Yeah, I'm not Tiger...
Any videos of Dr Dave in an actual match?
- Thread starter L.S. Dennis
- Start date
Looks like its sorted out, well sota. I have an old fart analogy memory. My time studying at the White Spot Wednesday night 9 ball academy showed players with skills that just couldn't compete. 
The new guys came in with great skill but lacked the ability to kill.
It's a frame of mind for me. Bringing up the adrenaline without sacrifice the fine control is a challenge at times.
The fight or flight high.
The new guys came in with great skill but lacked the ability to kill. It's a frame of mind for me. Bringing up the adrenaline without sacrifice the fine control is a challenge at times.
The fight or flight high.
I mean no offense at all but I think an instructors tournament would probably do them more harm than good. I mean we all know that they can't play at the same level as the top 20 guys but for the more beginner players who see these great instructors as "heroes" it would probably ruin the image that they have of them when they see them miss balls left and right.
I think this is a good point and can separate instructors. What can an instructor do with YOU after seeing YOU by working with YOU directly. Playing ability is not the main thing as I think we mostly agree. A non world champion may see and fix things the world champ doesn’t. Hard to know without working with them for enough time to form an opinion. And making instructional/informative videos is different from coaching an individual on what they need (which changes with improvement etc…)
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I'm sorry but that is just wrong. There are no mid tier players who will beat SVB or Gorst through a bit of instruction. It's a patently ridiculous thought.
Could he improve a mid tier player to be better, sure. But there's no mid tier player going to take out the GOATs by learning about physics and drills.
Not a chance.
The golf influencers do that kind of stuff all the time. It’s pretty entertaining.I can envision an instructors tournament. Call it the Briesath Cup. Invitations only.
Dr. Dave, Fran, Billiards about and Ron the Pool Student vs. Sharivari, Barry Stark, Barton Snooker and the Pool School guy.Bob can officiate. Open for suggestions.
Kidding of course, but this idea isn’t totally ridiculous I suppose.
I don't care if he has a fargo, any world titles or has ever been to an actual pool tourney. He provides a nice mix of pool videos and I don't recall watching anyone else's pool videos that remotely comes close to the wide range of content he provides. I don't agree with some of the things he says but clicks = $$$ which is what this thread is delivering so I doubt he cares. He's a CONTENT CREATOR which means he's after clicks, not armchair champion's approval!!
I am not judging or critiquing Dr. Dave’s teaching here (I’ve never had a lesson from him or seen him teach in person- I have read his posts and seen videos like most everyone here) or any other instructor… Here is where I think things can break down between good or great instructors and where playing ability AND teaching experience come in. Discussion of Tiger fits in here too and the differences between a Butch Harmon and others (Sean Foley maybe???) teaching excellent to great players comes in. When you say mid tier do you mean Hennessy, Eberle etc… or a 650. Having a 750-800 come to a teacher to see if he can run in the top 20 in the world is a different deal than working with a 600 FR. If the instructor has a cookie cutter approach he could make the player worse. Can the instructor see subtle technique issues and then have the wisdom and experience to separate out what needs to change and what might be better left alone. Then can he see areas of the player’s game that could improve and be able to teach well enough to fix it. Here is where playing ability can come in, but also teaching ability and experience. Needless to say, there aren’t as many teachers who a very good player should go to as compared to lower level players. Also depends some on what the player is looking for. IMO. And of course im not in the group trying to get over the hump to beat SVB or Gorst.
L.S. Dennis
Well-known member
This is what this thread was supposed to be about, it's now gone WAY off the rails from its original intent.
No instructor on the planet is taking any level player to Shane level. Where do people come up with this crap?
For proof, look at the USA Mosconi cup team. Johan Ruijsink, who many say is the top of the heap of instructors, was guiding the whole team for 3 years. None of them have surpassed Shane, and they were all top pros to begin with, not "mid-level".
For proof, look at the USA Mosconi cup team. Johan Ruijsink, who many say is the top of the heap of instructors, was guiding the whole team for 3 years. None of them have surpassed Shane, and they were all top pros to begin with, not "mid-level".
I watch pool/snooker games online, the best players in the world. I try to learn from them, they are in front of the camera, i turn on my powers of observation and try to see how they play.
