Help a player learn/pay forward/help pool grow/share your story of help here.

mrmagoo42 said:
Some of the kids have become serious players others do it for the fun. It does take the patients of a saint. View attachment 285716Real proud of her work.
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Jr leagues are great, I am very glad we have one in our area, these are some pictures of the Nationals qualifier tournament this year. My son came in 3rd in it, then won the MA State Championship to get a spot in the Nationals, the girl in the first picture just started playing this year and came in 3rd in the state championship and is going to Vegas for Nationals already! I'm in the background of the last pic, probably looking over at some mistake my son did LOL

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About 6 years ago I met a gentleman about 6 years older than me that had broken his foot & was on workman's comp. He wound up being forced to 'retire'. So he took up playing pool. He had never held a pool cue before. I helped him along & we became friends. He progressed quite well with his pocketing ability & even with his position play but I just could not get him to improve on his shot selection to facilitate his runs to the win. My intention was to try to teach him to the point where he might be able to beat me with some regularity. That never happened & he passed away earlier this year. One night about a week before he passed he thanked me for being his friend & told me that the only things he had left in life to enjoy was drinking beer & playing pool. I'm glad I was able to help him have some enjoyment during the final few years of his life. I am now some what mentoring a 23 yr. old that plays rather well but still has a lot to learn. I hope I can pass on all that I know to him before I pass.

Best Regards Gene,

Rick
 
good to hear your still at it..........

ENGLISH! said:
About 6 years ago I met a gentleman about 6 years older than me that had broken his foot & was on workman's comp. He wound up being forced to 'retire'. So he took up playing pool. He had never held a pool cue before. I helped him along & we became friends. He progressed quite well with his pocketing ability & even with his position play but I just could not get him to improve on his shot selection to facilitate his runs to the win. My intention was to try to teach him to the point where he might be able to beat me with some regularity. That never happened & he passed away earlier this year. One night about a week before he passed he thanked me for being his friend & told me that the only things he had left in life to enjoy was drinking beer & playing pool. I'm glad I was able to help him have some enjoyment during the final few years of his life. I am now some what mentoring a 23 yr. old that plays rather well but still has a lot to learn. I hope I can pass on all that I know to him before I pass.

Best Regards Gene,

Rick
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That's how it works, that's how we build this pool world of ours.

We just need more of us helping and teaching and it will grow and grow and grow. ]]

Keep up the good work............
 
This reminds me of back home 30 years ago.............

30 years ago at the local poolhall there were many young faces like this.

Most of them became players in the leagues around the town. Some played very good and some just loved to play regardless of their skill level.

All the Jr leagues everywhere have been building our pool world year after year.

The tireless devotion by the people that runs these is so essential to where pool is today.

In fact I'll bet many of us came from a setup like a junior league somewhere.

We all owe these special players that have run these junior leagues.

When you teach a kid you really do something special by opening up a world that they can enjoy for the rest of their life.
 
Quick one

I have been up all night thinking about something that really bothered me last night, and will post on here a little later after I get it worked out in my head..:banghead:


Gene and I briefly touched on the pay it forward concept on Friday at my place, but at the time I was too concerned with figuring out how I was going to help him get his van back on the road (the strange thing was he didnt seem all that concerned about it... almost as if he knew it would just work itself out one way or the other...:scratchhead:)

Heres mine, sorry so long...

A few years back there was a whole group of younger guys and girls in the area who were all turning 21 around the same time. I know every year has kids turning drinking age, but for whatever reason this year was a little different, most of their parents are in my age group and we watched them grow up around us.
They all started hanging out on a regular basis in my place, which normally having a group of young kids (21's) as new regulars would make me cringe :shocked2:, but these are all REALLY good kids. No drugs, no fights, all either in college or working full time, just a good tight group of them... Well, I started to notice one of them, Luke, who is a quite, very polite kid, but definitely one of the 'ring leaders' of the group, ALWAYS shooting pool while he was there. He really was terrible, and couldnt even bridge a cue, let alone make 2 balls in a row (lol). He wouldnt ask to play any of the regular players, but was always asking someone, anyone, of his 'crew' to shoot a game with him. Even when I wasnt there and just checking the cameras, there was Luke on the front table playing someone, or just banging balls by himself while the others were just socializing and such.
Now Im a very quiet person by nature, just normally say 'hi' and keep my head and profile down, even in my place. But I just felt compelled to say something to this kid, didnt really know what, just something, and it really ate at me until I did so. So one night I was shooting with another guy on the table next to the front table that Luke was shooting on. His friends all seemed 'shot-out', and didnt want to play any more, but I could tell he still did, so I said "what the heck" and asked him if he wanted to get in with us? He said no thanks at first, but I told him not to worry about it and to get in with us, we were just practicing, so he did. I didnt push anything on him that night, just keep it real fun/no pressure pool. Few tips here and there from afar, but just let him shoot his turn for the most part. The next few times I was there I kinda went out of my way to ask him if he was 'in with us', real matter of factly like it was normal, and he didnt hesitate to get in the rotation with us. Before too long, I didnt even have to ask him anymore; he'd come up to us and ask if he could 'get in'. From that moment, I knew he was now a full fledged 'pool player' :thumbup:
He asked questions and absorbed tips and pointers like a sponge. I'd see him take his turn, lose, then immediately go to another table to practice some new drill, tip, shot, or whatever some 'vet' showed/told him. Thats a great thing to see, and kinda sorta made me feel really proud :ok:
Then a spot came open on one of my local 8-ball teams. Now, im about the youngest guy at 39 on my team, lol. But I told my captain that we needed to pick this kid up, he has a real passion for the game, plus we need a low number to help our numbers out (lol, my way of selling it to him). He gave me an 'are you crazy' look, but said if I thought the kid was alright, then ok. So I asked him to play with us, explaining that this was a really rare opportunity for him, because the only time a spot opens up on this team is when someone dies. Sounds funny, but its true, the team has been together for 27 years, with me being one of the newest, 'new' players 8 years ago...He joined us, and went 1-7 in his first season (21 games with the playoffs and championship which we won), and finished with as low of a handicap as possible. As the new season rolled around I guess I should have asked him if he was gonna play with us again, but I just assumed he was. Well, after making every match his first season, he was a no show the first 2 matches. And, I didnt see him too much shooting anymore. So I finally caught up to him and asked him what was up, and was he still playing with us or what; he said he figured we didnt want him to play since he went 1-7:shrug:. I said, dont be stupid, ya we want you to play!
Well the next season 'Young Luke' went 8-3, went up 2 handicaps, and won the leagues most improved player award!!:clapping:... This past season, now his 4th session, he shot in the end of the year 'All-Star' tournament as our team represenative :D
All of his friends now are regular shooters, with their own equipment and even started their own team (Luke still plays with us :wink:). Now, I see him always over on the front table helping them out with shots and stuff. They seem proud to have 'one of their own' in Luke.

