Do I have a good chance to go pro?

ericksakti

Registered
Well....I'm 17 now...have been playing pool for about almost 2 years....and....maybe i'm between a C and B player...
I can do run out about 3 times when playing pool for 2 hour....
Do I have a good chance to go pro in about 3 years looking at my current condition??
 
bruin70 said:
most young players i know become A players after two years

Thats not fair. We don't know how much this person practices or whether they have had instruction or not.

ericsakti, at your current rate, going pro in 3 years is a little unrealistic. There is a lot to learn in this game and the part that involves pocketing balls and position play is only a small part of it. I agree you should stay in school but of course still practice your game. When I have seen interviews with Steve Davis were they ask him to give advice to young players he always tells them to go to school THEN pursue a career in pool or in his case snooker.

Regards
 
The best pool players I have met didn't stay in school. Every single one of them has told me to stay in school and told me that they wish they did the same. You may be good but you have more life chances if you go to college then go on to pursue pool.
 
Find yourself a great teacher & mentor, a BCA certified instructor or a working/retired pro player who may take you under his/her wing. Practice as much as you can, and learn HOW to practice properly. That means drills and routines, no four hours of bashing balls around the table. Consider investing in some of the many great books and DVD's that people recommend on AZB and test out the lessons while at a pooltable.

Find top notch hitters to match up against that regularly whoop your butt. You will get better much faster, and/or you will re-think turning pro. Either way, you win because both are lessons well worth learning. Maybe you're not as good as you think you are, or you're beating up on weaker players that don't challenge you. After all the pros make it look easy because they are phenomenally gifted players. But to do what they do with any level of consistency could be one of the hardest things to do.

If you have a poolhall in your neighborhood, consider working there part time after school. The owners usually offer free table time for their employees during the slow times. Surround yourself with the lifestyle of pool, and it's characters. If you're going to go pro, you will be spending a lot of time in this environment. You may decide you don't like this environment, even though you love pocket billiards.

A steady paycheck is a great thing, though not as romantic as the notion of being a touring pro. In reality, with pool - one bad roll can take you from a potential money finish to sweet FA. Would you spend 40 hours at work if you thought you might be paid nothing?. That's what pro poolplayers do, they travel great distances and work very hard and sometimes can't even cover their own travel/living expenses. Not so romantic anymore.

As everyone else has said, dream big, but make sure you finish school. Only the truly exceptional players can grind out a steady living playing pool. The rest eat macaroni and cheese every day and have to use all four sides of their underwear. :D Just kidding!.





Good luck!.
 
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Maybe you shouldn't look quite so far ahead right now. Work as hard at it as you can stand, get some first-rate instruction, compete with the best you can find ... and at least you may be able to ANSWER THE QUESTION in 3 years.

Me, I still wonder how I might be playing if -- when I was trying to figure out how to play right, in Julian's in NYC 30 years ago -- if, when I was watching somebody get a rare lesson there, I had approached the teacher afterward and arranged to have a few myself, as I was strongly tempted to do.

Instead, I fooled around, watching great 1-pocket and giving up, trying to run 30 and giving up ... then boozing and chasing chix for 20 years before finally learning some of what I got a hint of that day.
 
I don't know how the pool scene is around where you live in Indonesia but you have got to get yourself around the absolute best players you can find and practice with them. That almost goes without saying. Have you ever been to a professional event? It can be humbling and will probably show you just where your game really is and needs to be to go pro. I just thought I saw great pool until I went to my first pro event. Those guys are unbelievable. Go for your dreams but be realistic in your pursuit. Cheers.:)
 
ericksakti said:
Well....I'm 17 now...have been playing pool for about almost 2 years....and....maybe i'm between a C and B player...
I can do run out about 3 times when playing pool for 2 hour....
Do I have a good chance to go pro in about 3 years looking at my current condition??

Stay in school, but if turning pro is your dream, take lessons, read books, and attend pro events to learn how the best become and remain the best.

As for gauging where you are now with your game, why not ask an expert instructor or player what they think of your: a) pocketing, b) position play, c) break, d) defense, e) tactical decision making, and f) mental game. If you want to become a pro, you must develop adequcy in all six of these areas. You must also master pool table geometry, often referred to as billiard theory.

Until you know what's missing from your game, how will you know what skills to add, reenforce or refine in you practice?

You may have what it takes, but you'll need some help if you wish to plot out a course toward attaining pro level skills and abilities.

On straight probability, your chance of ever attaining pro level is near zero unless you have a game plan that includes instruction and comprehensive development of your skills. Now it's up to you!
 
Mr441 said:
Why would you tell such a bald faced lie?
the two i know in my area were A's after two years. what are YOU talking about!
 
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bruin70 said:
the two i know in my area were A's after two years. what are YOU talking about!


Now you're saying "2" players, before you said "most" young players were A's after 2 years...a HUGE difference.

.
 
Mr441 said:
Now you're saying "2" players, before you said "most" young players were A's after 2 years...a HUGE difference.

.


oh,,,,,,ok

my mistake
 
ericksakti said:
Well....I'm 17 now...have been playing pool for about almost 2 years....and....maybe i'm between a C and B player...
I can do run out about 3 times when playing pool for 2 hour....
Do I have a good chance to go pro in about 3 years looking at my current condition??
My advice to people who ask this is to say YES...the potential for incredible improvement in almost any field is possible for a person with extreme determination.

Of course, 99.9% fail this test early on when they fail to apply themselves with the required effort.

But the occassional person, who believes, and works and thinks tirelessly will achieve great strides.

