To Be a Better Player
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
Took me a couple of months to find the juggling 'Stroke'.
Wish a had a dollar for every ball I dropped!!
I'ma slow learner.
School of hard knocks right there!!
First encounter with sudafed I managed to grind out a few bucks playing 5 dollar 9 ball.. Head cold meets opportunity. Definitely an unnatural state. Pseudoephedrine is banned substance at the Olympics too.Sounds more like an Altered State.
Well "Back in The Day", wink8. I encountered a few players that were using chemicals. Since I had experienced experiments, I knew that I could outlast them. Well that was my goal. As they could make any shot on the table. It was difficult to put handcuffs on 'em. 
The fact that they needed the helper, just gave me strength er uh confidence that I was stronger in the long run. My love for baseball was forgone my senior year in high-school. I ran track that year as I had received a Congress ional appointment to USAFA. 7250 feet above sea level. My mile best time flirted with the 5 minutes marker. Never broke it until I faced a rabbit that ran a mid 4 minute mile. I only got second but a personal goal was accomplished with a 4:58.
So yeah my favorite was $50 sets that we broke even but his trips to the nose candy probably cost him a hundred. Oh well.
I knew when to walk away that night as the get my money back or stuck a hundred came down to hill/hill.
Yhat was in the days when I carried a full clip of a thousand. Just in case a fellow wanted to get frisky. As a bar box banger I could read the game quickly.
My best tournament pay was 900 for 2 days.
My best bar box score was 1100 to 1250.
3 hours, .maybe.....
3 ball for 50.
The fact that they needed the helper, just gave me strength er uh confidence that I was stronger in the long run. My love for baseball was forgone my senior year in high-school. I ran track that year as I had received a Congress ional appointment to USAFA. 7250 feet above sea level. My mile best time flirted with the 5 minutes marker. Never broke it until I faced a rabbit that ran a mid 4 minute mile. I only got second but a personal goal was accomplished with a 4:58.
So yeah my favorite was $50 sets that we broke even but his trips to the nose candy probably cost him a hundred.
Oh well.I knew when to walk away that night as the get my money back or stuck a hundred came down to hill/hill.
Yhat was in the days when I carried a full clip of a thousand. Just in case a fellow wanted to get frisky. As a bar box banger I could read the game quickly.
My best tournament pay was 900 for 2 days.
My best bar box score was 1100 to 1250.
3 hours, .maybe.....
3 ball for 50.
At USAFA I ran a 2 mile at 10,000 feet at least. I finished 24th out of 50 of out America's finest.
A few times sandbaggers tried to persuade me to join in. I might play games gambling when I figured everybody was but as a competitor I wanted to run with the big dogs. Not anything to brag about to be the best of the little yippers.
I hadn't considered myself one of the elite, just close to them. Then a young man came up to me one day and asked, "How do you guys do it?" I started to say I wasn't one of the elite but then I realized I was in the upper edge of the elite and just answered the question.
Some people interest me. They have elite skills but lack something mental or emotional to win. They come in third through tenth like clockwork but something keeps them from winning. I talked to a man that had been competing about forty weeks a year, had been competing like this for eighteen years. He had never won a match! I tried to clarify, not a major match? No, from weekly events to the world stage, he had never won a match! Like people playing up to their expectations, some do whatever it takes to play down to their expectations!
As a general rule I never speak negatively about myself. At worst I say something neutral like Fat Albert before cosby was disgraced. "Hey, hey, hey, I am here to play!" If there is even a remote chance I say "I'm in it to win it." The path to be a better player starts between the ears, and it starts with determination.
Hu
You are right, about 1 thing, as long as you keep making balls, nothing else matters. The problem is that, APA is the only tournament and league that counts how many balls you made, the more the better. The rest cares about the end result, aka the money ball.
Name 1 tournament AJ Manas has won that 5 people can remember, none, he ain't gonna win any tournaments anytime soon until he slows down and surveys more.
Everyone ain't Tony Drago in late 90s early 2000s.
Even Josh Filler has slowed down and he surveys.
Everyone has 30 seconds per shot, make it counts.
Your "high" feeling when you feel you can't miss, only happens once in every other month.
Your fundamentals are there with you at all time.
My families are always there for me. Hoses and Batches come and gone.
I stick with what I have with me all the time
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
I refuse to watch a live match. I need the arrow button to click forward 5 seconds as many times as needed. Even then it get's tedious.
Match room has in my opinion recognized the problem and moved toward solving it in a huge leap with the shootout format. These matches are watchable live as you understand how long they will take to crown a winner. Kudos to them!
