Heart...

Heart is not about the money. It is the inner ability to overcome adversity, under any situation...or at least give it your best shot. It is NOT something that can be taught. It's one of the three parts to being a great player... those being Head, Heart & Skill (Skill is the smallest part).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

iba7467 said:
.Heart is someone's tenacity and risk relative to their monetary situation.
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

Pretty much sums it for me.
 
Read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
or the plot summary at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Day_in_the_Life_of_Ivan_Denisovich

Or ask any one who has served in a war zone about who they would want to have their back.

See many of Clint Eastwood's or Charles Bronson's movies. My favorite and repeated by Bruce Willis is, "Last Man Standing." It is our myths and mythology about what a man is or should be.

The High Plains Drifter may be the heart of America. But you can pick your own.

Heart is not about The Hustler or The Color of Money, it is about being a man, at all times under all circumstances.

The difference between a "brave" man and a "coward" is about the way they choose to walk, knowing what is in front of them, some walk into it, some walk away. Many people do not know if they have the heart for it until confronted by what threatens them.

Some with it perform well, some die trying, both fight until the end. And when it is over the man with heart states that they are not brave, they only did what a man would do -- that is heart. It can be observed in a man, in a woman, in a dog, and in a deer. You will know it when you see it.
 
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Challenging yourself even if you may have the worst of it and fighting hard is heart to me. And I dont feel that you have to win necessarily to have heart either. JMO.

Southpaw
 
Scott Lee said:
Heart is not about the money. It is the inner ability to overcome adversity, under any situation...or at least give it your best shot. It is NOT something that can be taught. It's one of the three parts to being a great player... those being Head, Heart & Skill (Skill is the smallest part).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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SKILL IS THE SMALLEST PART??????

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SCOTT??????

i dont believe my eyes are reading that correctly. you must be back in the area, back at the amish restaurant, and boozin' with the amish to have wrote something as unbelievable as that.

DCP

p.s. fire awy
 
Wen I think of heart, I think of the ability to perform under circumstances where most people could not keep their composure. Two incidents stand out in my mind:

1) Mike Sigel runs 150 and out on you, but on the very first turn of your next match you run 148 against Ray Martin.................... you're Mike Zuglan at the 1992 US Open Straight Pool Championships and you've got heart.

2) You've just learned that your father has passed away, but you decide to play in the tournament anyway. You lose your first match to David Howard, but still play on. You win ten matches in a row to earn a shot at Johnny Archer in the final and beat him 13-2 to win the title..................... you're Efren Reyes at the 1996 PBT Florida Flare-up and you've got heart.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
SKILL IS THE SMALLEST PART??????

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SCOTT??????

i dont believe my eyes are reading that correctly. you must be back in the area, back at the amish restaurant, and boozin' with the amish to have wrote something as unbelievable as that.

DCP

p.s. fire awy
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Nevermind, I realized My odds of winning at russian roulette with a semi automatic pistol are better than getting my point across to DCP.
 
Jimk said:
Fatboy, you seem obsessed with the ring game. Putting yourself in action is more than a lot of people would do, not withstanding the entry fee. I would think one would always want to perform well in such a situation, but that may not always be in the cards. Critics are those who stand on the side but won't get close to the fire. Best of luck.
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i'm not obsessed with anything, this post was thought up while I was reading somethng else and It got me thinking, thats all, the timing might lead you to think otherwise. thanks i'm gonna need alot of luck, happy holidays
 
sjm said:
2) You've just learned that your father has passed away, but you decide to play in the tournament anyway. You lose your first match to David Howard, but still play on. You win ten matches in a row to earn a shot at Johnny Archer in the final and beat him 13-2 to win the title..................... you're Efren Reyes at the 1996 PBT Florida Flare-up and you've got heart.
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wow thats strong, i forgot about that, thats amazing.
 
Why you are very unlikely to ever get far

Scott Lee who makes his living teaching skills tells you something about skills and the first thing you do is throw it out the window. For every champion, there may be a dozen more with equal skill. For every winning gambler there are hundreds more with equal skill. Skill can be taught to anyone with moderate physical abilities. You have to be born with some brain to work with but how to use that brain, Head, can be somewhat taught. Heart can be enhanced the more you use it but no instructor, no coach, nobody in the world can teach heart or give heart to someone that doesn't have it.

Skill is the least of the three things needed because it is the most teachable. Matching up smart and playing smart can be taught to a degree also. Heart and class have to come from within. You can teach someone to act like they have heart but they will fold like a cheap rug under pressure if they were not born with it.

Hu


DrCue'sProtege said:
SKILL IS THE SMALLEST PART??????

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SCOTT??????

i dont believe my eyes are reading that correctly. you must be back in the area, back at the amish restaurant, and boozin' with the amish to have wrote something as unbelievable as that.

DCP

p.s. fire awy
Click to expand...
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
SKILL IS THE SMALLEST PART??????

