1993 Straight pool

[hotelyorba]

When you read Mark Wilson's Play Great Pool, he talks about how there are some very, very good pool players who achieved success with much less than ideal pool mechanics simply because their time on the table- pocketing millions of balls overcame their stroke deficiencies.
...
The guys who became successful with poor looking stroke mechanics all have a few things in common- at the moment their cue strikes the cue ball they are totally focused and are able to get that cue tip through the cue ball in such a way so that they achieve their desired cue ball speed and cue ball position.

I used to play a lot like Mathews in that video - nowhere near as good, of course, but my stroke was a lot like that. I just know that my level went up considerably when I started drilling a Zuglan-like stroke into my system, and I guess that's why I am so stunned that Mathews was as good as he was.

By the way, in the rest of the video Mathews produces two 50+ runs and his stroke seems to improve during those runs, when he no doubt gets more comfortable at the table. But the shots he misses that end the runs: I am convinced he missed those because of that stroke of his.

 

[mikemosconi]

Yep, since I retired from the work world, I have put all of my efforts in the pool world into changing and improving my stroke and it has made a world of difference.