First: Always pay close attention to what CJ says. Second: Among select groups of competitors there are three types (IMO). 1-good, 2-great, 3-those that stand out among great competitors. My background is motorcycle racing. We had good riders, world class riders, and those who stood out among world class riders ie, Kenny Roberts. The difference is if you got it you just got it.
Difference between great players and good players
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Man, is that ever so true!! I know 1000% more about the game now, 1000% more about what and how something happens when I pull the trigger, 1000% more about strategy and patterns than I did when I was 20. But when I was 20 I could run multiple racks pretty damn consistently, but don't remember thinking about much. I didn't know how to do it, but just did it. Now I know how to do it, but can't always execute.
I guess young men have more ability and opportunity, but less wisdom...old men have more wisdom but less ability and opportunity. Life in a nutshell.
Closer analogy to difference in pool players is my close friend Vernon Elliott (RIP). Vernon hardly ever practiced once out of his teens. I asked him about that and his reply was he didn't need to learn how to play pool again even after not playing for a few months. Sometimes for several years when he was in the lock up. He said after a long lay off he could hit balls for thirty minutes, mostly to find out how the table played and to check out the rails and he was ready to play. Actually, he never "played". It didn't make sense to me but those of us who knew Vernon knew you didn't question Vernon! He is an example of "if you got it you just got it".
I think we on this forum have created a bit of a myth when it comes to what a great player even is. We all like to think there's this great chasm that separates the truly elite players from those that are right at their heels. The truth is its pretty simple -- there's a wide spectrum of playing ability and you can put the worst player in the world on this spectrum and work your way all the way to the other side and get to the best. There's no chasm.
To simplify it even more you can take two players and the one that has the more fine tuned and repeatable stroke, 99 out of 100 times will be the better player.
There are two roads to take when it comes to pool. You can go down the road where you try to master every shot on the table or you can try to master your stroke. The 2nd road is a much straighter and quicker path to great pool playing.
To simplify it even more you can take two players and the one that has the more fine tuned and repeatable stroke, 99 out of 100 times will be the better player.
There are two roads to take when it comes to pool. You can go down the road where you try to master every shot on the table or you can try to master your stroke. The 2nd road is a much straighter and quicker path to great pool playing.
Great players make all the shots on a consistent basis whatever their system or program is. What really separates "good vs. great" players is how they win when they're not playing well. In that I mean how they dig out matches they weren't supposed to win and do that on a consistent basis. I call that the "smart or heart" factor. They just got it…..
Vernon Elliott was a very rare breed of a pool player. What you said it true. He never practice. EVER!
Do you know Stanly Smith, a good dirt racer.
People can say a lot of profound sounding things but great players are born that way. That is not to say all players born with the ability to be great are. Dennis Hatch is one of the best natural players ever born. I have seen him play since he was maybe 13 and the game was nothing to him he just picked up a cue and could play. Somewhere along the line though he didn't do what it took to be really great. He should have been like SVB winning everything he entered, he had the talent.
Then you have Tommy Kennedy. Pool was not easy for him he had to work at it for years. Many without a lot of improvement. But his work paid off and he has won a lot of tournaments but in reality is is not a great player with natural talent, he made himself what he is with limited talent.
SVB is everything, talent and a willingness to work at it and not just take it for granted because it comes easy to him. His success is no fluke. Talent plus hard work makes a great player. The term "Great" must be reserved for a very few who truly are.
Then you have Tommy Kennedy. Pool was not easy for him he had to work at it for years. Many without a lot of improvement. But his work paid off and he has won a lot of tournaments but in reality is is not a great player with natural talent, he made himself what he is with limited talent.
SVB is everything, talent and a willingness to work at it and not just take it for granted because it comes easy to him. His success is no fluke. Talent plus hard work makes a great player. The term "Great" must be reserved for a very few who truly are.
a sub conscious training to coordinate the mind and the cue ball
What's ironic is it's actually easier to play the game at a super high level than it is to play at the beginner level.
The higher your performance level gets the more you drop off what you don't need and streamline your approach to the game. I've made the best attempt I can by teaching the TOI technique that requires the player to hit the same side of the cue ball, use the same (approximate) speed, and create the angle using the same reference (center or edge of the object ball).
This does far more than what the conscious mind "thinks" it does.....it's actually a sub conscious training to coordinate the mind and the cue ball in a way that they can connect......then, and only then will the cue ball do what you think, then know it will do.
Expert players usually see one shot and one way of creating it (this will slightly increase playing 8 Ball, Straight Pool and One Pocket).....the less variables you have the better off you'll be. If a player see several possibilities in each situation there's a very good chance they're making the game too complicated
What's ironic is it's actually easier to play the game at a super high level than it is to play at the beginner level.
The higher your performance level gets the more you drop off what you don't need and streamline your approach to the game. I've made the best attempt I can by teaching the TOI technique that requires the player to hit the same side of the cue ball, use the same (approximate) speed, and create the angle using the same reference (center or edge of the object ball).
This does far more than what the conscious mind "thinks" it does.....it's actually a sub conscious training to coordinate the mind and the cue ball in a way that they can connect......then, and only then will the cue ball do what you think, then know it will do.
Expert players usually see one shot and one way of creating it (this will slightly increase playing 8 Ball, Straight Pool and One Pocket).....the less variables you have the better off you'll be. If a player see several possibilities in each situation there's a very good chance they're making the game too complicated