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SCOTT??????

i dont believe my eyes are reading that correctly. you must be back in the area, back at the amish restaurant, and boozin' with the amish to have wrote something as unbelievable as that.

DCP

p.s. fire awy
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You really don't have a clue do you?

Heart does not have anything to do with skill. There are players who play at the highest level and have no heart. I know several B players with more heart than most of the pros I have ever met.

Heart is not about winning. It is about refusing to quit. It is about taking that tough game in order to test yourself. It is starting something with out knowing for sure if you will be able to overcome the obstacles it will take to finish and not quitting when you get to the obstacles.

As stated above in the thread, those who serve our country know what heart is, those who fight and survive through hard times know what heart is. The firefighters, cops, and EMT's who go to work everyday to help strangers know what heart is. The kid who shoots 1000 freethrows a day, so he can make the team knows what heart is. It is all around you. You just have to be to able see.

Maybe one day you will figure it out.

"Pain is temporary, quitting is forever"
Lance Armstrong
 
Blackjack said:
Click the link below... it is the best definition I have ever heard as it relates to pool...

HEART
.
.
.
.
.

Nuff said!
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I agree Dave. That is a great clip. I don't think it could have been explained any better than this.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Heart, huh?

well, unless you are excellent at making balls and have excellent cue ball control, heart isnt going to do you much good. except providing you a means to have someone pat you on the back afterwards, and say you gave your best.

the Miami Dolphins had heart going into New England today. the result of their heart? a 28-0 first half deficit. that heart didnt do them much good.

DCP
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I think I'm going to throw up!!!
 
ShootingArts said:
Scott Lee who makes his living teaching skills tells you something about skills and the first thing you do is throw it out the window. For every champion, there may be a dozen more with equal skill. For every winning gambler there are hundreds more with equal skill. Skill can be taught to anyone with moderate physical abilities. You have to be born with some brain to work with but how to use that brain, Head, can be somewhat taught. Heart can be enhanced the more you use it but no instructor, no coach, nobody in the world can teach heart or give heart to someone that doesn't have it.

Skill is the least of the three things needed because it is the most teachable. Matching up smart and playing smart can be taught to a degree also. Heart and class have to come from within. You can teach someone to act like they have heart but they will fold like a cheap rug under pressure if they were not born with it.

Hu
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I have a friend who hits them as good as anyone in the world for the time, for $500 he is done, he was gifted with the coordination to play good but not the confidence to do anything with it, thats why I started this thread is to hear all the ideas,

Buddy Hall said it best if you have the gift to play good-dead stroke or the zone, but when you dont have Buddys gift then what? I have never played perfect pool for more than a few racks here and there, I can get into that zone for a few minutes then poof I'm back to where ever I was at before, the Champions can keep it there longer, is that heart or skill?
 
Johnnyt said:
Heart to me is never giving up...no matter how much the odds are staked against you. Weather it be gambling, love, business, or whatever. Johnnyt
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yea, that, and humble truthiness; help the less fortunate people (no not you dcp..) with food and shelter. that kind of humble.

oh, pool was it?
 
Skill

Fatboy,

Getting in the zone and even playing much the same when you are not truly in the zone can be learned so I say it has little to do with heart. However without some heart someone won't have the calm mind needed to get into the zone. Note I say that getting in the zone can be learned. I'm not sure it can be taught although the aids to help get you there can be.

Hu


Fatboy said:
I have a friend who hits them as good as anyone in the world for the time, for $500 he is done, he was gifted with the coordination to play good but not the confidence to do anything with it, thats why I started this thread is to hear all the ideas,

Buddy Hall said it best if you have the gift to play good-dead stroke or the zone, but when you dont have Buddys gift then what? I have never played perfect pool for more than a few racks here and there, I can get into that zone for a few minutes then poof I'm back to where ever I was at before, the Champions can keep it there longer, is that heart or skill?
Click to expand...
 
ShootingArts said:
Fatboy,

Getting in the zone and even playing much the same when you are not truly in the zone can be learned so I say it has little to do with heart. However without some heart someone won't have the calm mind needed to get into the zone. Note I say that getting in the zone can be learned. I'm not sure it can be taught although the aids to help get you there can be.

Hu
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I think that the lesser talanted players need more heart than the gifted players, I have seen the strong A players down in the trenches in action alot more than the gifted players(champions) who just show up and win, not all the time but most of the time

i have been gifted in one thing in life and didnt work half as hard as the guys who wernt as gifted-telemarketing. It came natural to me, I would go in do my thing for a couple hours and leave, I got bigger numbers($$$) than the guys pounding the phones all day. I didnt have the heart they did and believe me that gig takes heart. I just did my thing and left 4 hours earily everyday. I'm not taking anything away from top pool players just sharing my experience-perhaps its a bad compairson. Heart and talant are 2 different things.

again not to beat a dead horse i made this thread to gain insight into the pshchology of our sport, its not about me, its for me and other to learn from.
 
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