Young players jump everything. They don't want to learn to kick.
I’d like to see more tournaments with jump with the cue you’re playing with.
Young players jump everything. They don't want to learn to kick.
Young players jump everything. They don't want to learn to kick.
I love trying to kick a ball I'm hooked on. When I succeed, I talk about how much that part of the game was appreciated in the days of old.
It's the superior option in many situations, because you have more control; you can kick safe. When you jump, you're turning the cue ball loose.
Also, in the "days of old" , you'd get three-fouled in a heartbeat if your kicking game was weak. I don't think many local tournaments play three foul anymore.
Back in my day.....
You could walk into any good sized pool hall and find a ring game you could jump into.
The equipment favored better players, and knowledge was protected.
Most of us smoked, and would lay our cigarettes on the rail.
Some rooms you had to make sure the house man wasnt looking if you needed to jack up to curve the ball. If you jumped, you were tossed.
There were no computer time keepers. Mechanical ones only, and thats only if the pool hall was "big time". Lots of places kept time on little slips of paper.
Some rooms you would walk into, and face a proverbial 'murderers row', a line of guys licking their chops looking for action.
When times were slow, prop bets reigned supreme.
of course gear has evolved, information about the game is more accessible, etc.
but does the way players actually play the game today differ much from the way players used to play?
rules impact game play..but I'm especially curious about strategy, development of offense, defense, etc.
The biggest change to pool over time (I have been playing since I was 7, now 45), is there is a lot less people playing pool today in the U.S. Pro pool has nothing to do with it really. Pro pool just rode on it's back.
To a lesser extent, and of course my opinion, pool is quite boring to watch today. You could take the mics away from just about any pro tournament today (just have video) and not miss much at all. Personality. People like to watch a good personality. There is a reason Fats and Mosconi were the most watched match in pool history, and it was not Fat's pool game.
To add, Safety play has been the biggest change to the actual play. It slows the game down, and is not much fun to watch for a spectator.
I’ve played that way....and, as SJM reminded, $ on the 5-ball also....
...money balls were spotted till made in order.
Back in my day.....
You could walk into any good sized pool hall and find a ring game you could jump into.
The equipment favored better players, and knowledge was protected.
Most of us smoked, and would lay our cigarettes on the rail.
Some rooms you had to make sure the house man wasnt looking if you needed to jack up to curve the ball. If you jumped, you were tossed.
There were no computer time keepers. Mechanical ones only, and thats only if the pool hall was "big time". Lots of places kept time on little slips of paper.
Some rooms you would walk into, and face a proverbial 'murderers row', a line of guys licking their chops looking for action.
When times were slow, prop bets reigned supreme.
Back in my day, “knowledge was protected “Back in my day.....
You could walk into any good sized pool hall and find a ring game you could jump into.
The equipment favored better players, and knowledge was protected.
Most of us smoked, and would lay our cigarettes on the rail.
Some rooms you had to make sure the house man wasnt looking if you needed to jack up to curve the ball. If you jumped, you were tossed.
There were no computer time keepers. Mechanical ones only, and thats only if the pool hall was "big time". Lots of places kept time on little slips of paper.
Some rooms you would walk into, and face a proverbial 'murderers row', a line of guys licking their chops looking for action.
When times were slow, prop bets reigned supreme.
I talked to Ralf Soquet about this when he did a lesson in my area because I was curious about the changes and also the players.
His thoughts, like mine, was that the current players are stronger as a group than the players from his era (80s, 90s, early 2000s).
Part of that was due to a bit tougher equipment (faster cloth is easier but they tended to play on much larger pockets in many events) so they learned to pocket balls on tougher shots, and more paying attention to details like racking and breaking. There is also more technical knowledge about equipment and how to play available. There were no pool schools in Europe and Asia churning out young kids that were taught like the snooker schools do, where they do tons of drills and focus on mechanics. This lead to many good players that are just solid players, maybe not the most creative or fun to watch, but they hardly miss and play textbook position.
The biggest difference ive noticed is there are more crybabies today vs "anytime".
What ever became of $1 on the five and $2 on the nine? Ah, those were the days.
but does the way players actually play the game today differ much from the way players used to play?