How long did it take you to become a good pool player?

Lock N Load said:
As asked in the subject! What helped you on the way to becoming a good player?
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3-4 hours a day for 7 continuous years. Say 300 days per yer, 7 years, and 3 hours per day you get 6300 hours. At 5 shots a minute (mostly playing alone) that is 756,000 shots.

Then I did not play pool for 35 years. Now 5 years into recovery, there are still things I can't do that I used to be able to.
 
How long....how long...???????

"the rest of my life"........................................nuf sed!
 
Robroy said:
Took 3 years, Won the state championship at age 16.
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Yeah, but you live in that little bitty state of California, which made it easy. J/K. Robin you are one of the people that represents Pool in it's finest fashion. I hope you carry on for many years.:smile:
 
nine_ball6970 said:
I was a legitimate 2 in the APA when I first started playing. It took me 5 years to get up to a 7 in 8ball.
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I have a feeling your goal in life was not to be a 7 though. If you dedicated yourself to it, it would have been quicker.
Do you play everyday and practice outside of league nights? I'm not talking about just going to the bar and playing some games with your friends each night, I mean real practice and maybe even some study.
 
Robroy said:
Took 3 years, Won the state championship at age 16.
Click to expand...


Fricking show off!!! :angry: :grin:


I started playing at 12 but just as a straight banger. I played Ice hockey so I had a nack for shooting an object at a target zone so I wasn't half bad. Played that sears table out till the pockets fell off and the cloth was worn away. Never really learned how to control whitey but I was a shooter for sure :lol:

Moved to Binghamton to play Minor pro when I was 16 and started pool school (ranked D player in the room) at my local hall and get beat up by all the players one by one. Then practiced pretty hard to get to a +C level and beat my instructor on my final day before moving to SF. (about a 4 year span)

SF for 3 years where I got spanked at Family Billiards by Chohan, Amar, George Michael!! Beat Billy Palmer even up in a race to five before moving to Seattle where I became the house pro at Belltown Billiards from 04-06. I was still was at the B level (at best but this is not a pool town) at this time and wasn't learning much. (6 year span)

Moved to Vegas where I quit playing for about 2 years. Started up again after leaving Vegas and played like a C player :rolleyes: Practiced hard for about 5 solid months and one day I woke up as an A player!!!! :cool:

Been slowly getting better but right about now Im playing at the +A (when Im playing all the time) but since having a baby im probably closer to the +B level.

So... After 20 years of constant play Ive gone from a D to +A - Open player. I probably could've improved more rapidly if I wasnt self taught or listened to my instructor more. That's why I love to teach people how to play. It has a large amount of satisfaction :smile:

Sorry for the resume or rant but I like to talk :rolleyes: :lol:
 
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How long did it take? Well let me tell ya ...

I've been playing for 30 years and no one has called me a good player, except for those that don't know any better. I might be able to dominate in my local league or pool hall but when I show up at places like Hard Times or Kolby's, I end up leaving with my tail between my legs.

At this stage (getting old and taking care of other responsibilities), I've given up on being good. I'm now just trying to hang on to what little talent I've got.
 
RunoutJJ said:
......

Been slowly getting better but right about now Im playing at the +A (when Im playing all the time) but since having a baby im probably closer to the +B level.......:
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Sounds like the common theme is not necessarily how many years, but how many consistent hours. It takes consistent play/practice to maintain your level and even more to further improve ? And even then we each have our own natural limit ?
 
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Did somebody say i was good?

Lock N Load said:
As asked in the subject! What helped you on the way to becoming a good player? Thanks for your input.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
Click to expand...

Did somebody say i was good?

