Exactly how good are these professional players?
- Thread starter dom_poppa
- Start date
The World of Empowerment - Dr. Milton Erickson
Yes, I have a degree in Hypnosis under Dr. Richard Bandler (Erickson Hypnosis) and it led me to a path that I'm very grateful I found because it effected much more than just my pool career.
It's amazing what our mental potential is, and the vast improvement is below the level of consciousness......seems like a "dirty trick," however after after a while it makes sense.....and lots of dollars.
'The Game is the Teacher'
Yes, I have a degree in Hypnosis under Dr. Richard Bandler (Erickson Hypnosis) and it led me to a path that I'm very grateful I found because it effected much more than just my pool career.
It's amazing what our mental potential is, and the vast improvement is below the level of consciousness......seems like a "dirty trick," however after after a while it makes sense.....and lots of dollars.
'The Game is the Teacher' Experience should but doesn't always. I struggle with anxiety while playing and get so nervous at times my hands shake over even the simplest shots. FWIW I have been playing at a fairly high level since 2006. I have the ability to beat strong players and am able to do so sometimes if I am playing my "A" game. I choked much less and was better able to do deal with the pressure when I was doing hypnosis on a regular basis. The problems really start with a lack of confidence in my ability which translates into thinking I can't make even simple shots. When I don't have those negative thoughts the game seems easy and I rarely miss. Some people are able to control their thoughts and emotions better than others.
Top pros can give shortstops the 5 out. I think that's pretty f'n good.
Either we have different opinions of shortstops or you have not watched many top pro players.
Most top pros would love to give up this spot. They feel they are stealing if they don't have to give up the break.
Either we have different opinions of shortstops or you have not watched many top pro players.
Most top pros would love to give up this spot. They feel they are stealing if they don't have to give up the break.
I am inclined to agree with you. I have been shocked by top pros visiting local rooms and handing out insane spots to the local pros and leaving with the cash.
ball spots at high levels mean nothing....
The exact same shortstop could give that exact same spot to the pro that just beat them and the final scores would be almost identical...
Ball spots at high levels mean almost nothing. It's a one or two game swing in 20 racks.
The people who make the seven or the six, that are playing those pros will finish off that rack 95% of the time.
Or, you and I have very different views of short stops. Short stop/semi pro are mere notches below top pros. It's a one or two ball difference or they aren't short stops, hell A players will get out 95% of the time if they get to the five or 6.
That doesn't mean that a top pro won't torture the short stop, but ball spots aren't a good indication of how much better they are.
Besides that has nothing to do with the OPs question.
Top level pool is played at a higher level than most other sports. Hell, the short stops are better at pool than the vast majority of professionals in other sports.
Jaden
The exact same shortstop could give that exact same spot to the pro that just beat them and the final scores would be almost identical...
Ball spots at high levels mean almost nothing. It's a one or two game swing in 20 racks.
The people who make the seven or the six, that are playing those pros will finish off that rack 95% of the time.
Or, you and I have very different views of short stops. Short stop/semi pro are mere notches below top pros. It's a one or two ball difference or they aren't short stops, hell A players will get out 95% of the time if they get to the five or 6.
That doesn't mean that a top pro won't torture the short stop, but ball spots aren't a good indication of how much better they are.
Besides that has nothing to do with the OPs question.
Top level pool is played at a higher level than most other sports. Hell, the short stops are better at pool than the vast majority of professionals in other sports.
Jaden
change the players attitude, and ultimately their confidence.
It depends on several factors, especially the difficulty of the table.
I was famous for giving up huge handicaps and out running them every time. However, their was certain "trick" that enabled me to do this on a regular basis. I would have NEVER shared these techniques back then, but now I share them to those that really want to learn.
The main thing we count on is a "factor" we call the FAINT FACTOR.....this is when our opponent "faints" and plays considerably under their "normal speed" of play. This can be prevented, but there's a mental process that must be programmed that will change the players attitude, and ultimately their confidence. 'The Game is the Teacher'
It depends on several factors, especially the difficulty of the table.
I was famous for giving up huge handicaps and out running them every time. However, their was certain "trick" that enabled me to do this on a regular basis. I would have NEVER shared these techniques back then, but now I share them to those that really want to learn.
The main thing we count on is a "factor" we call the FAINT FACTOR.....this is when our opponent "faints" and plays considerably under their "normal speed" of play. This can be prevented, but there's a mental process that must be programmed that will change the players attitude, and ultimately their confidence. 'The Game is the Teacher'
I think you are touching upon a bit that most people don't quite grasp. How important your average shot made is.
Look at just a simple 9 ball rack. Assuming you make 1 ball on the break, running out the other 8 balls - even if you assume a 95% make - makes for only a 66% chance of running out.
Math adds up awesomely fast in this sense.
And that's where the difference is.
A few posters have pointed out that good players might string a couple together...but pros make a regular habit of it.
Lets just say you have only a 1% chance of running 5 consecutive racks - each of which you make two balls on the break. So that's 35 balls in a row. You need to have an average make of about 87.5%. That's *REALLY* ****ing hard. Either every shot you play better leave you perfect position...or you better be able to shoot any shot from anywhere on the table. Also this has to average out over tough racks with problems etc.
You can get really deep into stats...it varies a lot depending on when you play safeties etc...but your raw average make percent will have a huge effect, especially over time on your win percent.
It's easier to use this on straight pool. John Schmidt has a few runs over 400, even if his average make is 99% to make 400 balls in a row is only a 1.8% chance (maybe slightly higher as occasionally he'd make two balls on one shot). Which would imply he manages a 400 once over every 55 attempts. Probably not likely.
To show how fast things change, lets say another pro straight pool player has a 98.5 percent make.that drops his chances all the way down to .2%. Only 98% .03%!
And the difference between a 99/98.5/98% average make might be top pro, low end pro, short stop. Which means in the long run a top pro is about 60x more likely to run 400 then a short stop (to me this probably says the numbers aren't quite right, probably a shortstop's make percent is further from a top pro than just 1%). Doing this for a shorter run shows that the numbers are closer which supports the common notion that longer races favor the stronger player.
The really humbling thing is...when you back these numbers back out to the "commoners". Lets just say, given ball in hand you run a full 9 balls...say...once in 20 racks. So you have a 5% chance of running a rack against the 9 ball ghost with ball in hand. That works out to about a 71% average make.
And even more humbling - to show how hard it is to improve. Most people who can reliably manage a break and run 1/20 would probably pay a lot of money to double that to 1/10. That's only about a 77.5% average make, or less than a 10% improvement. But realistically that would probably entail playing pool full time (40+ hours/week) for months with focused practice.
.you have a good understanding of how it really works..
I tend to agree with your points.....you have a good understanding of how it really works.....I've given up some insane handicaps, and what it comes down to is "if I don't make any mistakes they can't win....no matter how much I spot them".
....however, the "short stops" in golf are pretty darn good compared to pool players, for every Pro Golfer there's a thousand that play very close {to them that aren't on the tour} - they just can't make that key putt or shot when they have to.
I tend to agree with your points.....you have a good understanding of how it really works.....I've given up some insane handicaps, and what it comes down to is "if I don't make any mistakes they can't win....no matter how much I spot them".
....however, the "short stops" in golf are pretty darn good compared to pool players, for every Pro Golfer there's a thousand that play very close {to them that aren't on the tour} - they just can't make that key putt or shot when they have to.
