You ever take advice from a lower level player ?

L

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have lamented on here a few times about my 9 ball break.

I have practiced several times....watched you tube...asked for advice from higher level players ....tried several dedicated break cues. . i got to where i could squat the cue ball in the middle of the table pretty regularly......always one of the same 3 results......dry break and my opponent gets a pretty good run....a random ball knocks the cue ball in a pocket....on the rare occasion i make a ball i am usually hooked on the next ball.

Last week the scorekeeper on the opposing team overheard my b#tching after a dry break and her team mate ran 6 balls on me.

She told me to break softer. Now this is coming from an apa 3 on the opposing team....i am a 6. I mulled it over and on my next opportunity to break...which was my last break of that match i brome softer and lo and behold i made 2 balls and was straight in on the one. Well i be damned.

So a few nights later i played 9 ball vs an 8 and i broke 4 times that match using the softer break....i made 2 balls and had a shot on the next ball in 3 of those breaks. One break was dry.

Last night i did not keep track of how many breaks i made but made one or two balls every break.

Now just 2 matches so far may not be enough to come to a conclusion of just how great her advice was but all i can say is its been a heck of an improvement so far.
 
ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
good advice is where you find it!

Good advice and information can come from anywhere, even nonplayers. An observer may see something you don't even if they don't play pool. It is a lot like books. Some are gold almost cover to cover, some have one or two things of value you don't already know. Those one or two things can make a book worth everything you spent on it.

About the breaks, my eightball bar table break tends to overpower the balls. I generally make some but I noticed the first couple of balls in pockets usually popped back out. Took my foot off the gas, now those balls go down and stay down. I don't make the secondary balls as often but I'll trade making a couple more reliably for maybe making a few later. Too, a lower speed break hit perfectly often has more effect than an all out power shot that doesn't hit the one exactly as planned.

Hu
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I was playing a lot of nine ball...on 9- footers.....breaking pretty good.
Ended up down down south playing on an 8-footer.
...the closer range screwed me up....didn’t want to mess with something that was working
...so I moved whitey back about a foot.....my break worked much better.

I figure when you’re breaking good....you got the cue ball landing as it hits the one ball...
...if the distance becomes shorter...whitey is still in the air as it hits the one ball....
...big noise...no balls dropping

And yeah...good advice can come from any place....Gold is where you find it
 
T

toddgator

Registered
While swallowing one's pride and admitting that a lesser player had a good point or made an astute observation is a bitter pill, in this case it seems that it was worth listening to them.

Personally, I evaluate all suggestions and criticism from other players equally until I can rationalize why the advice might not apply or isn't valid for me. In my experience, a lot of times what happens is a lesser player might see something and recognize why it's wrong from their point of view, but because they're not playing at the same level as a more skilled player they may just miss the point of why the higher level player is doing something the way you're doing it. This is especially true in APA situations because a lot of coaches tailor their instruction to the skill level of the player their advising while not necessarily telling them why they suggest a specific shot or way of shooting it. From there the lesser player often will tell others to do the same thing the coach told them to do previously, but might not recognize the context isn't the same or perhaps if they were a higher level player the coach would have offered different instruction completely.
 
Jimbojim

Jimbojim

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I do when it's something about my fundamentals that I can't see myself. Advice on how to play a certain shot, not really to be honest...I could work on that.
 
Celophanewrap

Celophanewrap

Call me Grace
Silver Member
I play on a team with a guy here that's pretty good, several steps beyond me. He'll give
me a look and I know that means what do I think. He knows that I'm more of a student
than he will probably ever be. He's an excellent player, but he'll often ask me what I might
know about this or that, or what I might think of this or that. I read just about everything
I can get my hands on or watch you tube and take notes. He knows I have probably
experimented with what I'm telling him, but more than that I can probably tell him what
SVB or Ralf Souquet, or Earl has done in a similar situation, or this is what Johnny Archer
says about needing to adjust your break a little. I can't always do what they do, but like
many of us, I can tell you what they might do. It's like any other advice though, it wasn't
me originally, and it may work out and it may not.
 
strmanglr scott

strmanglr scott

All about Focus
Silver Member
I'll listen to any advice from anyone, w one exception. I'll assess it, maybe try it maybe not.

Pool players aren't too acceptable of advice I've found. They don't give it out much it seems either.

You never know where a gem will be found.

