Are We Gullible Sheep?

Kickin' Chicken

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
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Silver Member
Lake salvage and bowling alley wood shafts, apps for your phone that explain in real time how to perform a kick shot, $30 for a single cube of chalk, myriad systems on how to aim, tips soaked in milk, etc., etc., etc...

How did Crane, Lassiter, and Mosconi ever get by with out all of these things?

Can any of these items significantly reduce the need for good old fashioned practice? Or are they just gimmicks?

Sometimes I think we are very lucky to have technological advances that can help us be better at pool.

However, more often than not I'm feeling like a target of marketing efforts that try to convince us that without these products we can not be the best we can be.

So tell me, could Willie have done better with a stroke-assist?

Are we gullible sheep?

Best,
Brian kc
 
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Yes, because everyone wants to be better, but most don't want to put the time in to actually do what it takes.... practice.

There is no magic bullet, no secret aiming system, no special cue.....

Put the time in and play better players than yourself, and soon you will improve. Some people take longer, and some never seem to get it, but its there.
 
Wybrook said:
Yes, because everyone wants to be better, but most don't want to put the time in to actually do what it takes.... practice.

There is no magic bullet, no secret aiming system, no special cue.....

Put the time in and play better players than yourself, and soon you will improve. Some people take longer, and some never seem to get it, but its there.
Click to expand...

This sums it up quite well.
 
What I can say is that I'm very, very interested in pool. I can't play as much as I'd like, but I can be online a lot. So I read. I like to read about pool. About gear, about history, about tournaments, about instructional material.

I don't believe we pool players are any different than anyone else. Golf has has as many different "learning" gadgets and methods as we have, probably more.

We are only "gullible sheep" if we buy everything, and if we buy into every new method. If we do our due diligence and and research, and decide if any product or system is worth a try, and we have the means (and appropriate time) to try it, then why not. It's about the game we love.

Flip your question around. Would Lassiter, et al, "NOT" have tried anything new presented to him, or at least put some thought into it? Of course they would have.
 
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I like thinga ma jigs, whats its, doohikies, I just have to have the next best mouse trap.........I'm guilty, they all collect dust after a week at the most.......lol...OTB
 
we all know, or should know that Efren or any other top player will beat you with his cue, or your cue, or the one at walmart for $20.

There just aren't that many things we need to play pool, so IMO we look to the latest gadget for something new to try out of boredom.

On the flip side.....the moment you stop looking for ways to improve....is the moment you stop improving!

I just made that up!.......maybe I'll write a pool book? :)

G.
 
OUCH! The truth hurts...I have a lot more pool "stuff" than I need...for sure.
 
Gerry said:
we all know, or should know that Efren or any other top player will beat you with his cue, or your cue, or the one at walmart for $20.

There just aren't that many things we need to play pool, so IMO we look to the latest gadget for something new to try out of boredom.

On the flip side.....the moment you stop looking for ways to improve....is the moment you stop improving!

I just made that up!.......maybe I'll write a pool book? :)

G.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the DVD...

I don't drink or smoke, and only mainline heroin occasionally (:wink:), so pool's my drug of choice. It has just as many highs and lows, but is only really ruinous to my mental health.

Pool is my hobby and I buy $30 chalk and $40 tips etc out of curiosity, and feel no guilt if I've thrown my money away in the process.
 
I think some of the things that have been mentioned are 'gimmicks' but some of the others are useful tools for the right people.
If you take someone that has never played pool and give them a skill level of 0, and make an Efren Reyes a 100. Some of these gimmicky tools will help someone go from 0-40ish perhaps quicker than just just practice with 'old-school' things. As your skill level goes up, you get diminishing returns from anything other than practice.
And don't forget - some gimmicks are for style points. Does my just-a-bridge do anything a plain old metal bridge can't? nope - but it sure looks cool :)
 
Brian,

We have guys around here who change tips on a dialy basis looking for the Holy Grail. Friends of mine have four or five shafts for their playing cue. Preditor, OB, their cue brands version, etc. It does change their game though. Can't remember whether this shaft deflects more with a Moori Medium or the new Kamui Black. They're completely lost yet they chide me for playing with the same Schon shaft my cue came with twenty years ago. Really gauls them when they can't beat me with all their technology. What WOULD Willie have done?

Great thread incidentally. AZ would not allow me to give you well deserved "rep".

Lyn
 
For the newer players, some of the tools on the market help with confidence and/or performance.

For experienced players, unless they get paid to advertise they are getting scammed.
 
cardiac kid said:
Brian,

We have guys around here who change tips on a dialy basis looking for the Holy Grail. Friends of mine have four or five shafts for their playing cue. Preditor, OB, their cue brands version, etc. It does change their game though. Can't remember whether this shaft deflects more with a Moori Medium or the new Kamui Black. They're completely lost yet they chide me for playing with the same Schon shaft my cue came with twenty years ago. Really gauls them when they can't beat me with all their technology. What WOULD Willie have done?

Great thread incidentally. AZ would not allow me to give you well deserved "rep".

Lyn
Click to expand...

Why?

...........
 
When I was a kid, if you had a pacer that could go a mile in 2 minutes,
you had a champion. Now, a 2 minute horse might not pay the up-keep.
Some of the reasons are...better tracks, better equipment, and better
training.
My first set of state-of-the-art golf clubs look like stone age artifacts
now. And golf lessons have a ton of knowledge that was not available
before.

For pool players, the choice in equipment is tremendous also.
We have the best balls made in history. The cloth, cues and tips
are superior to yesterday's.

Lots of gaffy things out there but a lot of good stuff also.
It's up to you to sort the wheat from the chaff.

But there is one thing that some players ignore....pool muscles....
You get them from hitting a lot of shots...and there is no short-cut.

Many players remind me of what an old boxer told me about some
young boxers..."They have two showers and a work-out and they
think they're a boxer."

I used to gamble with an active foot ball player and a karate champ.
I could draw the ball much farther and break much harder...I had
pool muscles they did not have.

So lessons and better equipment will ALLOW you to play better....
...but if you don't hit a lot of balls, it's all for naught.
 
TheThaiger said:
Just wondering why you weren't able to send rep to someone (and too lazy to edit your post, sorry).
Click to expand...

My understanding of the AZ "Rep" system is, if you Rep the same person too much, the system starts blocking until you pass it around a bit. Don't remember the last time I "Rep'ed" Brian. Then again, I am a Super Senior;)!!!

Spent 38 years in an industry where $100 per foot speaker cable was not good enough till you ran it on "pillars" across the floor. All that extra vibration from the floor screws up the electrons as they transfer energy down the line:p.

Lyn
 
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