To Spidey, I might be off 1 or 2 years, but I believe Matt was already an A player in about 2001. So he would have been better than you 15 years ago
He wouldn't be the first one.
As far as his pocketing ability diminishing due to age, he is not of that age yet. He is I believe about 35 years old. When I met him he was maybe 14, and already everyone knew he was going to be a very good player. So like almost every other player under the sun, he improved rapidly those first 2 to 5 years, and then leveled off. I probably saw him once or twice a week for 5 years straight as we all went to the same tournaments in Delaware and Philly around 2000 to 2005.
I think he might be of that age. Lets face it, most of the top guns worldwide are youngsters so to speak. Their eyes are sharp, their reflexes and stamina are better, greater focus, more apt to practice longer because it's all encompassing. After a certain age which can be different from one person to another as far as desire and priorities, other things in life missed out on because of pool become more important and time consuming. I know years ago both Corey Deuel and Johnny Archer got hooked on golf and things started going south. Earl did also.
My first post was a slight exaggeration that he plays the same now as when he was 14. To be more accurate, it should say "He plays almost the same now, as compared to the end of his initial ramp up to plateau speed, which occurred around 20 years of age".
See above.
I believe he learned Pro One about 5 years ago. Again I might be off a year or two. He has thanked Stan in every single FB post he has made when posting his tourney results. This one that was pasted in this thread by the OP was not anything special. Matt does that "every tournament", as he should, to give recognition to his sponsors and his coaches. Matt is a class act, for sure.
Glad to hear it. I guess social media being bigger than ever brought this one out to the forefront.
But the point of this whole debate, is has any of that made him a better player. I know when someone asks Matt, he does say he pockets the balls better and plays better as a result of Pro1. And maybe he believes that.
I take it you don't.
But what I am saying, is his pecking order in both the national, and local Philly scene, has not changed in 15 years. So do you believe a player's own words, or do you believe results?
If he was a boxer and his words were he's just as sharp as ever, but was going for naps in the middle of the ring during fights I'd be looking at results.
So tell me, what should he be changing in his aiming process? Go to contact point aiming? Pure multiple fractions? Ghost ball and patch? Why are YOU focusing so much on his choice of aiming? It's his life and choice.
As I said before, you can look up his tournament results for national level. For local Philly level, you MUST carefully inspect the player's list. Because 15 years ago there was 15 guys every single week Matt's speed or better playing, and full fields of 64. Today, he is one of 3 or 4 guys that speed.
Now even with Fargorate, you can potentially dive down even deeper to improvement or non-improvement over time.