Can't find a fargo rate on some of the more famous pool instructors

cookie man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The video of him giving a lesson to Rollie Williams shows his skills pretty well. He breaks and runs two racks of 9-ball on a 9’ table. Definitely way higher than an APA 4 IMO.

Yes he is higher that an apa4, but again, no balls were ever touching after the break. He had zero break out shots and no balls in any trouble. Hats off for running out yes,
 

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes he is higher that an apa4, but again, no balls were ever touching after the break. He had zero break out shots and no balls in any trouble. Hats off for running out yes,

So a good break and good runout strategy make a player worse? That doesn't make sense to me.

You watched the ghost set. And these two racks. All good breaks. All clean runouts without having to shoot crazy shots and break out a bunch of balls.

Generally that tells me that someone is a better player.
 

JazzyJeff87

AzB Plutonium Member
Silver Member
Can't judge much off the 10 ball ghost video. That was the best breaking table i have ever seen, lol.

Check out the rotation run outs. I don’t think anyone’s trying to say he’s a world beater, maybe just miffed on his behalf that someone said a 4 lol.
 

DecentShot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The video of him giving a lesson to Rollie Williams shows his skills pretty well. He breaks and runs two racks of 9-ball on a 9’ table. Definitely way higher than an APA 4 IMO.

I love Dr. Dave, but that table is looser than a Vegas hooker.
 

cookie man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So a good break and good runout strategy make a player worse? That doesn't make sense to me.

You watched the ghost set. And these two racks. All good breaks. All clean runouts without having to shoot crazy shots and break out a bunch of balls.

Generally that tells me that someone is a better player.

I didn't say anything about being worse. He's higher then a 4. Good nines will beat him,imo. I put around a solid 8 in apa nine ball. He never had to do hardly anything with the cue ball. Can't even tell if he can play 2 rail position from the easily set up run outs after the break. Didn't have to break out any balls.
 

DecentShot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And you know that how????? ;)

I watched the lesson he gave "Average Pool Player" Rollie at his home. It was Robert Byrne's table, an incredible piece of billiard history to be sure, but the pockets are laughably big, especially with new cloth. That table would be no good for my game. (for a So Cal guy, you know how it is.)
 
Last edited:

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I too though Dr Dave was at best a C+ player for a few years. But then we started having the Ghost thread here on AZ. He came with many videos with really high scores for about one year when he was really trying to beat the ghost to death. I don't care how big the pockets are on the table, you have to be able to play some to post some of the scores Dr Dave did. After watching a lot of his playing videos, I'd personally put him at a very strong B, possibly an A-. That's about a 600 Fargo by my scale.The players that speed close to me in Philly have high package runs of about 5 racks of 9 ball, and high straight pool runs of about 80-100 range.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC

JC

Coos Cues
Can't judge much off the 10 ball ghost video. That was the best breaking table i have ever seen, lol.

You can judge plenty off of that video. Dave is around 630-640 fargo IMO.

I'm a 600 and can't beat the 10 ball ghost on any table often.
 

JC

Coos Cues
I didn't say anything about being worse. He's higher then a 4. Good nines will beat him,imo. I put around a solid 8 in apa nine ball. He never had to do hardly anything with the cue ball. Can't even tell if he can play 2 rail position from the easily set up run outs after the break. Didn't have to break out any balls.

People said Mosconi wasn't worth a damn too because he never shot a hard shot. :thumbup:
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I didn't read the whole thread, but I will comment anyway:)

All the below is IMO...

1) An instructor has to have a minimum level of skill on the table IN ORDER to have the "knowledge" to instruct a student on how to improve their game. For example, I think its impossible for a banger to watch 100 hrs of top pro players on youtube, and know the correct strategy of how to play position. Without them knowing how the balls react by experiencing it, they just won't have any idea what is going on.

2) It depends on level disparity between coach and student. If the student is a banger, even a C player can help them quite a bit. Help them with a decent bridge, stance, stroke, basic position play, game strategy, etc. Now, one banger instructing anther, we've all seen that when watching from the rail at our local room the teens come in in groups. Its the blind leading the blind. The other end of that, is a C player would not have anything of value to teach a strong B or higher player. There is a chance the C player might have some pet shot he saw in a video or somewhere that the B player simply never did. Like the 2 balls on the spot one pocket shot, for example.

3) That brings us to Fargo. We now have a decent system for rating the actual performance of a player. By all means, if I'm a Fargo 500 C player, there is no way in hell I'd PAY a professional instructor who was also a 500. I wouldn't even pay if he was a 600. I'd want a 650 as a minimum. That's a top local player, who can cash on regional events, beat the 9 ball ghost maybe 1/3 of the time, etc. Now, if there was a 550 or 600 player that I was buddies with in the local room and we were talking shop and going over shots, I'd certainly listen, and see what they might know that I don't. But I wouldn't pay them professionally for that information.

