Interesting article that I thought was worth sharing.
Four Contributors To The Death Of Pool
Pool will die unless we fix this sport
By Matthew Sherman, Billiards Expert
I love this post I found online by Johnny Henson of Baker, Montana. Here it is shared, warts and all. I'm all in as one of Henson's suggested reality show instructors!
Here are a few ideas that I feel could benefit billiards. I feel that billiards should be a high school sport with good instructors at the high school level. I feel that there should be a reality show in which 8 instructors are given 4 low level players of equal ability, 2 men and 2 women. They have one week to train their team. You play a match. The winning teams and instructors move on. Each week a team and their instructor are eliminated. Players nationwide will see the players progressing each week. This will encourage players to seek instruction on their own.
I would like to see 20 major cities put together a 10 player team league each. Have Eastern and Western divisions. 10 matches per week. 100 matches per season. Have matches played in pool halls through out the USA. Matches in all 50 states to broaden the fan base. Have the playoffs on YouTube and ESPN. Just some thoughts.
Johnny is so right and his proposal reminds me of the TK Pool Tour concept I developed with U.S. Open winner, Tom Kennedy. Henson's proposal is also eerily similar to discussions I've had with top pool teacher Dominic Esposito.
Esposito provides frequent billiards drills and lessons here at About.com.
Pocket billiards cannot hold a mere status quo. Like all other participant sports, it has to grow or it will die. Here are the obvious issues as I see them:
* As long as many poolrooms in the U.S. and overseas are also bars where alcohol is served, young people, high school age and under, will avoid the game. Today's fine young players are tomorrow's great new pros. As long as pool halls are also bars-cum-nightclubs and pickup joints, pool will be dying.
* The majority of avid pool players want a smoke free environment to play in. While I don't overly mind smoking in many places such as restaurants and clubs, blown smoke easily soaks into pool table cloth, makes it hard to see the shots in smoky rooms, and most halls are too cheap to provide effective dispersal of smoke via quality ceiling exhausts. Studies and pop polls have demonstrated that even most smokers would rather go outside for an occasional smoke than play in a smoky room. As long as pool rooms smell like ashtrays, pool will be dying.
* It is intolerable to have to give a pool lesson in a room with music blaring. It is awful to have play league games in loud rooms where players cannot hear game scores, called shots or team coaching. As long as room owners are more worried about a few quarters than player sanity, and thus have loud jukeboxes blaring (usually lousy) music in their rooms, pool will be dying.
* Henson's original point, of course, is that players need to develop via lessons. Every golf club, public and private in the United States, has at least one golf pro and likely several assistant pros ready to step up and give lessons. Everyone who has played golf a year or longer has likely taken more than one lesson or a whole series of beginner lessons. This fact remains despite recent reverses in golf's fortunes as a sport overall. Every tennis club likewise has pros who give lessons. Pool has complexities that rival the fanciest golf and tennis shots. Formerly, most every pool hall in the world had a "house man" who would show new players the ropes, give aid on rule disputes, demonstrate the basics and advanced shots, etc. As long as pool players avoid lessons and rely on occasional books or videos to adjust their personal stance, aim and stroke needs, pool will be dying as a sport.
Change these factors! Help save pool as a vital sport.