If you are willing to work and think your butt off Erick, you may achieve something you'd be very proud of. Proove you have that work ethic and more and more will support you and give you useful advice.

You don't need my good luck, this is on your shoulders. You must choose take or not take the path suggested.

As for School: If you are a self-driven independent thinker then my advice is to leave and dedicate yourself to a more useful self-education via the huge resources available on line. Begin to write, study, learn to use various software.

But if you're just looking for an easy way out, then better to stick with school as it would force you to do more and learn more than you might if you just sat around wasting time. Personally I believe that most of what is taught at schools is either useless or downright unintelligent. It succeeds only in some regard by training diligence and practice of writing and use of math skills.

If you're not very confident in your self-drive, you better stick to the normal path of life.
 
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Colin Colenso said:
But if you're just looking for an easy way out, then better to stick with school as it would force you to do more and learn more than you might if you just sat around wasting time. Personally I believe that most of what is taught at schools is either useless or downright unintelligent. It succeeds only in some regard by training diligence and practice of writing and use of math skills.

I am going to assume you did not intend to insult anyone here, but that statement is a bit offensive. After dropping out of college, I went back, spent countless nights studying and applying myself; at the same time worked third shift as well as slept in shifts to get a degree. I worked hard and made sacrifices so that I would not pay later in life, and respectfully disagree that school is the easy way out. As with many things in life, you take out what you put in.
 
Do you think

My friend if there is something going on with your game you won't have to wonder you'll be told by everyone you meet at the table but, I hope that you consider this option GO TO SCHOOL if you think that there is something glamorous about pro pool think again your still young enough to pick anything to be a pro at. Here is a recap of my last ten years in pool.

I took money from everyone I met at the table for many years anybody whether they had it or not good player or bad. A few years ago I looked up the word begger in the thesarus and it said a Hustler, Shark and Bum along with many other negative words. It was this momment I knew how I had spent the begining my life. I hope you don't mis understand me I'm not calling anyone else these things but, that is how It made me think of myself and I couldn't live with that. I knew I must become a "pro". That day I started calling sponsor's and I eventualy stumbled into very good one tada "pro". They paid for everything even bought me my two front teeth (litterally) very nice people better than myself Go FURY. What more could I ask for my hotel rooms came with jacuzzis instead of roachezz
I was living the poolplayers dream right..

I spent alot of the years on the road either playing pool with people or shooting trick shot exhibitions for crowds and I have to say wow what a bunch of good honest party hard kind of people, I made some great friends along the way. I had no idea how many people that played pool wanted to be shooting pro in fact the entire time I met very few that didn't. One that didn't sticks out in my mind she was in law school (25 yrs old) and allready had a job offer to make more cash than any pool player I had ever heard of. Exept for 1 and he died many years ago just a few yrs. after being tossed out of pro pool. (If I got my facts right it was Greenlief who recieved the most pay. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. That part is to the billiard enthusiast fact checkers)

I have to say the time spent away from loved ones the lack of sleep mixed with the complete lack of routine all added up to a very un rewarding lifestyle. Regardless of the great benifits so I left the sponsor behind (not cool of me) and now finally at 26 I get to enjoy the game I love. With no obligations or motives to play. I get to play when I want, where I want and with who I want. I'm happier, I play for the fun of it and it's a much more rewarding game for me. Also I got out early enough to have the chance to even GO BACK TO SCHOOL even if I did take a very long summer vacation........

Think of it like this. Have you ever been to a workplace where almost none of your co workers want you to succeed? I would not wish it on my worst enemy. If I had it to do over I would have not dropped out of school on my 16th birthday just because, I was bringing in a little more than my very under paid (maybe even starving) teachers.

Here is a couple of jokes about pro pool that partly insired me to give real life a chance for once. (oddly enough told to me by my sports manager)

Question: What does a pro pool player and a small pizza have in common Answer: Neither one can feed a family of four.:eek:

Question: What do you call a pro pool player without a wife?
Answer: Hungry:eek:

STAY IN SCHOOL STAY IN SCHOOL STAY IN SCHOOL STAY IN SCHOOL STAY IN SCHOOL Besides, you might even learn enough to actually become a Professional like as in someone who gets paid to do something.

Just my unique experience results may vary depending on individuals want's and needs. "If a man really wants something bad enough he'll get it no matter what it is."
 
Mr441 said:
Why would you tell such a bald faced lie?

Yea, that's a bit ridiculous.

Some players after many years, say even ten or more, will never become an A player, if we have the same definition of A player.
 
Jamison,
Thank you for a very insightful post on the subject. I wish other's who have gone into professional pool would share their experiences as openly as you have. It's like so many things, those on the outside only see the glamour and excitement, and don't understand the cold hard reality.
Steve
 
I think what alot of people are saying is go for your dreams of being Pro, BUT also find another path that you may love to do that will keep you more financially secure. You can do both, you are young with the World infront of you. Good luck, keep us old farts posted on how you do

Gerry
 
ericksakti said:
Well....I'm 17 now...have been playing pool for about almost 2 years....and....maybe i'm between a C and B player...
I can do run out about 3 times when playing pool for 2 hour....
Do I have a good chance to go pro in about 3 years looking at my current condition??

The answer to your question is NO. You asked do you have a GOOD chance. Do you have a chance? Maybe. Anyone has a chance to turn pro in a sport who has some talent, potential for improvement, and the unique drive and determination to dedicate 100% of their being with complete abandon to the pursuit of perfection of their game. Nobody knows if you have those qualities but you. But in my opinion, a good chance? No.
Kelly
 
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