check out soufi, the runner up in the last world 9b champs. whitey barely stops
Are Top Level Pool Players Better Today?
- Thread starter CageyCraigey
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check out soufi, the runner up in the last world 9b champs. whitey barely stops
yes, it's annoying as hell. kaci also does this. but little ko plays faster and more aggressive. their stocks vary, i guess big ko is in better form atm but they're fairly equal
I don’t know if it would be APPEALING but I certainly think it would be telling. Take Diamond tables for example. Many here who grew up and cut their teeth on Gold Crowns blather on about how Diamonds “don’t bank right”, “they play way too fast”, “the pocket angles are cut all wrong”, etc. They certainly bank much differently and there’s a ton of banks you can hit on Diamonds that are impossible to hit on Gold Crowns. They are far faster as well but truthfully that helps weaker players as you don’t need a powerful stroke to move the ball. The pocket cuts are much different and don’t allow you to cheat the pocket as much or in the same ways. At the end of the day Diamonds don’t play “badly or wrong” as many attest, they just play differently and great players can adjust to their differences, where lesser players just sit in the corner and cry about it because they can’t adjust, they don’t have the skills/ability. I think some players today that cut their teeth on newer equipment have the skills and ability to where they could adjust and play well on the conditions of older equipment and there are some players who don’t possess the stroke to do so and wouldn’t fare as well. I can’t speak for others, but I’ve had the pleasure of starting and playing in the old era and then experiencing the changes in equipment throughout the years to where it is now and I think it’s far easier on the equipment of today. Others experiences may differ from my take on it but IMO it’s not a head to head comparison, it’s similar to comparing an apple to an orange.
Exactly right. The measure of excellence is how one fares against one's contemporaries. We'll never know whether Mosconi or Sigel was better than Filler. but we'll always know that each was incredibly successful against his contemporaries.
Today's players are better cueists than those of the past, but so what? Yes, despite playing on much tighter equipment, they still miss fewer balls than the players of the 1980s and 1990s. Still, it works the same in every sport. As knowledge, equipment and training methods improve, each generation tends to raise the bar. Pool is no different.
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The top pro pool players are generally better today for all the obvious reasons, just like they are in most of the other sports.
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
And there is more of them near the top level
SJM: Not so sure the equipment of the past was easier to play on? Prior to the 30's championship play on pool tables was on 5X10' tables and if I'm not mistaken with 41/4" pockets? I hate to discuss the equipment of the past with the present but suffice it to say the balls and tables required heavy cues of 57" length and in championship play often in tuxedos hardly the current dress code. But today's players as a larger group play better according to statistics. If I were to speculate, Greenleaf in his prime would perform well today especially with the advanced equipment and if you put everyone on those 5x10' footers I think he'd do quite well.
Mosconi and Crane both had high runs of 309 on 10 footers.
Greenleaf had a high run of 289 on a 10 footer.
I've played 14.1 on a 10 footer and those numbers are incredible on that size table.
the top tier of players today are in fact really top. but how much better than those of the past. we will never know as we get to see most of them on tv or internet so it looks like so many are good. well they are.
but years and decades back there were hundreds of players running hundreds of balls and running out at nine ball and one pocket you never even heard of or saw. they weren't in tournaments or tv and most didn't even travel and only had nicknames. i think there are less of them than in the past.
take toby sweet for instance. few would even have heard of him except for this site. if he was in his prime now and they still played nine ball same as back then there isnt 5 guys that wouldn't get tortured from toby and maybe none that would beat him.
or searcy which i had no use for, same thing with finding someone from the present to go back in time and play him for all their cash in the world and win.
the list can go on and on before we get to the totally unknown names that play almost their speed and beat the best in their own home rooms.
most of the ones you see on you tube were well past their prime so hard to judge.
but years and decades back there were hundreds of players running hundreds of balls and running out at nine ball and one pocket you never even heard of or saw. they weren't in tournaments or tv and most didn't even travel and only had nicknames. i think there are less of them than in the past.
take toby sweet for instance. few would even have heard of him except for this site. if he was in his prime now and they still played nine ball same as back then there isnt 5 guys that wouldn't get tortured from toby and maybe none that would beat him.
or searcy which i had no use for, same thing with finding someone from the present to go back in time and play him for all their cash in the world and win.
the list can go on and on before we get to the totally unknown names that play almost their speed and beat the best in their own home rooms.
most of the ones you see on you tube were well past their prime so hard to judge.
Thanks for this post, Baby Huey.
Guess I'm going by my own experience as a fan alone. I have been a regular on the tournament trail since 1976 (some say that was the year the 9ball era began) and have seen up close the gradual move to tighter and tighter pockets at the highest level of competition.
I did not know that equipment was tight prior to the 1930s. Similarly, the 10-foot table era, of which I've read and heard much, predates my days as a fan.
That fool likes to use headline words and pretend he has a useful and unique perspective.
I guess he doesn't realize (understand/ notice) the reason his thoughts are unique is coz they are wrong. So funny.
He's the rain man of Azb. FN high-larious.
roland garcia does it too, unbearable to watch. would like to know how such excessive time thievery isn't gamesmanship..
14.1 was the game, and for 14.1 one hardly needs a break stick--you simply do not hit the break any harder than a standard shot.
One things for sure, the top players of the past, Buddy Hall timeframe they were Much better gamblers and game makers.
I know that every pre WWII Brunswick table that I ever saw or played had very large pockets compared to today’s Diamond table/ I never have seen an antique pool table - 9 or 10 foot with anything close to 4 1/4 pockets. Most seemed like 5 inch corners and very wide side pockets - sides so wide that you could makes side pocket shots from many more sharper angles than today.
This is a very good post!
The true greats have the ability to overcome whatever conditions that are there. Pocket billiards does not require the gift of speed to run the 100m or other physical gifts. The equipment is important. All of the greats throughout time have common abilities, the ability to learn and understand, dedication to put the practice in, and the creativity and trouble shooting ability to see and solve the puzzle in front of them.
To the original post question: As much as I'd like to because this is our time to watch and I'm a huge fan, but, it's really impossible to say todays players are better than yesterdays. We can say that today there's a lot more of them. This is because of a great many things, including the fans for wanting more and good people making a legitimate business of it so that it attracts the talented players, allows them to earn a living, and sponsors to help it grow.
We are witnessing the best time of pool in history, we can only hope it keeps going.
Now, if only I could sneak out of work early to go play some pool!!!
Amusing musing:
There was a slow player from NYC they called the 'Tine Bandit'.
That is all the way funny.