If Joshua Filler and/or Fedor Gorst Were Born In The United States
- Thread starter Fore Rail
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Yes, absolutely. Same level. Genes trump any training environment by a mile. He would have been chasing down Archer and Corey as a kid. Then Shane as a teen.
If Germany was a 3rd world country, then maybe he would not have been if he was born in the US due to going to other interests.
Many players in poor countries start playing pool to make a living, not as a hobby, so they take it more seriously and earlier than in the US. Almost every good player in the US that is younger started playing because their parents/grandparents owned a pool hall and they got exposed that way.
In the US, it's a hobby. In Germany it would also be a hobby. I think he would still be the same player as he is now, give or take 30 Fargo points since his desire, skill and interest in pool did not come from a need but rather wanting to do it.
Many players in poor countries start playing pool to make a living, not as a hobby, so they take it more seriously and earlier than in the US. Almost every good player in the US that is younger started playing because their parents/grandparents owned a pool hall and they got exposed that way.
In the US, it's a hobby. In Germany it would also be a hobby. I think he would still be the same player as he is now, give or take 30 Fargo points since his desire, skill and interest in pool did not come from a need but rather wanting to do it.
I’m guessing he would be doing something else, and would be really good at it, making a lot more money
He is doing very well as it is in pool, I don't think he would be making more, especially at his age, doing most other things. Although many pool players make good salespeople, he could be in finance making the same amount or more.
Ignoring the subject of whether Filler would have ever been introduced to pool had he grown up in America ....
It's a similar question to whether Fedor would have been the superstar he has become if he grew up in the United States. He was a student of the legendary Johan Ruisjink at a very young age and trained in his academy in Russia. Josh, similarly, has had the same coach in Germany since he was a little boy (I've met his coach, but his name escapes me) and had the same kind of continuity in training as Fedor.
Personally, I think it's unlikely that either, had they grown up here, would have had the same kind of training here in America. The two best players in the world got there through extreme work ethic and superior training, not because of their natural ability alone.
It is painful for me to say this, but the top American instructors, considered as a group, have produced an entire generation of players that, collectively, have performed poorly in the most elite international competitions. It's not easy for me to believe that they could have brought Fedor and Josh to the level they achieved by training with legendary European coaches .... but it is possible.
It's a similar question to whether Fedor would have been the superstar he has become if he grew up in the United States. He was a student of the legendary Johan Ruisjink at a very young age and trained in his academy in Russia. Josh, similarly, has had the same coach in Germany since he was a little boy (I've met his coach, but his name escapes me) and had the same kind of continuity in training as Fedor.
Personally, I think it's unlikely that either, had they grown up here, would have had the same kind of training here in America. The two best players in the world got there through extreme work ethic and superior training, not because of their natural ability alone.
It is painful for me to say this, but the top American instructors, considered as a group, have produced an entire generation of players that, collectively, have performed poorly in the most elite international competitions. It's not easy for me to believe that they could have brought Fedor and Josh to the level they achieved by training with legendary European coaches .... but it is possible.
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
If my uncle had wheels he'd be a bicycle.
BlueRaider
Registered
Extremely unlikely. He's 27 and has made about $1.4 million from tournament victories alone since 2017. Now count his sponsorships and the other trappings of being a top 3 pool player in the world for nearly a decade. He's already made $150k and 2025 isn't even half over yet. Made over $300k in 2023 and 2024 in tournament winnings alone. That's top 1% for a 27-year-old guy (and maybe top 0.1%).
More answer-less questions. Seriously, who/how the fk would anyone know????????
Speculative fiction, alternate realities all food for thunk.
No one can know with 100% certainty. It is a speculative question that explores the possibilities of how life is affected by one’s surroundings.
Apparently Filler had a coach for a while when he was a young kid, then he had Andreas Sommer as a mentor and sponsor for traveling to youth tournaments. After Filler was left off the 2018 Mosconi Cup team, he contacted and began working with coach Michael Wahl.
Considering how the world might be different if one thing changed is called subjunctive history, and it has captured the imagination of generation after generation. Of course, speculation is required, but why should it be off-limits when it comes to pool?
He avoided the Phillippines like the plague.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
It is. Fact. Nothing can be gleaned from such questions except fan fiction.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Sometimes this forum gives conservative old man vibes, sometimes it gives teenage girl vibes. This thread is the latter
Since we are speculating... Cuesports are 99.9% coaching, both physically and psychologically, not exactly genetics... Otherwise I would be banging in tons for fun on a 12ft table just like my dad. I could play every day of the week (I did at one point), and never feel even close in genuine matchplay... I can place the balls in some ridiculous designed drill and get there sure, but 70s/80s and something in me can't push past it.
So I speculate if both played 9ball in their US universe, neither would be the talent they are in the current universe.
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