Fargo rating progression rate

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dfreshlv

New member
As a relatively new pool player/hobbyist I’m curious as to how much one might roughly progress in Fargo rating within a year or a few years with several hours of focused practice per week and weekly league play/matches.
Obviously there are numerous factors at play but I’ve trained in a number of sports throughout my life and I am of the opinion that we have “soft caps” that we can reach with just a modicum of effort and discipline and then “hard caps” that require full commitment to the sport i,e. professionals.
If say right now I’m in the low 500 range is it realistic to think I could move up to the low 600 range in a year or two if I’m working on the right things? I’m just try to get a sense of what is achievable for an average player/person who doesn’t have the time or commitment to play pool 5 times a week or more. Any opinions are appreciated.
 
Maybe. There's also a hard cap based on physical ability.

A lot of people overestimate their ultimate/physical abilities...

I could practice basketball with the best coaches on earth for the rest of my life, but this 68 year old white boy with a 7" vertical ain't ever playing for the Nicks! 😁
 
dfreshlv said:
As a relatively new pool player/hobbyist I’m curious as to how much one might roughly progress in Fargo rating within a year or a few years with several hours of focused practice per week and weekly league play/matches.
Obviously there are numerous factors at play but I’ve trained in a number of sports throughout my life and I am of the opinion that we have “soft caps” that we can reach with just a modicum of effort and discipline and then “hard caps” that require full commitment to the sport i,e. professionals.
If say right now I’m in the low 500 range is it realistic to think I could move up to the low 600 range in a year or two if I’m working on the right things? I’m just try to get a sense of what is achievable for an average player/person who doesn’t have the time or commitment to play pool 5 times a week or more. Any opinions are appreciated.
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From what you've described, NO. League play is virtually worthless. If you're a low 500 you're better than most league players already and will learn nothing except maybe some bad habits.

Playing tournaments or matches with better players would be more helpful. But a few hours per week just won't do it. I'd say the minimum would be 15 hours per week and even then you'd need to be doing it correctly which you're unlikely to know exactly what to do.

The jump from 500 to 600 is immense for a part time player.
 
sparkle84 said:
The jump from 500 to 600 is immense for a part time player.
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This ^^^^

A buddy of mine broke 500 2 years ago. Right after that he put in his own 9' Diamond table. He told me his goal was to be at 600 in a year.

He plays league twice a week, the occasional tournament, and probably bangs them around at home an hour a day...

Now, two years later, he's at 515.
 
dfreshlv said:
... If say right now I’m in the low 500 range is it realistic to think I could move up to the low 600 range in a year or two if I’m working on the right things? I’m just try to get a sense of what is achievable for an average player/person who doesn’t have the time or commitment to play pool 5 times a week or more. Any opinions are appreciated.
Click to expand...
Realistic? There are a lot of individual factors. Have you gotten to 500 without ever working on your game and now you are going to work on your game? Then maybe yes. Are you going to put in at least 5 hours a week of structured practice and work on your weaknesses? Are you going to find good competition? Work on your fitness/endurance? Strength drills? Are you going to get coaching?

I agree with @sparkle84 that league play is a waste of time unless your league keeps you playing on the table in tough matches for 75% of the time you are at the venue.
 
straightline said:
Basics. Always the bottleneck.
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Definitely agree. I was fortunate enough to have a 2 hour lesson with Max Eberle a few months back and that’s mostly all we worked on was basics of my stance and stroke. I felt a little stupid to be honest as if I’ve never touched a pool cue before but I took the lesson to heart and definitely have seen improvements……I just still struggle with consistency as I need to put in more time on drills and practice to lock in better mechanics.
 
dfreshlv said:
Definitely agree. I was fortunate enough to have a 2 hour lesson with Max Eberle a few months back and that’s mostly all we worked on was basics of my stance and stroke. I felt a little stupid to be honest as if I’ve never touched a pool cue before but I took the lesson to heart and definitely have seen improvements……I just still struggle with consistency as I need to put in more time on drills and practice to lock in better mechanics.
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If you live in Vegas you are surrounded by good players, tournaments, teachers, etc.

Take advantage of all of those things and when you go to the table(practice, tournaments, lessons) go there with a goal in mind and work on them. In a year or two you will either get close to 600 or have much better idea of how to get there or if it's possible.
 
dfreshlv said:
Definitely agree. I was fortunate enough to have a 2 hour lesson with Max Eberle a few months back and that’s mostly all we worked on was basics of my stance and stroke. I felt a little stupid to be honest as if I’ve never touched a pool cue before but I took the lesson to heart and definitely have seen improvements……I just still struggle with consistency as I need to put in more time on drills and practice to lock in better mechanics.
Click to expand...
It's important to not get ahead of yourself as well. Some people need to learn to learn. I had to. Still learning. Still gotta crawl before you walk.
The thing about consistency - I see it as _the_ major thing in climbing the ranks. Nobody's taking the superstar outs anymore. If you just make ALL the dead outs that'll be the footing you need in tournaments. It's not that much of a task either. Requires discipline to work out the details is all.
Just remember many are already there. :ROFLMAO: Learn what you can since you gotta lump it anyway.
 
