Not a great player
Now there is good reasons to lead to a possible cause for my lack of knowledge but i'lll skip that and get right to the point.
Why is that if instructors are soooo good at what they do and have all these qualities that so many people value i.e. fundaments and all that, then why is it that you "well I" don't see then in tourneys bringing the pain and being a better ad for themselves? or even why haven't I heard of them a few years back (in case anyone wants to say that they don't play anymore) doing the same.
There is always new of a player gone coach or announcer in other sports but I have no knowledge of this in pool, of course with the very very few exceptions. Car companies started off racing to better show what there production cars can do in order to boost sales.
can someone shed some light on this matter for me please, and for the love of _____ forum police and critics please stay of this one with your negative comments and what about C.J or T. Robles or any other known person. I feel that I am asking a good question and would rather read sensible replies and not have to filter through yours.
Speaking for myself only.
I've never considered myself a great player. My father introduced me to bowling and pool in 1955. I was a bit of a natural at pool, and not so much at bowling, but I was more attracted to the latter than the former. Bowling was huge back then, and my sports idols were Don Carter, Ray Bluth, Dick Weber, Ned Day and Andy Varipapa. The league and tournament bowling results were published daily in the local newspapers, while pool was not even considered a sport. I had visions of becoming a pro bowler and had the physical skills to do so. By 1967 I held most of the scoring records in southwest Wisconsin, and I played pool more as a hobby. I became a Certified Bowling Instructor in 1958, while still in high school, and coached junior leagues on and off for a decade or so.
But my best years bowling netted me a very small amount of cash, - about $1K in my record-setting year. The following year I made over $4 K playing on a bar table with a cue off the wall, so I began putting a little more time into pool. But I didn't take pool seriously until after my retirement from bowling in '73. That retirement came from frustration at the $$ potential, a drinking problem and a serious disagreement with a league director.
I managed a pool hall briefly in 1965, and began teaching the basics there. I also organized the first pool league in west Wisconsin in 1966, which I directed for three seasons, till I took a job in another town. This freed me up to put together some monster teams in the '70s and '80s. My teams won two VNEA Minnesota State team titles, and one of those teams won the VNEA North American Title in '86, though I sat out that season because of some legal problems.
Between 1970 and 2012, I managed to win League MVP 43 times, and was City Singles champ five times. In '87, I moved to the DC area for a job, and retired for two years. Began playing again when asked to join an APA 8-ball team. Because of my previous success (rated a "master" player in the VNEA), the APA made me a 7 "for life" after playing my first match in two innings. The next year I left the APA (didn't care for the rules) and joined a BCA team that took 3rd in Vegas in '92, when I took 5th in the Singles, and became a BCA Certified Instructor. The BCA had approached me, as I had a reputation as a championship team coach.
I was house "pro" at two different places, including the beautiful new Champion Billiards in Laurel, MD, which closed not long after I left. After some of my best years, I retired again after having my cues stolen in '95, and moved to Florida.
Beginning again in 2000, I played in several local leagues, and tried several times to organize a BCA league and then an ACS league, with no success. Played APA for a few disappointing seasons and retired again in 2010.
I've never won a pro tournament. I've never beaten any pros out of more than a few bucks, although I came out money ahead every year I played from 1960 through 2009. I wrote a column briefly for Inside Pool mag, and then as a "Guest Instructor" for Pool & Billiard, who named me one of their "Top 20" instructors in '09. My "specialties" are cue ball control and strategy.
After some serious health problems beginning in 2002, my game has dropped off, though I have continued to improve my teaching skills. At this time, I'm not even one of the top players in Gainesville. I absolutely have to avoid cigarette smoke, so I barely play at all...there are very few non-smoking pool halls in Florida.
When I teach, it has to be early in the day, before the venues get smokey. This also prevents me from competing in tournaments. I can live with this because I have other interests. I garden, read voraciously, and have written eight books, three of which are currently in print.
So I'm definitely one of those instructors of whom people say, "He's not that good, why get lessons from him? I'd love to tell them about my health problems, my age (people don't believe I'm almost 71), and my rather unlucky employment experience, but I try to refrain from that. Now I play very little other than when giving lessons. And I haven't run more than three or four racks in years. But I still love to teach; I get great pleasure from helping others.