4) If a player was the equivalent of a 650 Fargo as I wrote above, at ANY point in their life, then that qualifies them. If they quit playing 20 years ago to become an instructor, or any other reason, that doesn't matter. They lived pool and played pool at one point at that level, so they KNOW the game. It does not matter their skill now due to old age or lack of interest in playing. They will never forget the shots. If I was looking for a lesson and Danny Deliberto was offering, I'd take it with no doubt in my mind he knows what he's going to tell/show me.

5) For the pro level players, I can't comment how they would feel, as I'm so far down the totem pole I can't relate. But, I'll "guess" that if I was a touring pro trying to climb the ranks, I wouldn't pay for professional advice from anyone less than a 730 Fargo (or was once in their lives). I'd certainly entertain someone's thoughts at a lower rating, but I would not pay them professionally for their advice.
 

Rimfirejunkie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I didn't say anything about being worse. He's higher then a 4. Good nines will beat him,imo. I put around a solid 8 in apa nine ball. He never had to do hardly anything with the cue ball. Can't even tell if he can play 2 rail position from the easily set up run outs after the break. Didn't have to break out any balls.


“He never had to do hardly anything with the cue ball”

Read this^^^^ to yourself a few times slowly.
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just bringing this up. I understand the argument that the best players don't necessarily make the best instructors, but you would think some of the more famous instructors and video content providers would at least have some sort of fargo rate.

Unless they are purposely afraid to get one?? But to be fair, some areas of the country don't use fargo (dominated by the APA, like here in Chicago) so maybe that's why?

How good someone plays and how good of a instructor they are, are slightly over lapped.

Also there are 2 kinds of instructors. One works on your fundamentals and never talks about pool games. And some guys who teach 9 ball to beginners or 1P. Most teachers do both.

The best instructor I ever had is a champion, he has the ability to see the problems and deconstruct your set up (stance, how you approach the CB, fundamentals) and reconstruct it and poof I played better. We never talked about pool “games” ever.

The best 1P teacher and banks was a top player (not world class) and he never told me anything about how to hold a cue. He taught me how to bank and move in 1P. He still played great but not like he did in the 70’s. His knowledge exceeded his ability to execute, but he played super strong still.

Then there are teachers who teach both fundamentals & pool games. Nothing wrong with that.

Forget some rating system. Look at how long your teacher has been around pool, how you connect with him/her. And see if your learning and improving.

Not near as important. Look to see if they(teachers) have the respect of their peers-guys who been around forever. Lots of people hate me, I been around a very long time. But even those haters a subset of them respect me. Some don’t respect me either. Nobody in pool likes or respects everyone. They say I talk about myself too much ;) seriously I’m using myself as a example because I been around a long time and have knowledge that some guys don’t have.

My point is look at the person not their rating or tourney or gambling success. When picking a teacher. Stan Shuffet is brilliant, Bob Jewitt doesn’t like me much-but I’d recommend him as a coach/teacher to anyone for certain things.


The person not the rating. And then either fundamentals or games (or both depending on your needs)

Good luck
Fatboy <—-not a instructor, a advisor.
 

cookie man

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
“He never had to do hardly anything with the cue ball”

Read this^^^^ to yourself a few times slowly.

And off of the video i'd give him the 7. Most racks you couldn't have placed the balls any better after a break with your hand. But he seldom made a ball on the break either.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member

Cardigan Kid

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If this is really important to you, I will film myself playing in the next tournament I enter. And, BTW, there is pressure when I am being filmed for a video that will be posted online, as with the recent Rollie video, because I know how critical and demanding some Internet viewers can be.

There was also tremendous pressure when I was filming my video entries for the Billiard University Playing-Ability-Exam Challenge, where if I placed in the Top 3, I was saving myself significant money (up to $2500) and earning bragging rights. I think I felt more pressure doing that than I have felt in any league or tournament match. Scoring high on these Exams is not easy, and it requires lots of focus, endurance, skill, and dedicated practice. You should know. I've seen your scores and videos on the AZB BU sticky thread.

I am a university professor (until I retire in December, at which point I will start working exclusively on my pool business instead), but I am also a long-time pool instructional author and a professional instructor. For more info, see my pool bio.

I did not post that video ... Rollie Williams did. I asked him to use the title "Pro Instructor" instead, but he forgot to make the change, and there is no way to fix it now. That's why I posted the following both in the AZB thread and on Facebook:

"For the record, I am obviously not a "Pro Player" (as Rollie wrote on the title screen), but I am a "Pro Instructor."

Congratulations on the approaching retirement, Dr. Dave.
Onward to the next chapter of full time pool instruction. We pool students will be more enriched to say the least. Thanks for all that you do.
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
Congratulations on the approaching retirement, Dr. Dave.
Onward to the next chapter of full time pool instruction. We pool students will be more enriched to say the least. Thanks for all that you do.
Thank you! Maybe I’ll also be able to dedicate more time to my game. I didn’t realize how much I sucked until I read this thread. :grin-square:

Best regards,
Dave
 

mikepage

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thank you! Maybe I’ll also be able to dedicate more time to my game. I didn’t realize how much I sucked until I read this thread. :grin-square:

Best regards,
Dave

Pay no attention to the no-name critics. Your level of play is impressive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC
Top