Explain The Ko Brothers

HawaiianEye

HawaiianEye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some people will say you are born a champion.

Others will say you can train to be a champion.

Some will say it takes both.

What explains why all three Ko brothers can play at the world champion level?

Is it the water in Taiwan?
 
HawaiianEye said:
Some people will say you are born a champion.

Others will say you can train to be a champion.

Some will say it takes both.

What explains why all three Ko brothers can play at the world champion level?

Is it the water in Taiwan?
Click to expand...

Fish tank. Big one.

Real big.
 
HawaiianEye said:
Some people will say you are born a champion.

Others will say you can train to be a champion.

Some will say it takes both.

What explains why all three Ko brothers can play at the world champion level?

Is it the water in Taiwan?
Click to expand...

Who knows really..could be sibling rivalry or just plain ol time and chance..
 
Their parents own a pool hall. They were raised in it and coached from a young age.

Neither Big Ko nor Chung finished high school (they were supposedly working towards something like a GED recently).
 
Big Ko showed the way....the other two are a combination of nature and nurture.
...players come from players
 
Danimal said:
Their parents own a pool hall. They were raised in it and coached from a young age.

Neither Big Ko nor Chung finished high school (they were supposedly working towards something like a GED recently).
Click to expand...

I lived in Taiwan for three years, many years ago. At that time, I never saw a single pool table in the entire country, except for in the American bars and service clubs. The Taiwanese all played snooker. I lived above a snooker hall.

I still visit Taiwan from time to time and I've yet to go into a real "pool hall" there. The next time I go, I'll be sure to visit some.

You are correct that his family owns a pool hall, but I don't know where you get that Big Ko didn't finish high school. I've read articles where he was a university student, at least for a while. The Ko brothers were coached in pool by their father from an early age.

Here is an article explaining his background.

https://blog.xuite.net/stradivarius/blog/17090833-Just+who+is+Ko+Pin-yi+?
 
I believe alignment has a lot to do with it. (Obviously not all of it lol thousands of hours on the table might help too) But when your body is aligned to your vision then you don't really have to focus so much on aiming. Where ever you are looking is where the cue is pointing.

The better alignment one has, the less muscle is involved to compensate for poor alignment (rotating a shoulder one way or the other, twisting your wrist a few degrees to the left or right. All that can happen without even noticing it. That's why a lot of people miss on power shots. Muscles tighten and flex in the direction they're naturally aligned to which most folks aren't aligned very straight.

If you notice, the Ko brothers all have a similar stance. As do many other Taiwanese pros.
 
diazr3 said:
I believe alignment has a lot to do with it. (Obviously not all of it lol thousands of hours on the table might help too) But when your body is aligned to your vision then you don't really have to focus so much on aiming. Where ever you are looking is where the cue is pointing.

The better alignment one has, the less muscle is involved to compensate for poor alignment (rotating a shoulder one way or the other, twisting your wrist a few degrees to the left or right. All that can happen without even noticing it. That's why a lot of people miss on power shots. Muscles tighten and flex in the direction they're naturally aligned to which most folks aren't aligned very straight.

If you notice, the Ko brothers all have a similar stance. As do many other Taiwanese pros.
Click to expand...

That is just one of many physical factors. Having 2 arms is another.
 
diazr3 said:
I believe alignment has a lot to do with it. (Obviously not all of it lol thousands of hours on the table might help too) But when your body is aligned to your vision then you don't really have to focus so much on aiming. Where ever you are looking is where the cue is pointing.

The better alignment one has, the less muscle is involved to compensate for poor alignment (rotating a shoulder one way or the other, twisting your wrist a few degrees to the left or right. All that can happen without even noticing it. That's why a lot of people miss on power shots. Muscles tighten and flex in the direction they're naturally aligned to which most folks aren't aligned very straight.

If you notice, the Ko brothers all have a similar stance. As do many other Taiwanese pros.
Click to expand...

This is part of the equation. I talked to their translator for quite a while they played the turning stone classic a couple of years ago. She clued me in on their focus on training within a system. Not just the Ko's but all the Taiwanese players (Kevin Cheng, Chang jun-ling, etc) all share a relatively similar playing/shooting style. Compact stroke, alignment, etc...methodical use of the jump cue. They are all trained under the same system and I believe for pool, this accelerates the learning potential and results are felt from early on.
I remember reading during the Big Ko win at the world championship over Shane, that his father was there as a coach. So they are not lone warriors learning the game on their own, there is a lot of coaching.

Also, they play a ton for money- gambling high pressure atmosphere increases your potential as we know in America, but couple that with training and focus on fundamentals from an early age. The results are the Ko brothers.
 
And, to my knowledge, they all three use solid maple shafts, probably around 13mm, with one-inch ferrules.

How do they do it?

OMG!

Just think how much greater they would be if they jumped on the LD bandwagon.

:)
 
Well Ken Griffeywas a pretty good player,Bobby Bonds was a really good player.
Now along comes Junior and barry Bonds

Willie Mays served as God father to Barry

Good genetics,good coaching and look what happened
None of these guys plays pool
 
don't undervalue practice. afaik neither of the ko brothers have taken a year off practising pool.. they have been on the table since early childhood, never quitting, in a very competitive environment. battle hardened in junior tournaments and championships all over east asia.
 
The Ko brothers, Wu and Chang (JL) among many other good players went to the same high school. Wu and big Ko were actually in the same class.
I heard that this school has very pool coaches.
 
Last edited:
fixed it for you :-)

HawaiianEye said:
And, to my knowledge, they all three use solid maple shafts, probably around 13mm, with one-inch ferrules.

How do they do it?

OMG!

Just think how much greater they would be if they jumped on the *Carbon Fiber* bandwagon.
Click to expand...
 
ShortBusRuss said:
Note the elbow drop at 6:27...

I thought elbow-droppers like me can't make a ball?
Click to expand...

What does he do with his elbow before tip-ball contact? What does he do with his elbow after the ball is gone?

What do you do with your elbow and when relative to tip-ball contact?
 
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