Interesting point.
Do you know of players who had such Natural Talent, that they could have been a World Champion?
- Thread starter 9ballscorpion
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The late Pete (Shelton) Horn was a heckuva player, moreso in the latter 1970s and through the 1980s. Due to his drug abuse, he was already headed downhill fast by the 1990s. In the mid to late 1990s (he was driving a Tyson truck at that time) Pete would occasionally come in our pool room on his days off and we’d play.
He was one of the very worst losers I’ve ever seen - Earl must have learned it from Pete! For someone who played on the high level that he played at 10-20 years earlier, it was hard for him to accept that he couldn’t even beat a shortstop like me anymore.
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This story may not apply to this thread but here it goes anyway. I taught pool to middle school kids for about 4 years. In that time I had thousands of kids that came and went most had no ability to play pool. One day I had a girl show up she told me she had never played. I showed her the basics then started on progressive shot making drills. I was struck by her perfect form after the first time I showed her. I was even more struck by her stroke that was naturally smooth and her natural acceleration through the cue ball. I was further confused by her staying down on each shot. After the first 10 minutes of teaching a basic straight in shot I had her making the ball with the cue ball in the jaws of the corner pocket and the object ball in the center of the table. By the end of the 1 hour I had with her she could make follow and stun shots and what really got me was her ability to draw the heavy cue ball. At the end of the lesson I thought I had someone that I could take as far as she wanted to go. However, it wasn't to be the next day she was expelled from school and I never saw her again. I can still see her face and her natural stroke but can't remember her name.
A year later I had a boy who was not quite as good as this girl I was able to work with him for 2 sessions. I was warned about his arrival in my class. He was a shit talker, hot headed, impulsive, crazy but had a natural eye and a natural stroke. He picked everything up naturally that would take most everyone else months to get to. Anyway he was expelled also, drugs, fighting, shit talking you name it he just couldn't maintain the handle. I think of both of these kids occasionally and wonder what could have been but maybe that's crazy talking I don't know.
A year later I had a boy who was not quite as good as this girl I was able to work with him for 2 sessions. I was warned about his arrival in my class. He was a shit talker, hot headed, impulsive, crazy but had a natural eye and a natural stroke. He picked everything up naturally that would take most everyone else months to get to. Anyway he was expelled also, drugs, fighting, shit talking you name it he just couldn't maintain the handle. I think of both of these kids occasionally and wonder what could have been but maybe that's crazy talking I don't know.
I saw an interview with Shane in which he said he doesn't do drills.
Nobody can predict who might have been a world champion. Some great players never get that title.
middleofnowhere
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Mike Caralla pure talent. Saw him in the poolrooms all the time he never practiced. Just picked up the cue and could play. No way did he ever come close to his possible potential.
He didn't seem to even care about pool. Then of course he was killed so we never knew how good he could have been.
He didn't seem to even care about pool. Then of course he was killed so we never knew how good he could have been.
I is kind of like asking 'who that never went to med school could have been the best doctor'.
Here's my input, albeit non pool related.
I have been an athlete since my youth. I train amateur and professional athletes to the highest level, included several world championships. One of my students was a gym terror. He would routinely dust off many high ranking guys when they came to the gym. But get him in a professional competition setting and his nerves would be totally rattled and he'd fall apart.
So in many areas, there are people who may have all the physical skills needed to be at the top, but may not have the mental/psychological equipment to handle the pressure. It may be easier for some to feel the alcohol or drugs, etc. stopped them from reaching the top, when in fact it may just be the cover.
I have been an athlete since my youth. I train amateur and professional athletes to the highest level, included several world championships. One of my students was a gym terror. He would routinely dust off many high ranking guys when they came to the gym. But get him in a professional competition setting and his nerves would be totally rattled and he'd fall apart.
So in many areas, there are people who may have all the physical skills needed to be at the top, but may not have the mental/psychological equipment to handle the pressure. It may be easier for some to feel the alcohol or drugs, etc. stopped them from reaching the top, when in fact it may just be the cover.
Doing drills is like practicing the same putt from the same spot everytime.
When I look up World pool champions... I see Chris Melling and J. Shaw for eight ball. Chris Melling is a fine player, but not nearly the 9 ball player Shane is. Are all the world events over seas?
World 10b is now in Vegas. Sept. 6-10th.
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Ok. Thanks... because according to GOOGLE KARL BOYES IS A WORLD CHAMPION. Karl is a fine player, but not in the same league with Shane. My opinion.
Just 'cause you win one big event doesn't make you the best player.
middleofnowhere
Registered
not really cuz we're talking about players who do or did have a track record of being very good players already but for one reason or another probably never reach their full potential.
I mentioned Mike Corella he was killed but even when he was playing never seem to care much more about the game than as a means to make some money. Then you have players like Jack Colavita who played just a shade under the best players but worked a full-time job and pool was basically just a hobby.
I have a feeling I'm mentioning names here that nobody knows but regarding Mike corella Alan Hopkins in an interview when asked who is the best player he ever played he said a guy you've probably never heard of Mike Carella.
Off the top of my head road players and gamblers like big Bob Ogborn I've known for like 45 years and I can honestly say I've ever seen him pick up a cue and go to the table and practice unless he was in action. I'm sure he did at some point when he was young but I think he reached the level of play that he was satisfied with he never pushed the envelope.
Also some of those past World titles appear to be much further for American player's to travel.
And they're often held in total crapholes like Qatar. I talked to one player who went there and he never left his hotel other than to go play a match. Gee, what fun.
In particular, I'd say that the Matchroom version of the US Open which began in 2019, is the first one that has brought out most of the top Asian players. From 1990-2018, the US Open had a significantly weaker field than the World 9-ball Championships. It also often had a field weaker than those found at either the China Open or the the All-Japan Championships. In recent years, SVB aside, not many Americans have ever been counted in the world's top twenty players by WPA ranking, and in the last decade, very few American players have managed a top 10 in a World 9-ball Championship. SVB, Deuel and Dechaine are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head that did so, although I'm probably forgetting someone. No American has won the WPA World 9-ball Championship since 2002, when Strickland snapped it off.
The US Open 9-ball was always tough to win, but it has reached a completely different level. Now, 256 players play double elimination until there are sixteen left and then those sixteen vie for the title in single elimination and for the first prize of $50,000. In 2019, the first edition, this brought out the stars of Asia in droves. When the smoke had cleared, Asia had six of the eight quarterfinalists (Wu Jiaqing, YL Chang, Jeff DeLuna, Wang Can, Alex Pagulayan, Liu Haitao) and Europe had the other two (Josh Filler, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz),. Despite the absence of both Zheng and Raga, two of the world's ten best players by my reckoning, Asia had eleven of the last sixteen, Europe had just four of them, and SVB was the lone American to reach the single elimination stage of the event.. Josh Filler would ultimately prevail in the final, knocking off Wu Jiaqing.
As long as things continue to stay on this course at the US Open, I believe it will be just as difficult to win a US Open 9-ball event as a WPA World 9-ball Championship. Matchroom has brought the US Open 9-ball event to a completely new level, and we the fans are the true winners.
