Does watching pro matches help you?

I learn a lot from watching the pros. The thing is to watch the player, not the balls. You may learn something about patterns from watching what the balls do, but you will learn how to make the balls do what you want them to do by watching the players. What happens behind the cue ball always determines what happens in front of the cue ball.
Steve
 
Absolutely - 110%!!!

When you have guys like Bill Incardona, Grady Mathews, Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, Efren Reyes, Johnny Archer, etc, etc, etc, commentating while watching the greatest players in the world you will certainly learn something!

Study their stroke!
Study the timing of their stroke and follow through.
Study the stance.
Study their shot selection.
Study their speed control.
Listen to the commentary as to 'why' they are selecting a specific route.

Accu-stats is the reason why there are so many monsters out there today!!!! Pat Fleming should be put in the BCA hall of fame!
 
I watch too many pool matches, especially the accu-stats ones. because everytime I watch a great match which is also commentatoring by a great pool knowledge guy like Buddy hall & billy incardona... I learn alot of stuff by watching these matches and listetning to these great commentators.

I watch way too many earl strickland matches in the 90's...
 
i watch pro matches all the time and as well as knowledge i learn from the players and the commentary, it also gets me in the mood to play.

actually one negative aspect for me is i've been watching loads of SVB lately, and i realised when i was playing i was subconsciously copying his stroke. i was slowing down my cueing to his style simply because i'd watched him so much recently. when i realsed what i was doing i corrected it and problem solved.
 
worriedbeef said:
i watch pro matches all the time and as well as knowledge i learn from the players and the commentary, it also gets me in the mood to play.

actually one negative aspect for me is i've been watching loads of SVB lately, and i realised when i was playing i was subconsciously copying his stroke. i was slowing down my cueing to his style simply because i'd watched him so much recently. when i realsed what i was doing i corrected it and problem solved.
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That exactly what happened to me watching Earl strickland too much... by watching him too much, i copied his style with no intention of doing so.. but it happened...
 
hang-the-9 said:
Aside from just the pleasure of waching some great pool, what do you try to take away from a nice match, and does that help you in your games that day or shortly after. Have you said to yourself "tomorrow, I'm going to play that safe I just saw" and it worked? Have you felt all pumped up to get to a table after a video, then could not put a 3 ball run together?

I watched an 8-ball match (accu-stats invitational with Rayes and Bustamante) and learned a couple of things that I was able to use the very next tournament. 1. Don't try to run out too hard (although I knew that down inside, I did not practice it till I saw Efren miss on purpose) 2. Try to move balls to the side of the table with clusters you need to break up when playing safes. I have also watched some 9-ball matches, thinking, heck I just need to break in a few balls and I can string 7 as well. Seems even if you make 3 on the break, the pockets don't just allow things to fall in, you need the aim and focus part :( :o .
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Even better to watch in person. You will see nuances in their game that may not appear on a video.
 
Yes, how much depends upon who is the commentator. If Bill Incardona is involved I often times learn a lot. Grady is ok, but not as good as Bill. Danny is entertaining, but spends more time telling stories than talking about the pool.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Hey I was looking for some stories here, lazy writer you. :p...
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Yes- gets you used to seeing extended stays at the table- or chair!- and instills the fact that easy shots never need to be missed.
 
You bet your sweet bippy. Just go to a major event, and when you get back, you'll play a ball better for at least a week. Then, you surround yourself with some "non-player" types and you might lose it again. The trick is to always surround yourself with good players and you'll become a good player. You want to be a millionaire? Surround yourself with millionaires. You want to be a fighter? Surround yourself with fighters. You want to be a great pool player?................ Get it?
 
Matt_24 said:
Absolutely - 110%!!!

When you have guys like Bill Incardona, Grady Mathews, Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, Efren Reyes, Johnny Archer, etc, etc, etc, commentating while watching the greatest players in the world you will certainly learn something!

