Banks said:
I see so many people on here and hear so many stories from a while back, that I was wondering just how long have you guys and gals been playing and about how long did it take you to reach your higher level of play?
I started out when I was 14 (1980/81)or so when we had a very small table, but regular balls. The table was 5' or so.
In 1983, I worked at a camp's kitchen that had a 9' Brunswick in the basement. We had nothing better to do, so we played for hours a day.
Three years later, I'm 19, I can go play pool and drink at the bars, and here comes a movie: The Color of Money. So, I was already into playing pool, but as a beginner, the movie couldn't have hit me at a better time.
That all being said, here's an excerpt from one of my posts years ago, concerning perceived skill progression.
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When I was playing in the bars years ago, there were a bunch of guys that were always on the table winning. I always thought that they were really good. If you left them with 2 or 3 open balls and the 8, by God they were out! They were *really* good.
Years later, I play against some of these same guys and they'd be lucky to be able to breath on the same table as me. They'd say things like "remember when I was really good?" Well, they play the same speed now as they did then. But I've gotten better. And they haven't. If I look back, I ask myself, "were they good?" And the answer is easy. No. They sucked . They suck now, they sucked then. I was simply CLUELESS what good and bad pool is all about.
Years later from that point (~1990), I look back at my own level of play. Ten years ago, I was one of the big dogs in our league. I really thought I was good. I was a threat to run out at any time. But if I was to play against me back then, the player I am today would easily spot the old Fred the 7 out and have my way (split personality and all). As "good" as I thought I was then, especially compared to the other players, I know today that I sucked then. I was an SL-6 in APA 8-ball.
A few years after that, after I became an SL-7 in the APA, I thought I was *really* good. But in retrospect, my shotmaking wasn't exactly great and neither was my safety play. And I was a SL-7 for pete's sake!
Today, my shotmaking is twice or three times as good as it was just 7 years ago. And my safety game is about 9 million times better than it was then. So even as a low SL-7 in the APA 8-ball league 7 years ago, compared to how I shoot today, I sucked. I'd give *that* Fred the wild 8 and hand it to him.
Today (~2000), I'm shooting the best pool I have ever played. I've given up the APA, and play in a BCA league. I've been the #1 or #2 rated player in our league for the past couple of sessions. When I play tournaments, I normally play in the "B" level tournaments. I am competitive in that level. Occassionally, I place highly. I've played one Open tournament, and the luck of the draw enabled me to place in the top half. Am I good? Sure, if I get to choose who I compare to. But I'm done doing that. I know where my game is, and what the next level is. And I know there's a level above that, and another above that. That puts me somewhere in the middle of the road. That's about all there is to it. At my current level, I am not competitive with the best players in New England in any discipline.
In the martial arts, some of the discipline's philosophy says that a black belt is actually the beginner's stage; a stage where you have finally
mastered the basics. Earning your black belt (in some disciplines) is far
from being an expert, and closer to being a neophyte. In my game, I'd say I'm a brown belt.
Fred <~~~ almost up to a beginner
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I wrote this post several years ago, and I feel like I'm marginally better today (2006) than when I wrote that post (2000). But not much better. I've hit a plateau that suggests that if I were to get better, I really need to put in some time on the table. And truly, that's just not happening anymore.
Fred
I've started to play in the local poolhall's tourments and in August, I'll get into the FQSB, we'll see in which level I'll be rated, and i look foward to play in tournements. 
