American legs weak on foreign soil? Or simply not good enough?

D

dundeewizard

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
With the talk of the Mosconi coming up and the the obvious domination from Europe in the last few years it poses the question why are we so far behind everyone else now?
We can argue other countries treat it as a sport etc but I do not think that has much to do with the culture that is an indvivdual choice. Phillipines for example there are no coaches and leagues its just pure play and gamble all day every day.

Is it because many of the Europeans and Asian players have a prominent snooker foundation so they are much more comfortable shot makers especially on the bigger tables that most competitions are starting to go to.

I keep hearing how Shane is the #1 in the world but he has not proved it anywhere outside the US. The argument for a pro tour? Why not? Great Britain has the GB9 tour that has now produced Appleton, Peach, Melling, Shaw, Boyes, Hundal and much more coming through. The Euro tour is doing well. With the US being the home of the sport how can we not produced something like that so ourt players are playing top competition every week/month? Instead we celebrate Earl at a tournament where there is very little big hitters and now think he is the messiah.

As for Bonus Ball idea what an absolute farce that was. Even with everyone telling the people it wouldn't work based on the business model and game they went ahead anyway and burned many bridges. Why didn't they realise SVB, Pagulayan, Orcullo, Biado did not play in it because they saw the fragility of it.

Sorry went off a bit but curious what many of you educated pool players and fans think.
 
I think some of it has to do with cost and time of travelling in the United States. The Europeans do not need to travel very far to find other world beaters. The same is true for the Philipines. If SVB wanted to just go out and match up with someone he would need to travel quite the distance to find someone of his caliber. The same goes for many pros in the United States.

Also remember that the Mosconi is not one country against another. It is one country against many countries. If it were to include all of North America it could be a very different game. There are a couple Canadians that come to mind.
 
With the possible exception of Shane,MOST elite players from foreign soil train for pool by exercise,limited weight training,etc,and the general belief that pool is a SPORT,on top of hitting 5000 balls a week.

Another possible reason is in several countries outside the U.S.,pool players are treated by their government as an athlete,and are offered some kind of sponsorship,so they can concentrate on their performance in order to represent their country,instead of working a 9-5 job,etc.

I have no reason to think Shane won't break thru eventually. Tommy D.
 
5/6 man teams over a decent length frames and sets format at pretty much any cue sport at all:

8 ball, 9 ball, English pool, snooker, you name it..

England would smash the granny out of any other nation.
 
Ron Swanson said:
You lot can't cue a ball. This will never sink in with you. NEVER.

The problem with American pool? America.
Click to expand...

Silly to feed the trolls I know but by my count three of the absolute best European players of the last decade all live in the US and have for a while. Wonder why they would do that if sucks so bad compared to where they come from?
 
voiceofreason said:
5/6 man teams over a decent length frames and sets format at pretty much any cue sport at all:

8 ball, 9 ball, English pool, snooker, you name it..

England would smash the granny out of any other nation.
Click to expand...

Yet they won't play the long races with Shane...
 
voiceofreason said:
5/6 man teams over a decent length frames and sets format at pretty much any cue sport at all:

8 ball, 9 ball, English pool, snooker, you name it..

England would smash the granny out of any other nation.
Click to expand...


Why can't we make it a ten man team? I'm sure the Filipinos are up to it. No obscure games, let's stick to 8, 9 and 10 ball. No
One Pocket, and Banks, that cancels out your English pool and Snooker . We could also add 14.1/Straight Pool in there...
 
Let's make it an eleven man team, put it on a large patch of grass, and have the players only kick the ball with their feet and see how England stacks up. Are you guys even the best team in the British Isles anymore? Ouch... :P
 
JCIN said:
Because short races with goofy formats in oddball corners of the world are the real way you see who is best.
Click to expand...

I concur. Races to 5 is the best way to tell who's best. Any longer is just a trivial side show.... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Shannon.spronk said:
I think some of it has to do with cost and time of travelling in the United States. The Europeans do not need to travel very far to find other world beaters. The same is true for the Philipines. If SVB wanted to just go out and match up with someone he would need to travel quite the distance to find someone of his caliber. The same goes for many pros in the United States.