Related to your possible goal, here is a thread about a former member who wanted to see if he could become a pro through dedicated practice. At one point he said he was taking one lesson per week and practicing thirty hours a week. Sadly, he was not in an area where he could track his FargoRate improvement.

SamLambert

Thread 'Aiming for pro within 5 years. Realistic?'

So, I recently started playing the incredible game that is pocket billiards (july) and quickly developped a great interest forthe game.

I am not aiming for anything lower than pro-level skill and was wondering what would be a realistic target to aim for? The pro who owns the pool hall where I play became one after 4 years, so I'm figuring it is very much possible to do, but then he told me it was before there were rating systems in place and so he was ranked as such arbitrarily.

After asking another one who became one just this year, it took him just a little over 5 years.

So...
 
dfreshlv said:
As a relatively new pool player/hobbyist I’m curious as to how much one might roughly progress in Fargo rating within a year or a few years with several hours of focused practice per week and weekly league play/matches.
Obviously there are numerous factors at play but I’ve trained in a number of sports throughout my life and I am of the opinion that we have “soft caps” that we can reach with just a modicum of effort and discipline and then “hard caps” that require full commitment to the sport i,e. professionals.
If say right now I’m in the low 500 range is it realistic to think I could move up to the low 600 range in a year or two if I’m working on the right things? I’m just try to get a sense of what is achievable for an average player/person who doesn’t have the time or commitment to play pool 5 times a week or more. Any opinions are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Only way to know is to try. After being away from pool for 14 years it took me about 2-2.5 years to get to 630 but, I had a table in my living room, I was practicing almost every day, and I was playing league 3 nights a week and would throw in a random tournament hear and there.

Is it possible, yes, do you have the skills to do it - that's the quesiton.
 
Chili Palmer said:
Only way to know is to try. After being away from pool for 14 years it took me about 2-2.5 years to get to 630 but, I had a table in my living room, I was practicing almost every day, and I was playing league 3 nights a week and would throw in a random tournament hear and there.

Is it possible, yes, do you have the skills to do it - that's the quesiton.
Click to expand...
couldnt send a PM
so here is my question
what do you think your fargo was before you stopped playing for 14 years?
 
Bob Jewett said:
Related to your possible goal, here is a thread about a former member who wanted to see if he could become a pro through dedicated practice. At one point he said he was taking one lesson per week and practicing thirty hours a week. Sadly, he was not in an area where he could track his FargoRate improvement.

SamLambert

Thread 'Aiming for pro within 5 years. Realistic?'

So, I recently started playing the incredible game that is pocket billiards (july) and quickly developped a great interest forthe game.

I am not aiming for anything lower than pro-level skill and was wondering what would be a realistic target to aim for? The pro who owns the pool hall where I play became one after 4 years, so I'm figuring it is very much possible to do, but then he told me it was before there were rating systems in place and so he was ranked as such arbitrarily.

After asking another one who became one just this year, it took him just a little over 5 years.

So...
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing….I wonder how things ended up.
 
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sparkle84 said:
From what you've described, NO. League play is virtually worthless. If you're a low 500 you're better than most league players already and will learn nothing except maybe some bad habits.

Playing tournaments or matches with better players would be more helpful. But a few hours per week just won't do it. I'd say the minimum would be 15 hours per week and even then you'd need to be doing it correctly which you're unlikely to know exactly what to do.

The jump from 500 to 600 is immense for a part time player.
Click to expand...
Depends on the league of course. Even if the ability level isn’t very high, it is still competition with the added pressure of not wanting to let your teammates down- I actually feel more pressure playing league matches than tournament matches for that reason.
 
dfreshlv said:
Thanks for sharing….I wonder how things ended up.
Click to expand...
Sam Lambert started playing pool about April 2015 (at about 23 years old) and stopped playing pool (or at least working on his game) in April 2016. He seems to have taken down all the external info and videos related to his progress. Here is a post about how he did on the Billiard University exams after five months of organized practice and instruction (and seven months total of play?):

SamLambert

Thread 'I took the Billiard University exams, and will continue to do so, love them!'

Hello AZB!

In a previous thread, I asked how I should evaluate my progress (mostly for my monthly videos on my blog). Some people recommended that I try the Billiard University exams so I gave them a try.

I didn't know whether I should practice the exams beforehand, I thought it was better not to, so I don't get "used" to the shots too much.

Overall, I am satisfied. I know that I could've done better on some drills, but there are a few where I did better than I expected, so it about evens out. I am certain next month will show a better score.

I really like this way of measuring my...
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Here is his explanation from about six months later of some of the reason he quit:

SamLambert

Thread 'A little update'

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted here. I thought some of you might appreciate an update. Those that don't, just move along.

I stopped playing altogether about 2 months ago. I burnt myself out from playing way too much. Well, it's not only that, there are other reasons, but it's the main one.

I still love pool. It fits everything I'm looking for in a sport / game and I enjoy it thoroughly. I just don't feel like playing lately.

Now, I'm not discouraged or anything, but I reassessed my goals. I initially thought it would be a great achievement to play pro speed within 5...
 
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One of my favorite quotes ever; "You are only ever going to get better, if you play better players". This goes for (almost) all aspects of life. Watch what they do and ask questions...again this goes for all aspects of life (in my opinion).
 
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