Books vs Video vs Private Lessons

NaturalEnglish

NaturalEnglish

Banned
Which do you think are the most valuable?

Each has is merits.

You can re-read the book as often as you desire but the media is 2 dimensional and lacks anything personal.

An instructional video can be replayed and is more visual, but lacks the personal aspects from a real instructor.

A private lesson is one shot...then you leave and have only your memory for notes. Well I guess some instructors tape the entire lesson and you get to leave a copy of the lesson.

Personally I have only read books. I looked at some of Joe Tucker's videos...I think he is on the right track. Seems a good mix of many of the things needed for building your skills.
 
NaturalEnglish said:
Which do you think are the most valuable?

Each has is merits.

You can re-read the book as often as you desire but the media is 2 dimensional and lacks anything personal.

An instructional video can be replayed and is more visual, but lacks the personal aspects from a real instructor.

A private lesson is one shot...then you leave and have only your memory for notes. Well I guess some instructors tape the entire lesson and you get to leave a copy of the lesson.

Personally I have only read books. I looked at some of Joe Tucker's videos...I think he is on the right track. Seems a good mix of many of the things needed for building your skills.
Click to expand...

Best of both worlds ... Scott Lee he video tapes the entire lesson for you.

However, I have gained more knowledge of books than from any other source. Books allow you a multitude of information in detail for you to weight yourself. I'd always suggest books first, then private instructions if you can find an instructor you sync with or one like Scott Lee or Randy G. who sync with everybody. Videos if you don't like to read or as an adjunct to reading.
Joe Tucker is also an effective instructor.
 
Last edited:
All of the above are good!

I say "Learn all you can", so read those books! Also there are books on very specific things like tip replacement, racking, banking, breaking, etc. These are excellent because they cover specific topics. Many of these are only available on the internet.

Then with some things like safety or position play, it just doesn't "click" in my brain trying to learn these things from a book. But videos like Dr. Dave's and Jimmy Reid's have shown me the way.

And for things like stroke, you need a professional to watch what you are doing and then tell you what you need to work on. You can't get this from a book or video.

Also playing games with an instructor, pro, or master player and having them coach you is worth its weight in gold. They can watch what you are doing and point out a better way to do something or tell you some options you have which you may not have thought of.
 
I have an extensive library of pool books, at least 400 accustat tapes and I have taken lessons from Danny D and a few others.

With all that, I would have to say that I have gotten my best results from watching videos. The only exception would be the Eddie Robin one pocket books, which I believe are a better resource to learn the game than anything.
 
NaturalEnglish said:
Which do you think are the most valuable?

Each has is merits.

You can re-read the book as often as you desire but the media is 2 dimensional and lacks anything personal.

An instructional video can be replayed and is more visual, but lacks the personal aspects from a real instructor.

A private lesson is one shot...then you leave and have only your memory for notes. Well I guess some instructors tape the entire lesson and you get to leave a copy of the lesson.

Personally I have only read books. I looked at some of Joe Tucker's videos...I think he is on the right track. Seems a good mix of many of the things needed for building your skills.
Click to expand...
I am probably gonna get heat for saying this... You really can't place any of these over each other; however, as for value for the money, personal instructor.

You get instaneous feedback about questions, theories, and other thoughts of pool from instructors, unlike a book or video. Instructors also can critique YOUR skill, unlilke books and videos they tend to generalize or solve a known problem or a common problem.

I never been lucky enuff to make an appt for one, but getting small little lessons from 3C players have greatly improved my game. So I can just imagine if i did.

As far as relying on memory from personal instructors, have them video tape the session. Or get one of those big fat short notebooks and write it down. :)
 
NaturalEnglish said:
Which do you think are the most valuable?

Each has is merits.

You can re-read the book as often as you desire but the media is 2 dimensional and lacks anything personal.

An instructional video can be replayed and is more visual, but lacks the personal aspects from a real instructor.

A private lesson is one shot...then you leave and have only your memory for notes. Well I guess some instructors tape the entire lesson and you get to leave a copy of the lesson.

Personally I have only read books. I looked at some of Joe Tucker's videos...I think he is on the right track. Seems a good mix of many of the things needed for building your skills.
Click to expand...

Far and away private lessons are best. A good teacher can identify problems that you didn't even know you had and make corrections that are specialized for you.

Videos and books can impart some good knowledge, however you have to self diagnose your own problems which is difficult if since you can't see yourself play. Even is you video tape yourself you still may not have enough knowledge to pick out your problems.

The other issue is that books and video tapes don't always provide much information on the fundamentals of the game just a general explanation, which only uses three to four pages. Ewa' Pool and Billiard for Dummies is an exception to that though.
 
I have used all forms but the most immediate improvement in my game came from private lessons from Jerry Briesath when he ran his Pool School at Cue-Nique Billiards in Madison, Wisconsin. I still have my diploma declaring me a DOC (Doctor of Caromology) hanging on the wall of my home billiard room. It was a lasting improvement and to this day, after laying off for a while, then starting back playing, I follow his training routine. Brings my game back to mediocre in no time. My apologies to Robert Byrne who spent many hours in my bathroom trying to teach me the finer points of the game. For my purposes, his books came in 2nd.

George
 
video. someone telling you what you're doing wrong is better explained when you see it.
 
Books and videos can be helpful, but nothing beats having an instructor who can evaluate what you are doing, give you instant feedback, demonstrate different concepts, then have you demonstrate them back to make sure you got it, and tailor the instruction to fit your individual game.
Steve
 
If you want to learn strategy and tactics in the various games, it really helps to watch the Accu-stat tapes and watch how the pros play the game.

Tonight, for example, I watched an AccuStat tape of the 14. 1 matchup between Ortman and Rempe. By watching these tapes, I think that this is improving my game in many ways. Of course, practice is important but you can learn a lot from watching others play too.
 
pooltchr said:
Books and videos can be helpful, but nothing beats having an instructor who can evaluate what you are doing, give you instant feedback, demonstrate different concepts, then have you demonstrate them back to make sure you got it, and tailor the instruction to fit your individual game.
Steve
Click to expand...
I'd agree with this with a little caveat. No instructor in the world, due to time constraints, can convey the amount of information to you that a book can. I definitely have learned more from books than any other source. Randy, Scott, and the like have fine tuned it and helped me move that information from my brain to my actions, but the amount of information they added was nowhere near what books brought. Unless I was rich and could higher a fulltime instructor at least 20 hours a week, there is no way one could impart to me in a year the same amount of information I got from books in my first year of serious pool.
Additionally, many instructors (including BCA certified instructors) are piss-poor instructors or just don't mesh with the particular student. I would say of all the instructors I tried only 3 were really helpful, they being Randy, Scott, and a local guy Bob leBlanc who gives instructions in his basement and isn't certified by anybody. Some of the others were good instructors who I didn't mesh with and some shouldn't have been instructing.
IF a person is capable, and admittedly some people aren't, of reading and comprehending a book, I think it much more productive to come to an instructor educated first. I feel an instructors primary focus should be on execution and mechanics rather than having him explaining the effect of spin, or what the tangent line is or a host of other information available from other sources. The single biggest issue I've had with inadequate instructors is that they only repeat definitions, but when you turn and say "I know what I want to do, but how do I do it.", they are at a total loss, they have no idea what is wrong with your mechanics. Randy and Scott clearly go right after the mechanics first and foremost and that, in addition to their outstand personalities for teaching, is what makes them the top notch instructors they are. Even the simplist of the mother drills are working on execution and mechanics.
Oh well, I've gone on about this much too long and am probably become repetive and/or incoherent. Since I don't proof read, I'll quit now.
As always JMHO.
 
National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine.

Average Learning Retention rates

Reading 10%
Videos 20%
Demonstration 30%
Mumble-Mumble-Mumble 90%

When you are practicing poorly, set a book up on the table and ask the book to identify your errors. The same with a video. Nothing can replace good old qualified Instructor eyes.......SPF=randyg
 
randyg said:
National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine.

