Have you ever copied.....

u12armresl

u12armresl

One Pocket back cutter
Silver Member
Have you ever copied a better players stance, bridge, facial expressions, speed of shooting, etc. and found yourself playing better?

I will give you an example (for the people that are saying facial expressions)
If you watch George B. play he makes a face before each shot. A local player watched and started mimicking it.

Other people try to get a pretty bridge as opposed to what works.
Going from stroking the stick to getting down on the ball and shooting right away.

Who has done this?
 
i try to mimic Efren's facial expression and bridging. But no, not the stroke, it's very deceiving....
 
jeffwinters said:
i try to mimic Efren's facial expression and bridging. But no, not the stroke, it's very deceiving....
Click to expand...
Don't forget to scratch your head when you get out of line.;)
 
I have worked real hard to copy Buddy, Jeff Carter and Mark Wilson. Plan to continue with that effort.
 
Absolutely! That's a big part of the reason why being around top players is so conducive to rapid improvement! You will develop your own unique stroke and style, but you should definitely incorporate various things that you like from the pros. When I'm feeling out of stroke I think about how the Ginkster flows through the cue ball or watch a tape or two. There's something about his stroke that just clicks with mine, so I use it as a mental key when I'm a little off. Each player, I suspect, has someone who does something that they particularly admire and has learned from.
 
I stick my tongue out like Efren sometimes. I didn't intentionally try to copy it, and yet I know it comes from him. Of course, I have all my teeth...
 
I pulled from three in particular.

Max Eberle - stance, approaching the shot, stroke
Corey Deuel - smoothness, relaxed touch
Mika Immonen - head / shoulder alignment

All have contrasting styles and perfect form. I'm still working on the latter.
 
I think it is a very good idea to copy a top player, and build on that. You should find a player who is about your height and build to model yourself after.
 
I'm one of the bigger fish in a little pond at the room I hang at. I also have terrible form at the table.

What surprises me is the number of young players who try to copy my form.

If I see this happening, I will approach that player and ask where they learned the stance, stroke, etc. If they say from watching me, I say "No,no, no, no.............not a smart idea."

I, then, try to work with them on a more standard technique.

One player picked up my habit of putting his head almost flat on the cue and refused to change it. Surprisingly, his game has improved about two balls over the last six months. Of course, he plays about 4-6 hours every day.
 
If I am playing straights and I am lucky enough to run more than 5 balls I pretend I am Mike Sigel, until I miss and then I scratch my head like Efren.
 
u12armresl said:
Have you ever copied a better players stance, bridge, facial expressions, speed of shooting, etc. and found yourself playing better?

I will give you an example (for the people that are saying facial expressions)
If you watch George B. play he makes a face before each shot. A local player watched and started mimicking it.

Other people try to get a pretty bridge as opposed to what works.
Going from stroking the stick to getting down on the ball and shooting right away.

Who has done this?
Click to expand...

Bridge - Either like Efren's (mainly), snooker open bridge (as well), or carom style closed bridge --- depending on what the situation is

Stance - Snooker or Carom style

Facial Reaction - scratch neck if awkward, scratch head if either I'm in too deep or make a BS shot, or a puppy "askew" look -- stone cold when in tournaments

Arm swing - fomerly used to do with with 2 fingers... then 3 (thumb, index, and middle) but now like snooker (mainly all fingers in only the first three to be a litle more rigid than the rest)

Celebration -- like a crazy man in heat :D
 
I've tried to emulate the Pinoy way of waggin the cue while stroking it right before striking the cb. The funny thing was every now n then when i do this, it seems to work for about the first 30mins, then i realize what is going on, and i start to over stroke the cb and get way outa position on every shot.
 
Is there really any better way to learn? Or easier? Certainly not cheaper! If you can look at a top player, whether it's in pool, snooker or any game & try to emulate what they do it can only be beneficial to you.

I think that's how I first developed my stance, from watching snooker on TV when I was a kid. Nobody ever told me how to stand, hold a cue & aim. I just did it, it just felt right to me. I did have some lessons from a friend who owned our local snooker club when I was older but he thought my stance was fine.

It's changed now because I'm older & nowhere near as flexible as I used to be but I still have a good stable approach to the table. My biggest worry is my legs are going to prevent me from playing too much longer. :(
 
this is a good topic, a while back i noticed i was automatically mimicking some of the pro's mannerisms around the table. at first when i noticed it i was a bit embarassed with myself but then i thought screw it! it dos give you confidence, and it's not like i was forcing myself to do it, it was sort of happening naturally. and it's no coincidence it was things from some of my favourite players. i do the Earl's praying move (where he sits with his head bowed), Efren's head scratch (naturally!), Archer's lint pick, and my favourite which i seem to do the most natural of all, is mike sigel's twitch of his head sideways when he gets out of line. when he gives the table that disappointed look as opposed to being angry.

i only think you should copy pro's cueing however if you are going for a textbook style though.
 
u12armresl said:
Have you ever copied a better players stance, bridge, facial expressions, speed of shooting, etc. and found yourself playing better?

I will give you an example (for the people that are saying facial expressions)
If you watch George B. play he makes a face before each shot. A local player watched and started mimicking it.

Other people try to get a pretty bridge as opposed to what works.
Going from stroking the stick to getting down on the ball and shooting right away.

Who has done this?
Click to expand...
You can't go wrong making your fundamentals or style of play match one of the top professionals. They have to be doing something right to be a pro and if one style doesn't work for you pick out another pro and see if his style will help you. I think it's a quick way to improve your game.
 
I've got the habit of steering my cue in the air when the ball is going a bit out of line. Gary Spaeth did that. I never conciously noticed it but when my wife saw a video of Gary playing she said "That's where you got that!" I paid attention a little closer and she's right. I've got Gary's habit. I do notice sometimes that I scratch the back of my neck, like Efren does, when I get out of line. I really need to stop that one.
MULLY
 
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