how many balls have you hit?

[DelawareDogs]

About the 10,000 hours. The author of the original study disagrees with some of what the Gladwell books say.

And it's not just playing or knocking balls around -- it's 10,000 hours of directed practice, like working on specific weaknesses and doing drills that force you to think through game situations, and with a coach to keep you on the right track.

I suspect there are under 100 such 10,000-hour pool players in the world.

Bob <-- who has knocked the balls around for at least 10,000 hours

I'd be so bold to say there are under 50...... good post.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

...it's not just playing or knocking balls around -- it's 10,000 hours of directed practice, like working on specific weaknesses and doing drills that force you to think through game situations, and with a coach to keep you on the right track.

OK, well, by that definition I've hit maybe as many as, oh... say, zero balls.

pj <- incompetent
chgo

 

[jimmyco]

One.

Same one every time.

 

[JolietJames]

Over a million without question.

 

[GoldCrown]

Currently....

 

[Mick]

Good question. I'ma try to ballpark it.

The last 5 years I've averaged about 15 hrs/week. I'd guess about 100 balls per hour playing mostly fast opponents (maybe a bit less, but it makes for easy math), so 250 weeks x 15 hrs/ week x 100 bph = 375000 balls hit.

Before that I had taken about 7 years off, so 0 balls hit.

The 1st 12 years I played I probably averaged 25 hrs/week and 70 balls/hr playing slower opponents. 624 weeks x 25 hrs/ week x 70bph = 1092000.

375000 + 1092000 = 1,467,000.

Wow, that's pretty crazy. Ballpark 1.5 million balls. I'd have guessed way less.

HAMB baby!


Edit. In thinking about it, my balls per hour would be me and opponent combined, so I think I have to divide by 2. 733500. Not a million yet, but getting close-ish.

 

[Island Drive]

Grady Matthews

If any of you knew him, he Was very good with numbers, cards etc. Grady never sat, he always was doing something if he wasn't on the table/$$$$.
Early seventies I heard this question, and here is his reply.

To become a top player, you have had to of hit at least 2 million balls. No one ever disagreed with that.

I know during my Real addiction College/Varner years, I played 60 hours a week for 2 1/2 years straight, and did not finish school .

Didn't come up for air very often during that stretch, and Johnston City was around, every Fall at Janscos Show Bar.

 

[erhino41]

I can't ball park it. It has to be millions. Pla ying since twelve. Three nights a week as a teenager. Worked at the pool hall for over a year and got paid to practice. Joined the Marines and spent four years in socal with a gold crown in the barracks. A layoff for seven years of serious play, although I did hit a lot of balls socially in that time. I've been playing and practicing two nights a week for the last eleven years. For five years in that period I would play for an hour everyday after work before I had to get to day care on top of two nights a week.

A good portion of my playing is solo practice. I practice at a pretty quick pace. Not exactly earl or jayson fast, but I'd certainly beat a shot a clock.

Easily millions.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[eastcoast_chris]

Following this model:

3x a week, I hit 200 balls roughly, not accounting my down time from rage quitting:wink:
so I'll make it a modest 75 balls/wk.

x 42 weeks (for the times I know I don't play.....)
x 25 years play time (since 9years old) then account for the years I completely didn't play at all........ so 15 years to be modest.....


47,250 balls hit - it seems like a fair number. my guess is I'll need to ramp that up over 100,000 to get over the depressing 540 FR number looming in my 196 robustness. :frown:

3 x 200 x 42 x 15 = 378,000 ... how does 3 x 200 = 75 balls a week?

 

[AtLarge]

Following this model:

3x a week, I hit 200 balls roughly, not accounting my down time from rage quitting:wink:
so I'll make it a modest 75 balls/wk. ...

I think you're shorting yourself there, DD. Check your arithmetic.