Also remember that the Mosconi is not one country against another. It is one country against many countries. If it were to include all of North America it could be a very different game. There are a couple Canadians that come to mind.
Click to expand...

Looks like a # of top world class players are making NYC their place of bussiness. Hopefully more will follow suit and make the distance less of a factor.
 
MarsMan said it best in the other related thread.

TheMarsMan said:
Shane hasn't figured out a system for traveling to other countries and dealing with:

Time difference
Language difference
Food difference
Culture difference
Hearing difficulties

I have traveled all over the world and it can be daunting when you don't speak the language and can't get a good meal. I have mentioned to him he should get a guide from here on AZ when he goes to other countries to help out with some of the differences. I am sure there are some good people who post here that could help him out greatly.

It seems to me European players are much more adept at traveling to other countries and fitting in pretty well. As Shane gets more used to this type of travel I think his results will improve. It is amazing to me when I see him play in the U.S. and elsewhere how much of a difference there is in his game. It doesn't seem to me the level of play is that much higher elsewhere, he just needs to be able to play his game in other countries to start winning more.

The bottom line is everyone plays better when they are comfortable, the trick is finding comfort all over the world.
Click to expand...
 
In any sport, travelling is not only important in order to improve a players game but equally as important is the finance to do it.

Why don't a group of the top players in the USA (for arguments sake - this years Mosconi Cup team once it is fully announced) fly over to Europe and play the Euro Tour for a season?

Answers
- probably not economically viable
- less chance of winning
- lose points for the following years TV - Masters, Mosconi and WCOP = Money!

But the path to improvement isn't a straight one...

Pack your bags boys and get an A$$ whooping in Europe for a year - you'll soon see the improvements upon their return! :thumbup:
 
Different strokes

I have never been to Europe so I can only comment on Japan . The fundamental reason they play and practice is different. Here guys play at a minimum of 40 hours a week.The money sucks here so why devote so much effort and time ? Because they want to be great at something! If people say they are pros and they are strong players they on average will be happy even though there is no real money or recognition. They are seriously down for the struggle!
 
Bella Don't Cry said:
Pack your bags boys and get an A$$ whooping in Europe for a year - you'll soon see the improvements upon their return! :thumbup:
Click to expand...


Who's going to hand out "A$$ whoopings" to the 5 guys on the Mosconi cup team? Please tell me who's going to beat any of them down, in a race longer than 5????? Europe is not the place to go to improve. Your boy DAZ agrees with me. He went to Pinoy land to get better...

Philippines would be the place to go any way. FIERCE competition, cheap to stay, and not far to travel to get to the next world beater. I can just see it now, running into the next Biado, when he's a no name around the world. That would be CRAZY action!

Europeans need to get a clue. They play good enough, but none want action in a longer set against TOP US guys, Johny, Shane, Earl, Hatch, Corey, etc. Not to mention there's not a Euro player alive with a big break like Shane has.

I get that Shane hasn't won a world title YET, but I'm pretty sure Johny and Earl have a few between them...
 
jhanso18 said:
Who's going to hand out "A$$ whoopings" to the 5 guys on the Mosconi cup team? Please tell me who's going to beat any of them down, in a race longer than 5????? Europe is not the place to go to improve. Your boy DAZ agrees with me. He went to Pinoy land to get better...

Philippines would be the place to go any way. FIERCE competition, cheap to stay, and not far to travel to get to the next world beater. I can just see it now, running into the next Biado, when he's a no name around the world. That would be CRAZY action!

Europeans need to get a clue. They play good enough, but none want action in a longer set against TOP US guys, Johny, Shane, Earl, Hatch, Corey, etc. Not to mention there's not a Euro player alive with a big break like Shane has.

I get that Shane hasn't won a world title YET, but I'm pretty sure Johny and Earl have a few between them...
Click to expand...

Shane flies to Europe, "Hey guys would you like to gamble on some pool with me"

Crickets...
 
Lot of handflapping because one guy, Shane, hasn't won a specific event or two.

If Shane simply wasn't good enough he'd usually lose to the guys who HAVE won world titles.
So which world title winner has tortured him?
Toastie? Shane beat him at SBE.
Darren? Shane beat him in long ten ball sets on TAR.

Shane's obviously good enough, just give him a race long enough to iron out the rolls.
 
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