Is Shaw's game different?

Here is a match at Snookers with Kaci vs Shaw. (good watch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvGp9Za-MIY

Shaw is mentally in a perfect spot. along with being in dead stroke...any many other points mentioned in this thread.

Is Shaw's Game Different?

To answer the above question, YES! He doesn't miss!

Jayson Shaw has the most important ingredient in billiards.
..he has accuracy.
You can run the table with no position, but you can’t run it without accuracy.

As he picks up a little more refinement, it’s just icing on the cake.

jasonlaus said:

Shaw has been running people over for a while now. No amount of time is gonna make him look more like the old Earl than he already does, probably better.
Jason

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One Us open win and one Kuwait win doesn't account for being compared to Earl.


Being great for a short period of time vs the long period of time doesn't mean you should automatically be compared as one of the greats.

Jason Robichaud said:

After reading various post about how well Shaw was playing at the US Open, I'm curious - what is he doing differently? A few players over the years reach invincibility. Mika, Shane, and now Shaw seems to be a force. Their game doesn't look any different but the records show otherwise.

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Then your not seeing what I saw
I watched the first 5 days Sunday-Thursday, 6 matches a day....10:30/12:30/2:30. Evening, 6:30/8:30/10:30. With a minimum of 60 hours then sprinkled the remaining two days of play to 4-6 hours each....watching whom was running and who was folding or??? What I noticed was this. High end play, over the long run requires a fast and loose style of play and this player must be in great shape physically. This allows the greats, like Strickland in his prime, to feel the table and conditions with minimal thought, as the pocketing process becomes totally natural and second nature. In the long haul this type of play style wins majors and the US Open.:thumbup:

Celtic said:

There has not been a guy out there since Earl that does what Jason does, not SVB, not Archer, not Mika, not Appleton. Earl destroyed opponents, he ran over champions when he was on and he made it look like they were not quite in his league. Most champions battle to win the title, rarely we see a phenom arise who simply destroys everyone and makes second place in the US Open look like an "also ran".

Noone in the world atm has the firepower to beat Shaw if he is at his peak, noone. I am not a guy to say that lightly either because I think guys like Ko and Chang and Wu are machines, but I dont think they could keep up in the long run if Shaw hit his top gear, I dont think they can match it. It is like Earl in his prime, when he was at his best noone could keep up with his top gear in rotation pool. Shaw reminds me a lot of Earl in the early 90's. Noone since that Earl has done that.

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I disagree... Mika during his good run played much like Earl/Shaw... Didn't require perfect position, and just bombed balls in from long range.. Granted, his fundamentals aren't as good as Earl's back in the day or Shaw's now. I saw Mika as having close to the same shotmaking, but a tighter cueball, so it didn't look quite as effortless.

Then again, I don't know if I really like Shaw to take down 3 U.S. Opens, and certainly not 5. The 2 feet extra distance on every shot catches up eventually, especially on fast cloth. Earl had the advantage of playing on slow cloth, so if he got a little longer, he could bang in a ball with a full 20% more force and only go a foot or two longer do to high nap cloth. On modern fast cloth, getting consistently longer shots means you have to hit perfect speed on shot after shot after shot. Shaw made it work over the last few years, but he still has not been anywhere near as dominant as Earl was. Due to the superfast cloth, all it takes is for one player to get into the same sort of rythym that Shaw caught in the last few matches at the Open, and the results are reversed in a final.

Remember, Kaci has double-dipped Shaw twice in recent events.Kaci is a MUCH more careful player. At the elite level, table management, and never giving up a shot if you can help it is the name of the game. That's why Shane has won 5 U.S. Opens, and Shaw 1. This "fast and loose" stuff works great when you make a million balls on the break. When you have to grind out each rack though, and your game is completely built around getting into a rythym and staying at he table for 15-20 minutes at a time, not so easy to look dominant.

