This can apply to anyone at any age, but what do you feel are the most important aspects to create a great young player, and prioritize them in the order of importance. This is not my particular order, but just listed as they came to mind to me. If there are other aspects you guys can think of to add to this list, please include.
1) Natural talent/gift for Pool - varies for all of us.
2). Solid fundamentals - stance/alignment/stroke, that either come to them naturally or have been properly taught to them at a very early stage.
3) Motivation/desire/opportunity to practice and play as much as possible particularly for the first five years
4). Playing with as well as watching and learning from the best players they possibly can in their home pool room.
5). Playing in smaller tournaments and starting to play for $ (within their means) as soon as possible.
6) Observing top pro players perform as much as possible – either live in person or by viewing matches on YouTube, etc.
7) An extremely competitive and absolutely hate to lose instinct/attitude that drives them, that you are likely either born with or learn very quickly. Some have it and some just don’t. This is characterized by an inner drive to never give up in any match situation, regardless of the score or the strength of your opponent.
8) A player that continues to improve every year as opposed to stagnating/leveling off at a certain skill level. Even some players that are really good will level off and reach their max potential at a certain skill level and never get any better - that’s just the way it is.
9) A player that is willing to travel out of town/state to challenge himself against better and better competition, either gambling or tournaments, at the point that he no longer has competition in his own geographical comfort zone.
1) Natural talent/gift for Pool - varies for all of us.
2). Solid fundamentals - stance/alignment/stroke, that either come to them naturally or have been properly taught to them at a very early stage.
3) Motivation/desire/opportunity to practice and play as much as possible particularly for the first five years
4). Playing with as well as watching and learning from the best players they possibly can in their home pool room.
5). Playing in smaller tournaments and starting to play for $ (within their means) as soon as possible.
6) Observing top pro players perform as much as possible – either live in person or by viewing matches on YouTube, etc.
7) An extremely competitive and absolutely hate to lose instinct/attitude that drives them, that you are likely either born with or learn very quickly. Some have it and some just don’t. This is characterized by an inner drive to never give up in any match situation, regardless of the score or the strength of your opponent.
8) A player that continues to improve every year as opposed to stagnating/leveling off at a certain skill level. Even some players that are really good will level off and reach their max potential at a certain skill level and never get any better - that’s just the way it is.
9) A player that is willing to travel out of town/state to challenge himself against better and better competition, either gambling or tournaments, at the point that he no longer has competition in his own geographical comfort zone.
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