Pretty cool, and thats what the pay it forward is all about....:thumbup:
 
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Great story there Rain-Man.............

That was a great story.

The nice thing about pool is no matter who you are you're almost accepted automatically
by everyone. Just bring your cue and shoot those cool little balls.

Friendships are quickly made and the rest is history.

As friendships grow so does our game.

And I'll bet you never gave it much thought until this thread, what a contribution you made to pool until you sat back for awhile and Luke popped into your head. Helping one person can be responsible for a whole army of players in an area.

There are thousands of silent heros in our pool world that are paying forward so much and don't even understand how much they really have done.

Owning a nice place like the Conway lounge has put you in a good spot to pay forward many times over the years. I feel really blessed to have helped you with some tools that will help you help other players so much.

I had my place for 13 years and will never forget all of the great friendships that were created and are still burning strong to this day.

When I go back to my home town and see some of the players, too many to mention individually, that played at my place helping keep it going I'm so grateful. They are all paying it forward like yourself.

And then there is the Happy Hollow Tavern and the great owners and management there that work with the players to keep the strong traditions going.

It's so nice to go back and just be part of this huge family of players. there's nothing like it on this planet with any other sport. We really have something special here.

As I travel around the country and experience each City and league i see players everywhere that are helping so much and they don't even realize it . I just sit back, watch and say,Cool.

I opened my place back in 1986 so i would be able to have a place that I wanted to hang out in. Make a good place for players and friends to come to also and hang out and just have a great time. And many players come up to me now and say there will never be a place like the one you had up there and that makes me feel really good.

But if they could be out here in the rest of the world like me they would see that there are places like yours that are doing just as much if not more to help players and just people in general to have a great place to go to and be a part of.

Thanks again Mr Ray.
 
Hot off the press...........

John L just called me.

He just made my day.

The next day after the Perfect aim lesson John headed down to breakers to play a player that he has lost to the last 8 times he played him.

he told me he was a little nervous because we worked on straightening the stoke out also.

John was so excited. I could hear it in his voice as he told me he beat the guy. And then went on to tell me how this works so well.

When I hear results like this all the aches and pains in my body just disappear. I feel like I'm walking on air.

And i have the whole rest of the day to make some more good things happen
.
Just wanted to share.

Thanks John made my day.........

Heading down to do a little paying forward with the league at Breaker tonight. Free Mini lessons........

See ya all there. ......
 
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macguy said:
Your right but it is not that easy sometimes. One thing you can do is be willing to play with weaker players without trying to prey on them.

I will give you an example. I owned a couple of pool rooms. I love to practice, I can hit balls for hours by myself. I would often be playing by myself and someone would be watching and I would say, "Grab a cue lets hits some". They would look around like are you talking to me. Of course they will not have any table time playing with me. But these were often players who would never dream of asking me to play. It is amazing how much they can pick up just playing with you if you give them a chance.

You may throw out some advice here and there but don't spoil the game by constantly them what to do. If they have a brain they begin to get it after a while. They also begin to feel less like outsiders in the pool room if they get to know the better players who they tend to look up to. It is an easy start to passing on some of what you know without sounding like a know it all.
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I agree. I have found it best to let them know you will help them and let them ask you for advise. You can plant the seeds, but its up to them on how far they go.
 
Notice something that they can't do very well..........

it might be draw, it might be follow. it might be something as simple as a bad tip. Just needs to be shaped.

There are all kinds of ways to open a can of beans if your hungry.

Help with that and the ice is broken.

I'm kind of lucky. I can show anyone that they really don't know how to aim.

That's my icebreaker......
 
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