Are the best pool players also the most intelligent?

[9BallPaul]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

 

[SUPERSTAR]

Absolutely 100% NO!!!

You are flattering yourself.

 

[Drew]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

Lol...if that's the case, I'll give you the 7 and the breaks. Where do you play?

 

[George Fels]

The smartest?

I'm with Superstar. How, for instance, would you explain Detroit Whitey? GF

 

[strokerace]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

From my expereince your mostly RIGHT..i have known very few really
really good players that were not intellectual to some degree..and
most bangers were just average thinking folks..i think that a lot of
smart people dont play this game..if they are not good at it..they will
go read a book or solve a crossword..your insight is well received..SA

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

Close, but not quite...

It's only the One Pocket players who have the superior intellect...

- Ghost

 

[book collector]

Best pool players

Depends on how you define intelligent.
Book smart, some are , some are not, probably a little above average as a group.
Street smart and survivor skills, most are geniuses.
2 good pool players can last on the road for 3 to 5 months with an 11 dollar bankroll and a cardboard sign.
{Even if they don't get played}

 

[ironman]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

God, I hope not! It so, that explains many of my short comings!

 

[The Renfro]

Fro crush ballz... Fro put ballz in poket... Fro no think just hitz balls... Fro playz with brakecue.... Fro will take the brakes and the 6 outs........

Seriously I don't think you can equate intelligence and performance in this sport. It does require a modicum of intelligence. It also requires coordination. Learned vision. Great memory. Huge amounts of creativity and of course the heart of a fighter.

Show me a genius player that is short on some of the other things on my list and I'll bet heavy against them if the other guy is of avg intelligence and has all the other pieces of the recipe....

 

[mdavis]

there is a lot of physics and geometry in pool. it can be geeky, but i'm not sure there are a lot of geeks who play.

 

[Richardson]

My thoughts.......


You know smart people who play pool ? .... HAHAHAHAHA

 

[JesseAllred]

I think an accurate description would be that great pool players..... are obsessive and wake up wanting to crush the opposition. Some of them are smarter than average, but the defining characteristic is a single minded desire for greatness bordering on personality disorder.

Wait, what was the question? Oh crap, I was talking about myself....description of a shortstop that is!

 

[gunzby]

I will say it is all relative. I've never met a great pool player who was dumb as a rock in all aspects of life. They may be dumb as a rock when it comes to money management and life responsibilities but they do have intelligence.

In my opinion you cannot achieve A status without having the intelligence to figure out a table. That doesn't mean I am going to discuss U.S./Far East Asia relations with that person, but I may ask them the best route for a three rail kick on a ball I am locked up on.

 

[bmoretallpaul]

sir you are dead wrong on this one. some of the most successful people that i know have very little formal education. it does not matter if you grew up in the city and you are street smart or the back woods of somewhere usa (not to offend anyone) it all comes down to plain common sense and the ability to assess the situation and plain your course of action. it does not make a difference if it is pool or bowling or a business of some sort. to have the ability to react correctly to the situation is not always learned in school

 

[DelaWho???]

sir you are dead wrong on this one. some of the most successful people that i know have very little formal education. it does not matter if you grew up in the city and you are street smart or the back woods of somewhere usa (not to offend anyone) it all comes down to plain common sense and the ability to assess the situation and plain your course of action. it does not make a difference if it is pool or bowling or a business of some sort. to have the ability to react correctly to the situation is not always learned in school

There is a big difference between intelligence and education.

 

[Roy Steffensen]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

To be good in pool you have to be so stupid that you don't understand how hard the game really is.

 

[JAM]

Maybe I'm flattering myself, or maybe not. But it seems to me that the best pool players I've known have shown more intellect than natural athletic ability. Those two combined, of course, make for a champion (along with discipline).

But getting back to my point, seems to me that the best players I've known were also shrewd debaters of any subject that involved odds or math problems. Or how to separate some tuna from his bankroll.

Even here at AZB, the members I'd guess are the best players also impress me as the most knowledgeable in their posts -- articulate in grammar and punctuation, history and tradition.

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

There is a difference between wisdom, which is knowledge acquired over a period of time, i.e., how to punctuate and spell as an example, and intelligence quotient. :wink:

I happen to agree that some of the *best* pool players I have met do happen to have a high degree of intelligence quotient, meaning they have the capability to grasp onto a concept much quicker than others.

Jimmy Reid, as one example, received the highest SAT in his State. If you were ever to talk to Jimmy Reid or even Mike Sigel, as an example, it is revealing how quick their brains work. This is why you cannot get a word in edgewise sometimes. :grin-square:

Why do some pool players achieve perfection? Well, the only way to get there, as has been shared with me, is to hit thousands of balls daily, day after day, week after after, month after month, year after year. Practice each shot over and over again until you get it first try. Develop an arsenal of shots, so that when they come up during a match, you can shoot them with authority.

How fast a pool player gets to this level does, in my opinion, have a lot to do with intelligence quotient. They may seem dumb as a doornail to rocket scientists, but if they were to travel the same path as that rocket scientist, they just might have ended up becoming a rocket scientist. Conversely, if the rocket scientist were to take up pool, they just might achieve proficiency much faster than someone with a lower intelligence quotient.

Practice makes perfect, but some don't have to practice as long as others. I think this is true in most endeavors, whether it is learning how to play a guitar or how to pocket pool balls.

 

[ArizonaPete]

I've read somewhere that Jimmy Reid was a mathematical whiz which really helped his game.

 

[mr5994]

But like I said, maybe I'm flattering myself. Your thoughts?

Do you say you are flattering yourself because you are intelligent and a good player?


Seems like pool takes more intelligence than other single player sports like bowling, darts, golf, etc. The process of visualizing a runout or contemplating options at the table requires some intelligence.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Seems like pool takes more intelligence than other single player sports like bowling, darts, golf, etc. The process of visualizing a runout or contemplating options at the table requires some intelligence.

Golf requires greater intelligence than pool ever will. Golf is played in three dimensions on every shot. Shots can be shaped. There are uneven surfaces to land the ball. Trajectory has to be accounted for. There are also outside interferences, such as wind, rain, etc..

Not to take away from pool, but to be played at a very high level, there is much more to the game of golf than pool. There are a few players that have become great at pool in a few years time. This cannot be done at golf.