most spectacular wins we ever witnessed. Every bit of it was entertaining. They also all seemed to be pretty good buddies with eachother. Even if they weren't best friends, they seemed to joke and laugh during matches. Now pro's act like real bitches to eachother.
 
50 years ago I was watching some of the best road players in the country while living in Southern Illinois.

For me, yes it was better then than now.

That said, I "Think the play is better today" but have no real way to judge, since I don't travel to watch. Nor can I bring back those players and compare them to today's players.

Same question as who was better, Mosconi, Greenleaf, Efren, Lassiter, Crane, Balsis, Worst .....
 
I used to play pool as a kid and the first mistake or first advantage was usually game over. With so few balls on the table it was like russian roulette.

Snooker is more of a challenge.
 
Some may disagree with me, and I am not sure what came first - but super fast cushions and smaller pockets just demand stroke mechanics that are so pure (and robotic in look and consistency) to be able to pocket balls and control the CB.

The smaller the pockets become - the more perfectly repeatable stroke must follow at the highest levels.

Older Brunswick GCs had very close to 5 inch pockets - many were at 5 inches or even more as stock. You could be fast and loose and still be very competitive at higher levels- that ability does not translate to today’s pro tables for most players- so the European and most Asian training favors much stricter stroke mechanics.
 
As it turns out, I have been attending events for fifty years, so it is easy to compare.

It is much more entertaining today. Pool was not a truly global game fifty years ago, and, at least for me, part of the fascination of pro pool today is seeing great play from pros coming from all over the world.

Pool was a largely American game fifty years ago, but now the list of 800+ Fargo players includes players from each of Singapore, Albania, Iraq, Vietnam, Lithuania, Bosnia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Serbia, Spain, Poland, Taiwan, Scotland, Greece, Austria, Russia and Estonia. None of these were considered pool playing countries fifty years ago.

Pool is a truly global game now, and the rate at which great new players are emerging in every corner of the globe is breathtaking to behold.

Pro pool as a truly global sport blows away pool as a chiefly American sport, and it's getting better and better.
 
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The training today globally is totally different from what most beginners in America would be exposed to 50 years ago. Internet not withstanding, Training is sooo much better today for beginners around the world.

I took some pool lessons 35 years ago from a few top American pros- none of them discussed PSR, stroke mechanics, etc. - not even close to the levels that are taught today. Here was one top pro’s advice in 1990 to me regarding stroke technique “ let the stick do the work” - THAT was all he could offer as stroke training- for $50 an hour in 1990!
 
sjm said:
As it turns out, I have been attending events for fifty years, so it is easy to compare.

It is much more entertaining today. Pool was not a truly global game fifty years ago, and, at least for me, part of the fascination of pro pool today is seeing great play from pros coming from all over the world.

Pool was a largely American game fifty years ago, but now the list of 800+ Fargo players includes players from each of Singapore, Albania, Iraq, Vietnam, Lithuania, Bosnia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Serbia, Spain, Poland, Taiwan, Scotland, Greece, Austria, Russia and Estonia. None of these were considered pool playing countries fifty years ago.

Pool is a truly global game now, and the rate at which great new players are emerging in every corner of the globe is breathtaking to behold.

Pro pool as a truly global sport blows away pool as a chiefly American sport, and it's getting better and better.
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Well said Stu. Also today with the tap of our finger we can watch endless content of these top pros competing all over the world.
 
‘64 Valiant, girlfriend, HS, played in our basement and friends' basements - everything was better, lol.

Pool in general? Wasn't reported in the papers, no real pool hall culture where we lived, it wasn't relevant outside friends and family and not much more relevant when I got to college, other than some of us played a lot - nobody talked about "pool players", just didn't grow up with that kind of exposure.
 
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