Your 'speed' takes into account everything. Aiming systems, funky stroke, safety play, decisions. All of it.
I actually have very little doubt I can win this particular contest with you. Just shot 21 of 25 off camera with a Friday night thank the lord buzz. But that's not my point. My fundamentals are weak. Yours are even weaker. Neither of us needs any "systems" other than to drill our bad habits away. Yet we both lack the will power to do so. Therefore we are stuck at mediocracy.
What you have that I don't is brass balls to bet ridiculous money that's basically dead. Props to you for that but that isn't feeding the bulldogs.
I am only stuck because I am at a point in my life where pool is not and can not be high enough priority to devote the time to improve dramatically. Plus I am physically deteriorating to the point that my body will not cooperate.
If I chose to put in more than a few hours of practice every couple weeks then I have zero doubt that I would surpass you easily. As it is I still manage to maintain a rating that is the same as yours.
What you don't really want to believe is that having a good aiming system is a huge reason why I maintain that level despite the poor form.
Your position is that there is some level of player who is too pool ignorant or too uncoordinated to benefit from a good aiming system. I completely disagree and find it distasteful that you feel that those players you have so labeled are chasing magic bullets when they could use work on other areas. You automatically assume that they can't do both.
If I score better than you then does that mean I am right?
My point is that it's unbecoming to put down other players who are seeking knowledge. You look at me and make assumptions but you never ever ever give credit to the average players who show great form and give tons of credit to aiming systems as a strong pillar of their game.
Yeah I look like shit when I dog a shot but I also look like a hero when I come with shots that look super hard but which I used cte to aim at. You can't really know the power of having a great tool at your disposal even if you can't use it to it's fullest potential when you don't have that tool in your toolbox.
I have seen players improve measurably after learning a good aiming system. I have seen them have an increased love of the game and embark on deeper exploration of the game after learning a good aiming system. Not because they were seeking a magic potion but because they acquired a way to unlock a wider range of shots that they would have had to learn through brute force otherwise.
I have zero doubt that if we each took a 550 speed player and you made that player practice drills endlessly with no instruction on aiming other than ghost ball and I taught mine a good objective aiming system and had him do half the drills that in one year my player would rob yours.
I don't doubt this because I have seen it happen already with players around me.
At this point I am just a cheerleader to get people interested in looking into aiming systems. I am not, nor will I ever be any type of good example of how to play pool. I was given a gift by Hal Houle and he asked me to pass it on and I do when I can.
I didn't seek it out out but I saw the value right away in my results. And over the years I have had some really good matches where I can say with 100% clarity that the aiming system was a huge part of the victory.
But there is no way that I can get you to understand how that feels when we aren't using the same tools. In leatherwork the difference between a basic mallet and a high end well balanced one is clear and amazing. Great work can be and has been done with basic tools. But the person who is great with basic tools goes to another level with high end tools. A person who isn't great still gets benefit out of great tools just not as much as they could be getting if they worked on other parts of their leatherworking skills.
On leatherworking groups you can see the improvement of the people who invest in good tools and more importantly you can feel their excitement and pride in the results. They are clear that a $50 Barry King stamp won't help them to tool a line straight. But they know that every impression will be crisp and feel great when the tool is struck.
What we don't have is a bunch of knockers telling those who like to invest in high end tools and educational materials that they are just looking for magic bullets. We don't have people discouraging others from trying to improve.
We honor the teachers and are grateful to those who take the time to develop techniques and tools and to share them with everyone who is interested.