Why would i need to see instructors battling themselves, if i can watch their best pupils?
Dr Dave can play some. I thought he was more C speed 15 years ago. He convinced me otherwise when he participated in the AZB Ghost Challenge for two years in 2015 and 2017 and put up some very high scores. He won 7-1 on the 9 ball ghost on an 8' table, and 7-2 on the 10 ball ghost on a 9' table. These were his best scores, but you have to be able to play a bit to do this. I'd put his FargoRate at about 630 based on these scores and watching him play. Certainly not pro level, but a good local speed.
Yes, it would.
Dave is definitely a solid player. When I asked him in a thread a few years ago what his estimated fargo rate would be- he said around what you said, maybe a bit higher.
On a side note, I wonder what the pocket size is for those tables- seem to play quite generous.
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Over the years -- going back to Mosconi -- I have seen professional players spout all kinds of nonsense about how to play pool and what's going on when you hit a CB with a cue tip to hit an OB.
And that's why you need a Bob Jewett and a Dr. Dave.
Going back decades, Bob has given us countless *facts* about the physics and science of pool balls, online and in his BD articles. And, more recently, Dr. Dave has built an invaluable video resource that players, and aspiring players, can use to shave *years* off their learning curve. It's only the old dogs who remember the days when pool amounted to a dark art and having to learn through trial and error; the few tidbits a higher level player might share; and a few modest paperback books that had been published. IMO, there is not one single player on this board who has not learned something from these two gentlemen, or could learn something of value, to improve their game.
Not a one.
Lou Figueroa
And that's why you need a Bob Jewett and a Dr. Dave.
Going back decades, Bob has given us countless *facts* about the physics and science of pool balls, online and in his BD articles. And, more recently, Dr. Dave has built an invaluable video resource that players, and aspiring players, can use to shave *years* off their learning curve. It's only the old dogs who remember the days when pool amounted to a dark art and having to learn through trial and error; the few tidbits a higher level player might share; and a few modest paperback books that had been published. IMO, there is not one single player on this board who has not learned something from these two gentlemen, or could learn something of value, to improve their game.
Not a one.
Lou Figueroa
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Getting older one begins to recognize the many things he missed. Oddly, most of the things I "missed" did not exist -- pool videos, folks like Bob and Dr. Dave, and a thing called the World Wide Web. (OTOH. I also missed out on real, significant, access to real, metropolitan, pool halls, and their various inhabitants, which existed, just not where I was.)
I can only guess where my game would be if I had access to such things.
I first began learning the game of pool during the "dark arts" phase. 99% of what I learned was at the rail, observing, and analyzing. Once I displayed some capacity for the game, the old cats (we did have a few) would drop me an occasional bone -- along the lines of "keep your cue level with the table" and "stay on the table and quit jumping up" -- but there was no extensive instruction.
When I went off to college, beginning my formal education in earnest, I determined that what was good for other disciplines should also be appropriate for pool. So I began a formal foray into the University Library's holdings on pool, snooker, and billiards. Being a relatively small university (former teacher's college) in south Mississippi, the sources were, well, lacking. But I read the stuff I found, tried it, and some of it helped -- at least it broadened my thinking. Just imagine.
I can only guess where my game would be if I had access to such things.
I first began learning the game of pool during the "dark arts" phase. 99% of what I learned was at the rail, observing, and analyzing. Once I displayed some capacity for the game, the old cats (we did have a few) would drop me an occasional bone -- along the lines of "keep your cue level with the table" and "stay on the table and quit jumping up" -- but there was no extensive instruction.
When I went off to college, beginning my formal education in earnest, I determined that what was good for other disciplines should also be appropriate for pool. So I began a formal foray into the University Library's holdings on pool, snooker, and billiards. Being a relatively small university (former teacher's college) in south Mississippi, the sources were, well, lacking. But I read the stuff I found, tried it, and some of it helped -- at least it broadened my thinking. Just imagine.
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Do you think any player would improve that much without knowing at least some of what an instructor teaches?
pj
chgo
P.S. I met and played with Dave several years ago in Colorado. He can play - and he knows (and can teach) his stuff.
I don’t know why anybody would care about watching me play; but if you really want to, I have lots of examples available in the “Example Videos of Dr. Dave Playing Pool” section near the bottom of the page here: