It's ironic in a way. They have been born without the natural intellectual talent/capacity to recognize that the very thing they lack actually exists.
Components Necessary to Become a Pro Level Pool Player?
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
It's ironic in a way. They have been born without the natural intellectual talent/capacity to recognize that the very thing they lack actually exists.
I posted a few times on pages 2-3 and feel my point wasn't heard. So here we go: I don't care which belief is true, I care which belief is more practical to improvement.
There are things we can control and things we can't. Most champions stay laser focused on what they can control and believe that if they manage their side of the fence eventually results will come. This is motivating and empowering versus those who are worried about their chances of success or if they were given a fair opportunity from their maker. So those are the benefits of belief in 'hard work'.
Benefits of believing in 'talent' are that we don't hurt ourselves trying to do something we can't do, and we instead live a more balanced and hopefully more content life.
In general I think the belief in talent will lead to a better life, but the belief in hard work will lead to a better pool game and is a requirement to pro pool (OPs original question). But for me, I live a fairly balanced life but when I get to the pool table I choose to believe I have the ability to work hard and achieve the results I want. Maybe I'm wrong but I'd rather find my limits on the pool table than in my head, and I'd rather reach my personal potential than be right about a theoretical debate on AZB.
There are things we can control and things we can't. Most champions stay laser focused on what they can control and believe that if they manage their side of the fence eventually results will come. This is motivating and empowering versus those who are worried about their chances of success or if they were given a fair opportunity from their maker. So those are the benefits of belief in 'hard work'.
Benefits of believing in 'talent' are that we don't hurt ourselves trying to do something we can't do, and we instead live a more balanced and hopefully more content life.
In general I think the belief in talent will lead to a better life, but the belief in hard work will lead to a better pool game and is a requirement to pro pool (OPs original question). But for me, I live a fairly balanced life but when I get to the pool table I choose to believe I have the ability to work hard and achieve the results I want. Maybe I'm wrong but I'd rather find my limits on the pool table than in my head, and I'd rather reach my personal potential than be right about a theoretical debate on AZB.
For those interested in this thread, check out the following resource page:
What it Takes to Play Like a Pro (and “Nature” vs. “Nurture”)
Here is an excerpt from the page that includes my list:
The main things top players have in common:
They:
- have developed a wealth of experience and intuition through countless hours of smart practice and successful play at the table.
- have good visual acuity (good eyes or corrected vision) and visual perception (i.e., they can clearly and consistently “see” the “angle of the shot” and the required line of aim).
- have good eye-hand coordination and they can consistently and accurately align and deliver the cue along the desired line with the tip contact point and speed needed for the shot (even if their mechanics aren’t always “textbook”).
- have excellent understanding of and “feel” for shot speed, spin, and position play.
- have tremendous focus and intensity when they are playing.
- have been around, watched, played, and learned from many top players.
- have very strong desire, dedication, and drive to improve and win.
- are very competitive, hate to lose, and love to win.
- really enjoy and feel motivated to play the game.
- are fearless but they are also aware of their limitations.
- choose shots that give them the best chances to win a game (i.e., they have good strategy), and they learn from their mistakes and bad choices.
- are willing to travel and play often in many tournament (and/or gambling) matches against players who will challenge them to their limits and beyond.
- have played on a wide range of equipment under a wide range of conditions to develop a good feel for how to quickly and effectively adjust to different playing conditions.
Enjoy,
Dave
What it Takes to Play Like a Pro (and “Nature” vs. “Nurture”)
Here is an excerpt from the page that includes my list:
The main things top players have in common:
They:
- have developed a wealth of experience and intuition through countless hours of smart practice and successful play at the table.
- have good visual acuity (good eyes or corrected vision) and visual perception (i.e., they can clearly and consistently “see” the “angle of the shot” and the required line of aim).
- have good eye-hand coordination and they can consistently and accurately align and deliver the cue along the desired line with the tip contact point and speed needed for the shot (even if their mechanics aren’t always “textbook”).
- have excellent understanding of and “feel” for shot speed, spin, and position play.
- have tremendous focus and intensity when they are playing.
- have been around, watched, played, and learned from many top players.
- have very strong desire, dedication, and drive to improve and win.
- are very competitive, hate to lose, and love to win.
- really enjoy and feel motivated to play the game.
- are fearless but they are also aware of their limitations.
- choose shots that give them the best chances to win a game (i.e., they have good strategy), and they learn from their mistakes and bad choices.
- are willing to travel and play often in many tournament (and/or gambling) matches against players who will challenge them to their limits and beyond.
- have played on a wide range of equipment under a wide range of conditions to develop a good feel for how to quickly and effectively adjust to different playing conditions.
Enjoy,
Dave
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All most heard was a whooshing sound as that sailed over their head.
Bingo. Hell, we all learn in early grade school which of us is the fastest runner...some go on to become high school stars who get the college scholarships, then a few actually reach pro level.
I'm talking the traditional sports here, not pool. But genetics does play a huge role.
From grade school on, genetics made me the kid who was picked to be on a team near the last. When only 9 players there to be on a baseball team, I was the clumsy kid in right field. But I still enjoyed being there. Same with pool. Now age 76, with age related health problems affecting vision, joint movements, all of it. But yesterday afternoon I enjoyed the hell out of just being there, making the occasional 4-6 balls runs.
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1) natural ability
2) desire
3) drive
4) mental toughness
I picked these as the basic elements based on my experience learning to play pool and watching others learn. I think these four drive all of the rest of it.
I was 18 and had never really seen a pool table except on TV, went to a local junior college and discovered the 2 Gold Crowns and a snooker table in student union basement. Tried it just for fun, got hooked, got better quickly and immediately wanted to be top dog (desire). Spent the bulk of my time (at the end, 8 hrs/day 5 days/week) playing until I got kicked out of school for not going to classes (drive).
I'm not sure about calling it talent but I did have something like natural ability because getting good came easily, getting to the point of running every 3rd or 4th rack of 8 ball on 9 ft tables within 6 months. Maybe it was the physics and geometry classes I had under my belt but I could see the path the CB needed to take to make cuts, caroms, banks and kicks, in addition to the natural path of the CB after contact with the OB.
To this day I get down on a bank shot, wait for my eyes to center on the contact spot on the OB, stroke it and it just goes in. I see pros such as SVB and Thorpe do the same sort of thing without using any apparent system. Is it talent or is it the hours I/they spent shooting nothing except banks and kicks to learn how to do that?
As I gained confidence in my new found skill I liked to play against others that I was pretty sure I could not beat to see where my weaknesses were and learn without feeling defeated, even though I hated to lose (mental toughness).
I have given pointers to a few beginners in the local leagues that resulted in rapid improvement (natural ability) and others not so much. I'm pretty sure the former are not intending on going pro but they seem to have the desire and drive to improve to the point that they are now competing in the state VNEA tournament. I have been coaching a couple other players on the team on the mental toughness part of it and that seems to be working because they have the desire and drive.
If your candidate young player has the requisite amount of desire and drive you won't be able to hold them back from trying to get plenty of table time but at this stage I think it is essential for them to build solid fundamentals because it is far more productive than having to fix things later on. When I was getting started I watched the best players and emulated what they were doing. It may not be textbook in all regards but it works well. It does appear that fundamentals come more naturally to some than others.