Study their stroke!
Study the timing of their stroke and follow through.
Study the stance.
Study their shot selection.
Study their speed control.
Listen to the commentary as to 'why' they are selecting a specific route.

Accu-stats is the reason why there are so many monsters out there today!!!! Pat Fleming should be put in the BCA hall of fame!
Click to expand...

I thought Pat was in the hall of fame already? If not, we need some of our heavy hitters in az to put him on the ballot.
 
crawfish said:
You bet your sweet bippy. Just go to a major event, and when you get back, you'll play a ball better for at least a week. Then, you surround yourself with some "non-player" types and you might lose it again. The trick is to always surround yourself with good players and you'll become a good player. You want to be a millionaire? Surround yourself with millionaires. You want to be a fighter? Surround yourself with fighters. You want to be a great pool player?................ Get it?
Click to expand...

But if I want to be a pimp, I need to surround myself with hookers, not other pimps! The analogy breaks down!
 
Absolutely! I distinctly remember watching Allison play in one match and that's how I learned to draw the ball to the opposite side of the table.
 
No question it helps.....

hang-the-9 said:
Aside from just the pleasure of waching some great pool, what do you try to take away from a nice match, and does that help you in your games that day or shortly after. Have you said to yourself "tomorrow, I'm going to play that safe I just saw" and it worked? Have you felt all pumped up to get to a table after a video, then could not put a 3 ball run together?

I watched an 8-ball match (accu-stats invitational with Rayes and Bustamante) and learned a couple of things that I was able to use the very next tournament. 1. Don't try to run out too hard (although I knew that down inside, I did not practice it till I saw Efren miss on purpose) 2. Try to move balls to the side of the table with clusters you need to break up when playing safes. I have also watched some 9-ball matches, thinking, heck I just need to break in a few balls and I can string 7 as well. Seems even if you make 3 on the break, the pockets don't just allow things to fall in, you need the aim and focus part :( :o .
Click to expand...

Watching top-level pros on accu-stats recordings, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to improve your game. For me, one of the best things about watching these tapes/dvd's is that they validate the fact that, yes, indeed I know WTF I'm doing when I play a 9-Ball rack. More often than not I see that I would play the shots the correct way to get thru the rack. When you couple this with the fact that the 'expert' commentators are also discussing the "correct" way to proceed through the rack.....it can give you confidence because your own thought processes are validated. Also on occassion, you see something new/different that you can incorporate or say "oh yeah, that is a better way to do it!" Due to my limited time in the pool rooms these days (I play like 2 hours per week), I'm watching even more of these accu-stats (in fact I just won two more of them on e-Bay yesterday---1 1993 Video with Efren vs. Kim Davenport / 1 1994 video with Jose Parica vs. Dick Lane). My wife keeps asking me "How many pool videos do you need?"....and I keep thinking "You can never have enough!". Truthfully I'm playing the best pool of my life right now even though only playing 2 hours per week. I attribute part of this to my watching these accu-stat matches.......that being said there is no substitute for just "hitting balls, hitting balls, and hitting more balls". But with two young daughters......you hit balls when you can! We'll see how this translates at Valley Forge next month:cool:
 
I am fortunate to be able to play regularly with some pro's. As a result, I can always ask them questions about what they did and why. Very helpful.

For sessions where you CAN'T ask them questions, I believe the most helpful thing is to watch the rhythm with which they play. It is definitely inspiring to see how methodical they are in their approach, and how smooth their strokes are on EVERY SINGLE SHOT. These things are not apparent on the video's.

It sounds funny, but just trying to look like the pro's can definitely help your game.
 
Watching Pros Play

I've gotten most of my knowledge about 9 ball and one pocket watching Accu-stats videos and listening to the commentators explain what to do and then watching the pro player do what he thinks is the right thing to do. You can't beat that kind of knowledge for the money. I have quite a few Accu-stats videos and I learn something all the time watching them.....

James
 
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