Efren and position play...........

When Efren was here in germany at the Hangelar Open, he played some *small" matches against some guys. Me and a good friend watched this "spectacle" for about 3 hours. The most fascinating thing was, that Efren was not one single time with cueball nearer as maybe half a diamond to any rail...he never was in trouble like frozen or almost frozen to the rail- always able to really "play" the cueball every time.
That was incredible.
 
When Efren was here in germany at the Hangelar Open, he played some *small" matches against some guys. Me and a good friend watched this "spectacle" for about 3 hours. The most fascinating thing was, that Efren was not one single time with cueball nearer as maybe half a diamond to any rail...he never was in trouble like frozen or almost frozen to the rail- always able to really "play" the cueball every time.
That was incredible.
Did they close or move the room in Hangelar? That sure is a nice place, had some fun times there.
Best
Fatboy

tell everyone I said hello! 😀
 
Did they close or move the room in Hangelar? That sure is a nice place, had some fun times there.
Best
Fatboy

tell everyone I said hello! 😀
Hi my friend- great to "read" from you buddy.

Hangelar is still alive- Iirc they have re-opened again with the typical restrictions right now. And ofc i will spread your words Eric.

Take care :-)
 
Hi my friend- great to "read" from you buddy.

Hangelar is still alive- Iirc they have re-opened again with the typical restrictions right now. And ofc i will spread your words Eric.

Take care :)
Thank you so much. I sms Frank sometimes. And Maik but he’s chopping things up with swords now, not so much pool. I need to drop by for a visit for a few days.

I’ll let everyone know when I’m coming. One of my favorite places in the world to visit, lots of good friends and good times.

warmest regards
Eric 😀
 
When Efren was here in germany at the Hangelar Open, he played some *small" matches against some guys. Me and a good friend watched this "spectacle" for about 3 hours. The most fascinating thing was, that Efren was not one single time with cueball nearer as maybe half a diamond to any rail...he never was in trouble like frozen or almost frozen to the rail- always able to really "play" the cueball every time.
That was incredible.
Interesting. I shoot off the rail so often, I believe all pool tables are higher in the middle than at the edge.

I got to watch Efren play a lot of 1p back around 199x and another thing he does that is not to be attempted by mortals is shoot ball into his hole, send cb to foot rail and then side rail and behind balls on his opponent's side. He is moving the ball into open area so he doesn't have to bank it.
 
Good video. The guy took a long time making it and I'm sure he is a good instructor. I would point out Efren didn't learn pool by taking lessons. He learned pool by living in a pool hall. Same with Earl who used to stand outside the pool hall looking through the window before he was old enough to enter and then quit school to play pool full time.

SVB is another example. Grandpa owned a pool hall. I'm pretty sure Orcollo quit school to play pool.

For people who can't devote their life to it 24/7 then lessons are a good alternative but they won't get you to where Efren/Earl/SVB/Orcollo are. In fact Shane couldn't hear until the new technology allowed him to and he said learning to talk was more difficult than learning pool. Kids are better at learning because of their brain's elasticity and rapid neural formation. Same thing with pool/golf/tennis etc. Arnold Palmer's family owned a golf course. Tiger Woods' Dad had him playing golf at a young age. The Williams sisters had a Dad who made them play tennis every day.

I watch those guys play pool and I'm amazed at how consistent they are. I can get there once in a while but not nearly as consistent.
 
Tor Lowry is as good of an instructor as anyone right now . Easily top 5 now imo.
Love watching Efren's stroke when he was in his real prime .
Funny thing is, he was in his prime when he was smoking . This was the last year he smoked .
We were at a common friend's house when Mark Wilson called him about the Color of Money match back in '96.
It was supposed to be a race to 100 then it was stretched to 120.
He was down 87-104 one time . He would have been blown out had it only been a race to 100.
Then he made that giant comeback that final night . He finally figured out the break.
Earl imploded and just could no longer take the heat from Efren .
 
Tor Lowry is as good of an instructor as anyone right now . Easily top 5 now imo.
Love watching Efren's stroke when he was in his real prime .
Funny thing is, he was in his prime when he was smoking . This was the last year he smoked .
We were at a common friend's house when Mark Wilson called him about the Color of Money match back in '96.
It was supposed to be a race to 100 then it was stretched to 120.
He was down 87-104 one time . He would have been blown out had it only been a race to 100.
Then he made that giant comeback that final night . He finally figured out the break.
Earl imploded and just could no longer take the heat from Efren .
I purchased my first pool cue Jan 2021 and started with Tor Lowry’s instructional stuff. In about 7 months I achieved running 15 balls (any order) multiple times and racks of 8 ball patterns several times in competition. I do not own a table and rarely side spin the ball at all. While I seem to have a knack for the game, I would say the biggest reason for my success to this point has been following Tor’s advice on just about everything. I would recommend his material to anybody.
 
I purchased my first pool cue Jan 2021 and started with Tor Lowry’s instructional stuff. In about 7 months I achieved running 15 balls (any order) multiple times and racks of 8 ball patterns several times in competition. I do not own a table and rarely side spin the ball at all. While I seem to have a knack for the game, I would say the biggest reason for my success to this point has been following Tor’s advice on just about everything. I would recommend his material to anybody.
May i ask, do you ever play around with side spin, say in practice or outside of competetion? I always find it intriguing when players claim not to use side.

I think ( no source ) statistically it’s known that you will miss less balls by playing mostly follow, draw, speed and angle to control the cue ball.... but god damn, i just honestly can’t even imagine.

So much of the game, to my limited mind, is calculating throw squirt and swerve. It’s the part of the game that excites me.

Sounds like you’ve gotten better in a few months than i’ve managed to in years, but i have to ask, what do you like about pool?

Is the part that you enjoy most running through racks proficiently? Winning games? Making shots?

I’m just genuinely curious and intend no offense! live long and prosper
 
I started playing pool with my grandson so we both could learn the game. I do use a bit of spin, but only on shots simple enough that I don’t need to think about squirt or swerve and mostly when there is no reasonable center ball option. Moving up and down the CB is very effective combined with angle planning and speed control. Ball pocketing is easier. I do accept the fact that to reach an A level I will need to incorporate more shots with side spin. But for now, I’m still learning. I like to practice. The game is fascinating to me. I wouldn’t say I’ve reached the “running through racks“ level yet, but I plan on it. All that being said, the greatest leap forward for me has been the realization that a straight stroke is everything in this game.
 
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