You are right, about 1 thing, as long as you keep making balls, nothing else matters. The problem is that, APA is the only tournament and league that counts how many balls you made, the more the better. The rest cares about the end result, aka the money ball.
Name 1 tournament AJ Manas has won that 5 people can remember, none, he ain't gonna win any tournaments anytime soon until he slows down and surveys more.
Everyone ain't Tony Drago in late 90s early 2000s.
Even Josh Filler has slowed down and he surveys.
Everyone has 30 seconds per shot, make it counts.
Your "high" feeling when you feel you can't miss, only happens once in every other month.
Your fundamentals are there with you at all time.
My families are always there for me. Hoses and Batches come and gone.
I stick with what I have with me all the time
Straight pool and one pocket both count balls, no money ball except whichever you shoot last. Not sure what you mean by your last line, we all work with what we have but you seem like you might be ignoring your best days. There are a handful of times in your life, maybe more for some, when magic is in the air. Fire at five rails and it falls like a hanger. I enjoy those days to the fullest.
The local bar had an elite few players, a group I hadn't been admitted to at fifteen. Then I had a shot that involved a 3/4 table kick into a carom with the money ball about a foot from the side pocket angling into it. The man I was playing was a recently retired pro boxer so I went over to where he was talking and explained the shot, verifying it was legal. We were friendly but not friends and I wasn't looking for a fight with William over a few dollars! Never forgot that shot, it was the one I made my bones with. After that I was accepted as a player, not a banger. I have learned if I see a shot falling before I shoot it almost always will. If I can't visualize it falling I am probably whistling Dixie!
Hu
I feel you, had those moments before.
I can visualize running out the table 100% of time, always, but only can execute it maybe 1 or 2 every 100 (9-ball) games. Guess my Fargo!
David Rhoades was a top player in the Portland area. His coaching to me was regarding The Big Eye.
Imagine the shot.
Someone some day will develop a Pill that can turn Banger into Efren Reyes in 7 days of use, they will make a killing selling magic pill, then ride off into the sunset never to be seen again. But sucker will believe the bull, and buy the story, and the pills.
AJ is a better player now than Drago ever was. I think only 19 years old, way ahead of the pro curve already. Give him a little time over here and see what happens. By the way, Johnny Archer never won one until age 21. Finished second in a few.You are right, about 1 thing, as long as you keep making balls, nothing else matters. The problem is that, APA is the only tournament and league that counts how many balls you made, the more the better. The rest cares about the end result, aka the money ball.
Name 1 tournament AJ Manas has won that 5 people can remember, none, he ain't gonna win any tournaments anytime soon until he slows down and surveys more.
Everyone ain't Tony Drago in late 90s early 2000s.
Even Josh Filler has slowed down and he surveys.
Everyone has 30 seconds per shot, make it counts.
Your "high" feeling when you feel you can't miss, only happens once in every other month.
Your fundamentals are there with you at all time.
My families are always there for me. Hoses and Batches come and gone.
I stick with what I have with me all the time
I disagree. When you get in stroke you can stay in stroke for a long time as long as you don't take any extended breaks from playing.
Most bangers need to be tranqued under medical supervision. Once they get the epiphany that pool is a delicate process, they'll be fine.
1. We'll see what happens as AJ ages, but saying AJ is a better player now than Drago ever was is absolutely horse crap. I said what I said. If this young man is not slowing down and surveying, he ain't win a SHIT. We're talking about playing fast and good, but now you want to talk about who is “better.” I'll tell you who is better, you were commentating a lot of Tony's matches, how could you forgot so quickly!!!
- At 19, Tony was a professional SNOOKER player, making centuries (100+ point breaks), FAST. One example you can find on YouTube is his century in about 3 minutes 33 seconds in 1996 at a pro event, against a monster. Dude isn't called the Tornado for no shit. He was doing that shit at the professional level. He reached #10 in the world, SNOOKER, with all other monsters in the field at that time. Ask AJ to plat on Chinese table see how it goes, don't even bother the snooker table, in 3 mins maybe AJ can do a "facebook short" yeah.
- He switched to pool and won major international events. He made the World Pool Championship semifinal in 2003, then won the World Pool Masters that same year. He won the Mosconi Cup twice, and in 2007 he went undefeated in his singles matches and was named MVP. Then in 2008 he won the Predator International 10-Ball Championship. He was picked to play in the Mosconi Cup multiple times because he was one of the BEST. He won the Mosconi Cup and was MVP.
- This mofo looks like he lost 100 lbs few years ago and still run racks of 9-ball under 60 second, at almost 70.