I don't listen to advice about mechanics though. I've got my stroke and that's not gonna change without a superior instructor and video.

I used to mess with people when betting golf. First tee, 'I can't seem to get my grip down, how do you grip the club'? I'd get in their head about grip and what would their mind be in the rest of the round, their grip. One little change and your swing is off.
 
O

onepocketron

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wouldn't bother me in the least if he is right. Of course pool players are notorious for not wanting any advice ever, even from someone far superior in ability. Their way is always the right way "for them". :smile:
 
MmmSharp

MmmSharp

Nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat.
Silver Member
Celophanewrap said:
I play on a team with a guy here that's pretty good, several steps beyond me. He'll give
me a look and I know that means what do I think. He knows that I'm more of a student
than he will probably ever be. He's an excellent player, but he'll often ask me what I might
know about this or that, or what I might think of this or that. I read just about everything
I can get my hands on or watch you tube and take notes. He knows I have probably
experimented with what I'm telling him, but more than that I can probably tell him what
SVB or Ralf Souquet, or Earl has done in a similar situation, or this is what Johnny Archer
says about needing to adjust your break a little. I can't always do what they do, but like
many of us, I can tell you what they might do. It's like any other advice though, it wasn't
me originally, and it may work out and it may not.
Click to expand...

this is very similar with me. I am not the best shot because I have poor vision, but I have a high interest in learning so people will often ask me for my opinion on shooting something, even when they are higher ranked. Those who can't do teach, as the old saying goes.

More to the question of the OP, listening to any reasonable person, even a lower rank is worth while. I don't see it as swallowing your pride either. It is a mature, and respectable thing to do. when you are willing to look at all information objectively, and you might learn something new.

Of course there are always people should never listen to as well. that goes without saying ;)
 
B

Banger

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well, there aren't that many players who play on a lower level than me, so....

But most professional golfers have a coach (or multiple coaches), and I suspect they typically play on a higher level than their coaches. I mean, how many golf coaches play better than Tiger? So yeah, good advice can come from anyone. :smile:
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
True story: a few yrs back me and a buddy were playin cheap 1pocket. Two guys came in and grabbed the table next to us. After a few minutes of watching our game one of them said to his buddy, "Those guys can't play eight-ball at all". This thread made me remember that day. Still laugh about it.
 
MmmSharp

MmmSharp

Nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat.
Silver Member
garczar said:
True story: a few yrs back me and a buddy were playin cheap 1pocket. Two guys came in and grabbed the table next to us. After a few minutes of watching our game one of them said to his buddy, "Those guys can't play eight-ball at all". This thread made me remember that day. Still laugh about it.
Click to expand...

Did you school them and lighten their wallets ?
 
K

King T

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It worked for Efren!!

Efren said in an interview when asked where he learned so many shots, that he learned a lot watching people who couldn't play and drunks get lucky and then he would go figure out how to do that lucky thing all the time.

He he could learn from drunks and lesser player, I guess it works!
 
9

9 Ball Fan

Darth Maximus
Silver Member
A person can be better than you are at a specific part of the game, without having mastered the entire game themselves.

However; Corey Duel is a pro, and he is well known for using a soft break.
 
D

DecentShot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Recently a girl on my team who is an APA 4 and a big personality grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "You need to breathe!" It has helped a lot.
 
DelawareDogs

DelawareDogs

The Double Deuce…
Silver Member
Ever take advice from a lower level player?

I can say that I've listened before - if the player truly is lower level than me, there's things that I'm already going to understand about my game that they just might notice.

Will I change what I'm doing? Likely not.

Everyone says that I have a funny stroke..... coincidentally, they say this sitting in the chair..... then racking the balls..... then watching another bead slide my way.....:grin-square:
 
measureman

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Back in the 80's I played pretty strong shortstop speed.
Fast forward to today and I dont play at that speed anymore.
But I still have a pretty good knowledge of the game.

I have always listened to better and not so good players when they talk pool.
You never know where or from who a little nugget of knowledge might be learned.
 
BC21

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
measureman said:
Back in the 80's I played pretty strong shortstop speed.
Fast forward to today and I dont play at that speed anymore.
But I still have a pretty good knowledge of the game.

I have always listened to better and not so good players when they talk pool.
You never know where or from who a little nugget of knowledge might be learned.
Click to expand...

Great statement in the bold!
 
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