Frankly, I think that Shaw might have been a bridesmaid again this year if he had been playing Shane in the finals. I am betting he did feel a small amount of relief not to be playing a higher profile set of players in the final four or so... In a few of his Open wins, Shane has faced an absolute murderous lineup in the final 8, and mowed them all down. Shaw had a relatively easy time of it coming down the stretch.

Yeah, I said it.

Short Bus Russ

There are two reasons Shaw is playing better now than a couple of years ago. He slowed down, and he got better control of his emotions at the table. He slowed down just enough that he no longer makes many careless mistakes, and he used to make lots of careless mistakes that there was no excuse for whatsoever. Now he is a bit slower and more deliberate and more focused in his execution and even takes more time to contemplate tough situations. He also has better control of his emotions at the table now and doesn't have any give up or get apathetic like he used to at times, he no longer allows himself to get affected by anger or frustration, and he maintains his focus and determination no matter what is happening in the match. Slowing down enough to nearly eliminate careless errors and getting control of his emotions are 95% of the difference between "old" Shaw and "new" Shaw.

Poolplaya9 said:

There are two reasons Shaw is playing better now than a couple of years ago. He slowed down, and he got better control of his emotions at the table. He slowed down just enough that he no longer makes many careless mistakes, and he used to make lots of careless mistakes that there was no excuse for whatsoever. Now he is a bit slower and more deliberate and more focused in his execution and even takes more time to contemplate tough situations. He also has better control of his emotions at the table now and doesn't have any give up or get apathetic like he used to at times, he no longer allows himself to get affected by anger or frustration, and he maintains his focus and determination no matter what is happening in the match. Slowing down enough to nearly eliminate careless errors and getting control of his emotions are 95% of the difference between "old" Shaw and "new" Shaw.

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AND...... making a million balls on the break and getting consistently good shots makes anyone look pretty strong..

Just saying...

I am just gonna say it outright, again.. I don't like Shaw to come anywhere close to Shane/Earl's records in the Open... He got a fairly easy draw in the final four, relative to what it COULD have been, and he didn't have to play Shane... He is playing in an age of template racks and super fast cloth. His run and gun style of play, leaving an extra 2 feet of green on every shot might have worked for him in this Open, but he won't get 3-5 Open titles relying on this style of play.

With this equipment, one ill-advised shot is all it takes for a monster player to turn the whole match around... Jason takes a few too many liberties with the percentages... It's all good as long as it works, but you keep rolling the dice, eventually they come up snake eyes. Shane has won 5 because he suffocated his opponents.. Just gives no chances, just demoralizing his opponents. Shane will play safe on a 70% shot if he has an 80% safe, even if he has you down 12-3. Shane knows that correct play and suffocating your opponent and never giving him air has it's effects not only in this particular set, but in future tournament matches as well.

Congrats to Jason Shaw... I just wouldn't be betting on him to get another 2-3 Opens.. I just think the stars somewhat aligned for him this year..

Short Bus Russ

Island Drive said:

Then your not seeing what I saw
I watched the first 5 days Sunday-Thursday, 6 matches a day....10:30/12:30/2:30. Evening, 6:30/8:30/10:30. With a minimum of 60 hours then sprinkled the remaining two days of play to 4-6 hours each....watching whom was running and who was folding or??? What I noticed was this. High end play, over the long run requires a fast and loose style of play and this player must be in great shape physically. This allows the greats, like Strickland in his prime, to feel the table and conditions with minimal thought, as the pocketing process becomes totally natural and second nature. In the long haul this type of play style wins majors and the US Open.:thumbup:

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Well said Bill. If you can get out of your head and just let yourself play pool, you will do a lot better. As my friend Werner once said, "Get out of your head and into your experience." That about sums it up.

Maybe it's the Meucci!

ShortBusRuss said:

His run and gun style of play, leaving an extra 2 feet of green on every shot might have worked for him in this Open, but he won't get 3-5 Open titles relying on this style of play.

With this equipment, one ill-advised shot is all it takes for a monster player to turn the whole match around... Jason takes a few too many liberties with the percentages...