AJ accomplishments so far:
- Young as hell
- A lot of talent
- Reyes Cup (a marketing event, he got pick for social media, not because he was a better player, nobody watching this event but 7 people, in which 5 from the Philippines, 1 from Vietnam and 1 from USA (you) MVP.
- Thousands of Facebook followers
2. “When you get in stroke you can stay in stroke for a long time as long as you don't take any extended breaks from playing.”
What the hell does **“in stroke”** even mean in this argument? You can be in stroke today and get your ass beat tomorrow.
You can be hitting them perfect for three months and then run into somebody who plays better than you that day. That's pool.
And if we're talking about what makes a great player, fundamentals don't disappear just because somebody is “in stroke.”
Name ONE major-event winner who didn't have good fundamentals? I'll wait.
Now name me ONE major-event winner whose entire game was based on staying in stroke, playing fast, never slowing down, never thinking too long, and just running on feel all the time. BIG FUCKING ZERO. Well, maybe Tony Drago back in 2003 huh!!!!!
I'm young and I like to live FAST but hell I'm feeling salty, you can express your opinion and so do I
Sell all your pool related stuff and stay out Jay haha, j/k have a great one!
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Like you I stand by my opinion. Take a look at AJ's last two matches in Floriida. Not only is he a great shotmaker, his cue ball control is Efrenesque. I daresay no one moves the cue ball any better. I repeat NO ONE! I wouldn't be surprised if he wins this tournament. Smoke that son!1. We'll see what happens as AJ ages, but saying AJ is a better player now than Drago ever was is absolutely horse crap. I said what I said. If this young man is not slowing down and surveying, he ain't win a SHIT. We're talking about playing fast and good, but now you want to talk about who is “better.” I'll tell you who is better, you were commentating a lot of Tony's matches, how could you forgot so quickly!!!
AJ is 19 and definitely can play. I'm not taking that away from him. But saying he is already better than Tony Drago EVER was? Based on what?
- At 19, Tony was a professional SNOOKER player, making centuries (100+ point breaks), FAST. One example you can find on YouTube is his century in about 3 minutes 33 seconds in 1996 at a pro event, against a monster. Dude isn't called the Tornado for no shit. He was doing that shit at the professional level. He reached #10 in the world, SNOOKER, with all other monsters in the field at that time. Ask AJ to plat on Chinese table see how it goes, don't even bother the snooker table, in 3 mins maybe AJ can do a "facebook short" yeah.
- He switched to pool and won major international events. He made the World Pool Championship semifinal in 2003, then won the World Pool Masters that same year. He won the Mosconi Cup twice, and in 2007 he went undefeated in his singles matches and was named MVP. Then in 2008 he won the Predator International 10-Ball Championship. He was picked to play in the Mosconi Cup multiple times because he was one of the BEST. He won the Mosconi Cup and was MVP.
- This mofo looks like he lost 100 lbs few years ago and still run racks of 9-ball under 60 second, at almost 70.
AJ accomplishments so far:
Great fucking job.
- Young as hell
- A lot of talent
- Reyes Cup (a marketing event, he got pick for social media, not because he was a better player, nobody watching this event but 7 people, in which 5 from the Philippines, 1 from Vietnam and 1 from USA (you) MVP.
- Thousands of Facebook followers
2. “When you get in stroke you can stay in stroke for a long time as long as you don't take any extended breaks from playing.”
What the hell does **“in stroke”** even mean in this argument? You can be in stroke today and get your ass beat tomorrow.
You can be hitting them perfect for three months and then run into somebody who plays better than you that day. That's pool.
And if we're talking about what makes a great player, fundamentals don't disappear just because somebody is “in stroke.”
Name ONE major-event winner who didn't have good fundamentals? I'll wait.
Now name me ONE major-event winner whose entire game was based on staying in stroke, playing fast, never slowing down, never thinking too long, and just running on feel all the time. BIG FUCKING ZERO. Well, maybe Tony Drago back in 2003 huh!!!!!
I'm young and I like to live FAST but hell I'm feeling salty, you can express your opinion and so do I
Sell all your pool related stuff and stay out Jay haha, j/k have a great one!
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To Julyx,
To answer your other question, neither Efren or Francisco had orthodox strokes and they did okay. Keith stood all kinds of different ways and had a million ways of hitting the ball and he struck fear in all the tournament champs.
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Almost half of young players in the Philippines has the same stroke and can move cue ball like AJ, problem is that he is still very inexperienced, I predict as he is maturing, he will play much slower, realizing he can’t win nothing playing fast!