For Pros only

abbassi said:
At what age did you 1st start playing, what game and where?

14, 8-ball on a bar table in Alhambra, Ca. Within the 1st 2 years I proficiently played Snooker (6x12), 3-Cushion Billiards, 8-Ball Last-Pocket, Golf and 9-Ball. It was a pool room with very nice equipment representing all-games. I was lucky.
 
I am told that I was only 11 months old when my father cut off the top foot or so of a cue for me to play with and he had me crawling around trying to push one ball at a time into the pocket on our table at home. I remember being able to run a few balls at 9 but that is when my dad quit taking me to play.
I felt as though I was starting all over again at 17 when I ended up living in a small town with little else to do. Waynesboro PA. I believe they've added a 5th stop light since I left. I remember thinking how great I thought the players were. Now I give the 6 to the top players there.
It wasn't until moving to VA Beach that I saw truly great players. My game jumped pretty quickly after seeing so many good examples of how to play the game. You need great players to learn from as well as good equipment as Corey stated. I was lucky to have both in Q-Masters. I regret only taking 9 ball seriously as Dave Bollman, the house pro, is a very knowlegeable one pocket player.
 
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I am told that I was only 11 months old when my father cut off the top foot or so of a cue for me to play with and he had me crawling around trying to push one ball at a time into the pocket on our table at home. I remember being able to run a few balls at 9 but that is when my dad quit taking me to play.
I felt as though I was starting all over again at 17 when I ended up living in a small town with little else to do. Waynesboro PA. I believe they've added a 5th stop light since I left. I remember thinking how great I thought the players were. Now I give the 6 to the top players there.
It wasn't until moving to VA Beach that I saw truly great players. My game jumped pretty quickly after seeing so many good examples of how to play the game. You need great players to learn from as well as good equipment as Corey stated. I was lucky to have both in Q-Masters.
 
abbassi said:
At what age did you 1st start playing, what game and where?

I was 18 when I started playing. I was living in Palmdale, CA....and I started playing at Sharky's in Lancaster. I started off playing 8- and 9-ball.

Melissa Herndon
 
I was about 3 I think when I first started playing. Apparently an irate mother knocked on my door and said "your son has just pulled my daughters knickers down!", my mother replied "he was only having a look" and slammed the door!

I first made the paper for playing pool about 9, I think I played at home before that though.:confused:
 
I was 5. Dad put two old wooden coke bottle crates together by bracketing them on the inside and put plywood on the bottom and then he put 4 small lockable wheels off of an old-timey hand ringer for clothes on the bottom. I kept 3 of the 4 locked so I could pick it up and roll it around the table and shoot. I learned the basics on a 9' table in Icard, NC.

My parents owned a poolroom by the time I was 7. I didn't need the pool stool by that time. I mostly played 9-ball and some 8-ball.

When I was about 20, I started going to the poolroom in Morganton, NC and they played 6-ball on the snooker table. I got a taste of 10-ball snooker from that place and they played a lot of golf there too. It wasn't long before I got barred from playing with them.

I was 26-27 when I moved to Oklahoma City and got introduced to serious 1 Pocket. It was in OK that people started calling me Hillbilly because of the accent and because of what my grandpa and dad did for a living (moonshine and chicken fighting).:)

I moved from OK to Houston about 5 years ago and started playing pro events around June 2004.
 
Well I was already about 18 & I met this good looking redhead who actually had a barbox in her apartment....oh damn...for pros only...I'm sorry.:D
 
hillbilly said:
I was 5. Dad put two old wooden coke bottle crates together by bracketing them on the inside and put plywood on the bottom and then he put 4 small lockable wheels off of an old-timey hand ringer for clothes on the bottom. I kept 3 of the 4 locked so I could pick it up and roll it around the table and shoot. I learned the basics on a 9' table in Icard, NC.

My parents owned a poolroom by the time I was 7. I didn't need the pool stool by that time. I mostly played 9-ball and some 8-ball.

When I was about 20, I started going to the poolroom in Morganton, NC and they played 6-ball on the snooker table. I got a taste of 10-ball snooker from that place and they played a lot of golf there too. It wasn't long before I got barred from playing with them.

I was 26-27 when I moved to Oklahoma City and got introduced to serious 1 Pocket. It was in OK that people started calling me Hillbilly because of the accent and because of what my grandpa and dad did for a living (moonshine and chicken fighting).:)

I moved from OK to Houston about 5 years ago and started playing pro events around June 2004.

Hillbilly,

I hadn't noticed that you posted to the forum until I reenabled avatar viewing. I have an Accu-Stats of you playing One Pocket. Very colorful!

Question for you: Assuming a fairly advanced level of knowledge of the game.. How much progress do you think one can make with a one year concerted effort to improve? I am currently putting aside money to insure I can practice for a solid year.

I am planning on putting in 40 hours minimum a week of practice time, and fortunately, I am in Central Florida, so I have the opportunity to play some great players here. I plan on playing all the weekend tourneys I can.

I know my game took a huge jump years ago with only one month of full time practice. To the level of beginning to compete against solid regional players. So, basic question is this. Given a starting point of fair amount below shortstop status due to non-practice, what level can one reasonably expect to obtain with a solid year of organized practice?

Russ
 
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