Average Learning Retention rates

Reading 10%
Videos 20%
Demonstration 30%
Mumble-Mumble-Mumble 90%

When you are practicing poorly, set a book up on the table and ask the book to identify your errors. The same with a video. Nothing can replace good old qualified Instructor eyes.......SPF=randyg
Click to expand...

True that Randy, but it doesn't negate the point that there just isn't time for an instructor to communicate all that can be found in books. That is of course why they exist instead of having a bunch of Homers (the greek, not the cartoon characther) wandering around relating stories.
Does my love of books and reading show through here? :)
BTW, I still don't and never will "mumble-mumble-mumble", my personality will just not allow it. :D You might as well ask an autistic kid to walk into a room and start introducing himself to total strangers.
Hope to see you sooner rather than later,
Steve.
 
catscradle said:
True that Randy, but it doesn't negate the point that there just isn't time for an instructor to communicate all that can be found in books. That is of course why they exist instead of having a bunch of Homers (the greek, not the cartoon characther) wandering around relating stories.
Does my love of books and reading show through here? :)
BTW, I still don't and never will "mumble-mumble-mumble", my personality will just not allow it. :D You might as well ask an autistic kid to walk into a room and start introducing himself to total strangers.
Hope to see you sooner rather than later,
Steve.
Click to expand...


TOO BAD.....Mumble-Mumble-Mumble

You know that I read every pool book on the market. 90% of the info is good. 10% I wonder where they have been living......randyg
 
i would go with a hodge podge of all 3. For several years i bought every pool book out there and i would get some good info from them.........implement them in my game........my game would roller coaster up and down. Same with videos, same result. One of the main reasons I recommend personal lessons such as Randyg at pool school is plain and simple, you dont know what youre doing wrong until someone who knows whats right and wrong watches you shoot. One of the problems with my game was i was always tinkering with my stroke depending on what i read last or what i thought worked for me.......the personal instruction let me get my stroke nailed down, and it freed me up to think about my game and position play and all the other aspects. THe cool thing is I now go back and reread some of my books and i pick up new info i didnt see before........or i tried before and couldnt execute because my fundamentals were off, and now i can.
 
scottycoyote said:
i would go with a hodge podge of all 3. For several years i bought every pool book out there and i would get some good info from them.........implement them in my game........my game would roller coaster up and down. Same with videos, same result. One of the main reasons I recommend personal lessons such as Randyg at pool school is plain and simple, you dont know what youre doing wrong until someone who knows whats right and wrong watches you shoot. One of the problems with my game was i was always tinkering with my stroke depending on what i read last or what i thought worked for me.......the personal instruction let me get my stroke nailed down, and it freed me up to think about my game and position play and all the other aspects. THe cool thing is I now go back and reread some of my books and i pick up new info i didnt see before........or i tried before and couldnt execute because my fundamentals were off, and now i can.
Click to expand...


TAP-TAP-TAP......Thanks, randyg
 
I would agree with the posters that a personal instructor is the best. The reason why I put it behind accustats videos is the cost factor. Weighed with a cost vs benefits analysis, I give the nod to accustats.
 
I've used all 3 and...

I've used all 3 and I have to admit that having a personal instructor was the most beneficial. I still use my books and DVDs as refreshers and to review things I may have forgotten or overlooked, but nothing compared to having an instructor.

My instructor stood in front of me, on the sides of me and behind me and was able to tell me what I was doing wrong in my stroke. He video taped me, so we could review what I was doing wrong (and right). He pointed out problems in my stance and although I thought my grip was loose, he noticed that at the point of shot execution I tighten my grip and then released.

So although all are good, and a book and DVD can tell you what to do, however only an instructor can observe you and tell you why what you're attempting is or isn't working. So my advice is to use a combination of the 3.

My instructor came from the BCA instruction list:

http://www.bca-pool.com/play/instruction/BCA_Instructors_Active.htm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top