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I actually think this is the other area where Shaw has made a big improvement. He is no longer so reliant on his shot making and puts more emphasis on playing good shape both in the planning and execution departments. His shot making is still phenomenal, he just doesn't rely on it so much now and actually tries to get the best shape. Used to he didn't always make the effort to plan out or execute perfect shape because he was so confident in his shooting ability he figured he would never miss anyway, and like you said sometimes that would come back to bite him. I think he finally realized that and he doesn't do that much or at all any more.

Whether he can win several more opens or not is up in the air. He certainly has the skills for it to be possible. Winning multiple US Opens requires staying hungry, it requires devoting the time and effort to keep you game at 100%, it requires keeping your mental game strong, and it requires some luck. Will be interesting to see if all the pieces fall into place for him.

I'm pretty sure the use of marijuana plays a big part in his recent rise to the top.

We were talking at the open about Shaw's ball making. Someone said that it is "true natural talent". I couldnt disagree more... what I do (firing at a ball and missing the entire pocket) is natural... Jayson's ball making is ****ing alien.

Poolplaya9 said:

I actually think this is the other area where Shaw has made a big improvement. He is no longer so reliant on his shot making and puts more emphasis on playing good shape both in the planning and execution departments. His shot making is still phenomenal, he just doesn't rely on it so much now and actually tries to get the best shape. Used to he didn't always make the effort to plan out or execute perfect shape because he was so confident in his shooting ability he figured he would never miss anyway, and like you said sometimes that would come back to bite him. I think he finally realized that and he doesn't do that much or at all any more.

Whether he can win several more opens or not is up in the air. He certainly has the skills for it to be possible. Winning multiple US Opens requires staying hungry, it requires devoting the time and effort to keep you game at 100%, it requires keeping your mental game strong, and it requires some luck. Will be interesting to see if all the pieces fall into place for him.

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Having a 3 yr old baby girl and a wife, he's got a wonderful platform for success.

I think that Jayson’s success comes mainly from a very poor vocabulary...
...he thinks “miss’ is a young girl.

Kris_b1104 said:

I'm pretty sure the use of marijuana plays a big part in his recent rise to the top.

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I figured it was Coke, shit I’ve never seen someone wipe their nose so much over and over with that nasty snot soaked towel...

Celtic said:

Jason Shaw is the closest thing the world has seen to the "next" Earl. Effectively a guy with a killer break, powerful stroke, insane accuracy, fearless attack at the table that simply overpowers his opponents, and the honest belief that he truly "is" better than everyone else and noone beats him if he plays his best. Shaw believes he actually controls his fate in his matches, he wins or loses based on his own play regardless of his opponent. Few players in the history of pool could actually think that ever in their career. I am talking count on one hand. Earl had that, Mosconi had that, when these guys had their A game going everyone played for second. Efren never had that in rotation (he did on 1-pocket), Archer never had that, Hall never had that, SVB got close in 10-ball.

There has not been a guy out there since Earl that does what Jason does, not SVB, not Archer, not Mika, not Appleton. Earl destroyed opponents, he ran over champions when he was on and he made it look like they were not quite in his league. Most champions battle to win the title, rarely we see a phenom arise who simply destroys everyone and makes second place in the US Open look like an "also ran".

Noone in the world atm has the firepower to beat Shaw if he is at his peak, noone. I am not a guy to say that lightly either because I think guys like Ko and Chang and Wu are machines, but I dont think they could keep up in the long run if Shaw hit his top gear, I dont think they can match it. It is like Earl in his prime, when he was at his best noone could keep up with his top gear in rotation pool. Shaw reminds me a lot of Earl in the early 90's. Noone since that Earl has done that.

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Very well written, Celtic.
As much as I'm not a fan of Earl, your comments, observations, and insights are SPOT ON!

May I reach a bit beyond your post?
If JS can mature properly as a player and stay focused and take care of his physical AND mental health, he will continue to improve. Scary.