Thats the guy I want to play :-)

I find that everytime I learn something, It shows me how much I really don't know :-)
 
RunoutJJ said:
Fricking show off!!! :angry: :grin:


I started playing at 12 but just as a straight banger. I played Ice hockey so I had a nack for shooting an object at a target zone so I wasn't half bad. Played that sears table out till the pockets fell off and the cloth was worn away. Never really learned how to control whitey but I was a shooter for sure :lol:

Moved to Binghamton to play Minor pro when I was 16 and started pool school (ranked D player in the room) at my local hall and get beat up by all the players one by one. Then practiced pretty hard to get to a +C level and beat my instructor on my final day before moving to SF. (about a 4 year span)

SF for 3 years where I got spanked at Family Billiards by Chohan, Amar, George Michael!! Beat Billy Palmer even up in a race to five before moving to Seattle where I became the house pro at Belltown Billiards from 04-06. I was still was at the B level (at best but this is not a pool town) at this time and wasn't learning much. (6 year span)

Moved to Vegas where I quit playing for about 2 years. Started up again after leaving Vegas and played like a C player :rolleyes: Practiced hard for about 5 solid months and one day I woke up as an A player!!!! :cool:

Been slowly getting better but right about now Im playing at the +A (when Im playing all the time) but since having a baby im probably closer to the +B level.

So... After 20 years of constant play Ive gone from a D to +A - Open player. I probably could've improved more rapidly if I wasnt self taught or listened to my instructor more. That's why I love to teach people how to play. It has a large amount of satisfaction :smile:

Sorry for the resume or rant but I like to talk :rolleyes: :lol:
Click to expand...

Good input, thanks.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
macguy said:
I have a feeling your goal in life was not to be a 7 though. If you dedicated yourself to it, it would have been quicker.
Do you play everyday and practice outside of league nights? I'm not talking about just going to the bar and playing some games with your friends each night, I mean real practice and maybe even some study.
Click to expand...

I reached that level about 6 years ago. I think it just took that long to reach that level. I mean maybe it took a bit longer because for awhile I was just content with being a 6 at the time. I reached that level after playing seriously for 2.5 years if memory serves me correctly. I do believe it does take a number of years to acquire the knowledge needed to play pool at a high level. Some serious instruction early on would have been beneficial but I was self taught. Never even heard of aiming systems then. It was just HAMB and learning how to get the cue ball to go where I wanted etc. I play every day now and play much better than I did back then even after an extended layoff from the game.
 
Starting at a young age, 13, helped me get there in five years.

I played the game morning, noon, and night. The hours I put in playing and watching were immense.

I often won money from weaker players and couldn't wait to lose it to better players. As long as I was in action, I didn't care what was going on.

Of course, as I got better, the games were tough to find. That's when I started traveling from city to city in the north of Boston, Mass. area.

I was lucky enough to find a few rooms that I could play in on a steady basis. That's when my game really took off.


_________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
 
ronscuba said:
Sounds like the common theme is not necessarily how many years, but how many consistent hours. It takes consistent play/practice to maintain your level and even more to further improve ? And even then we each have our own natural limit ?
Click to expand...

I always believed this (the part in red) until just that past couple of years. The way I think about it now is if I could clone myself and attempt over and over to become a great player, I think with the proper instruction and just figuring out how to unlock all the mysterious of the game I would eventually become a great player. If you look at all the competitive sports we (as a race) are getting better at all of them. I think in 100 years the same me would be a better player based on the competition getting better and our understanding of the game increasing. So, understanding this I see no reason why the "today me" or the "today you" shouldn't be able to get better (barring age and health limitations).
 
I have played since I was 6 years old am now 54 every time i think i am getting to be good I find out how much i still have to learn. I dont think I will ever be what I consider good but I will be better than most. Pool is a never ending journey.
 
I'll be good when....

I'll be good when a week of practice
goes by and I don't discover something
that needs more practice.

Over 50 and still working at it.
 
26yrs at it and still improving; after the 1st 2 years of playing I thought I was “pretty good” because I had read the books (Byrns and Martins) and could win plenty of beer in almost any bar around here :rotflmao1: then competition then better and better competition.

:withstupid:

All in all it took me about 12-15ish years to figure out how much there is to know and get better at it. Good pool player? Compared to a what? I am an average among the better competitive players nationally; does that make me a good pool player? In my estimation the answer to that one is no. Am I a good pool player locally? The answer to that one is YUP for sure, there are plenty of people around here that think I am amazing.:thumbup:

All in all it took me a long time to know how bad I really am, I am in my mid 40’s and I get better every year. So I guess my answer really is; it took me 26 years to get to where I am today and I am anywhere between average to great depending on who you are talking to.:yeah:
 
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