Illusion of Winning

[JAM]

Some believe that the more you practice pool, the more proficient you will become. And along with that, it is believed that you will do better under pressure in the long run. Here's a blog that describes how practicing pool may assist students in school. :smile:

Complicating our perceptions is professional sports. The whole point of professional athletics is assembling freaks of nature into teams and pitting them against other freaks of nature. Practice is obviously important in professional sports, but it won't make you taller. I suspect that professional sports demotivate viewers by sending the accidental message that success is determined by genetics.

My recommendation is to introduce eight-ball into school curricula, but in a specific way. Each kid would be required to keep a log of hours spent practicing on his own time, and there would be no minimum requirement. Some kids could practice zero hours if they had no interest or access to a pool table. At the end of the school year, the entire class would compete in a tournament, and they would compare their results with how many hours they spent practicing. I think that would make real the connection between practice and results, in a way that regular schoolwork and sports do not. That would teach them that winning happens before the game starts.

Source: Illusion of Winning Blog [Retrieved 26 July 2011]

This might be a way to get pool into schools. It is an interesting analogy: playing pool can help in school.

 

[Falcon Eddie]

When I first read the title of this thread I thought it was about Charlie Sheen, just kidding...pool in school..great idea that's why i started skipping

 

[Wedge]

Good Post JAM

I wonder what would happen if half of a control group only practiced and the other half only competed and then a tournament was held. I think it would show that you really need to compete not just practice a lot. Probably need a balance of both.

 

[C.Milian]

Wininnnnnnnng!!!!!!!!.....but are you winning?

Makes a lot of sense. You're going to piss all the tall people off.

 

[JAM]

Tee-hee. Poor Charlie. :embarrassed2:

 

[JAM]

I wonder what would happen if half of a control group only practiced and the other half only competed and then a tournament was held. I think it would show that you really need to compete not just practice a lot. Probably need a balance of both.

It would be an *excellent* exercise for a school group, IMO! :smile:

 

[JCMn]

That sounds like a great idea. Only problem is getting the education establishment to actually commit to it. I heard recently they are dropping the teaching of cursive hand writing as it's no longer needed. Amazing.....

 

[houmatroy]

Some believe that the more you practice pool, the more proficient you will become. And along with that, it is believed that you will do better under pressure in the long run. Here's a blog that describes how practicing pool may assist students in school. :smile:

Complicating our perceptions is professional sports. The whole point of professional athletics is assembling freaks of nature into teams and pitting them against other freaks of nature. Practice is obviously important in professional sports, but it won't make you taller. I suspect that professional sports demotivate viewers by sending the accidental message that success is determined by genetics.

My recommendation is to introduce eight-ball into school curricula, but in a specific way. Each kid would be required to keep a log of hours spent practicing on his own time, and there would be no minimum requirement. Some kids could practice zero hours if they had no interest or access to a pool table. At the end of the school year, the entire class would compete in a tournament, and they would compare their results with how many hours they spent practicing. I think that would make real the connection between practice and results, in a way that regular schoolwork and sports do not. That would teach them that winning happens before the game starts.

Source: Illusion of Winning Blog [Retrieved 26 July 2011]

This might be a way to get pool into schools. It is an interesting analogy: playing pool can help in school.

Or you can try n take this route..lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QS0q3mGPGg

 

[JAM]

Or you can try n take this route..lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QS0q3mGPGg

OMG! That's probably the best YouTube I've seen in a very long time. Loved it! :grin:

 

[duckie]

Here's my spin on this.....

Pool is a great equalzer. Size, strength, speed, equipment, gender, age, race and much more do not really matter in pool. This cannot be said of any of the major sports.

Pool is great to teach problem solving, thinking through things and it takes hard work to do really be good at anything.

I, once was in a zone of a different kind bout 35 + years ago and was playing some 8 ball.

It dawn on me that a game of 8 ball was like a day in my life. The break was the beginning of the day. Just like most breaks, you really don't know where the balls are going. Same with a new day.

How the balls layout makes for a easy or hard run out. There might be problems to take care before the 8, you may not execute a shot well, creating more problems, but getting down to the 8 is the goal. Same in a day. Some days are easy, some hard, some days you can't do a thing right, but you keep going through the day to get to the end.

In pool, you can do your best and still lose, same in a day in your life. And just like pool where there is always another game, same in life, there will be another day.

There is alot about life that can be learned from pool.

 

[Cdryden]

I wonder what would happen if half of a control group only practiced and the other half only competed and then a tournament was held. I think it would show that you really need to compete not just practice a lot. Probably need a balance of both.

Exactly right. Where was this idea when i was in school. Maybe I wouldn't have skipped so much if there was pool in high school!

 

[JAM]

Exactly right. Where was this idea when i was in school. Maybe I wouldn't have skipped so much if there was pool in high school!

Check this thread out from November 2009: Texas High School Provides Students with Pool Opportunities.

 

[Smooth]

Thank you Jam... that thread is what motivated us to attempt the same a few years ago.... we didn't get it off the ground, but I was looking for that thread a few days ago... and, voila, here she is. Love your attitude btw.

 

[Scott Lee]

Wedge...There would need to be a THIRD group...those that practiced actively, those that didn't practice at all...and those that practiced by visualization. This has already been done (with basketball), btw, and it showed that the visualization group performed almost exactly the same as the active practice group. If you do a search for 'visualization' it will probably turn up the thread here.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I wonder what would happen if half of a control group only practiced and the other half only competed and then a tournament was held. I think it would show that you really need to compete not just practice a lot. Probably need a balance of both.

 

[Cdryden]

Check this thread out from November 2009: Texas High School Provides Students with Pool Opportunities.

Wow, that would have been nice! Thanks for posting that.

 

[Falcon Eddie]

Tee-hee. Poor Charlie. :embarrassed2:

This is good...and FUNNY !!!

 

[Cameron Smith]

I like the concept of pool in high school. As a teacher myself, I find that it's an excellent alternative to other school sports as it's cheaper than golf and it doesn't require one to be an athlete to be excellent (unlike soccer). Providing students with a variety of activities they can learn and excel in is a fantastic way to build a students self confidence. Learning guitar has helped many a troubled teenager. Furthermore, it provides social opportunities to build social skills which is incredibly important for adolescants and few competitive activities are more social than pool imo.

However, I don't think it will have the results they think it will. It may not matter how tall or strong you are, but there are still genetic differences that will lead to disparities in skill levels no matter how much they practice. And not all practice hours are created equal. If pool is to be inserted into schools (which it should be) it should be as a extra-curricular activity. If for no other reason than, we don't really have time for pool as part of the curriculum at least not in Ontario. It could be in Phys-ed, but at least where I am, gym is not a requirement throughout the entirety of high school.

 

[JAM]

I used to work for the National Headquarters of the 4-H Club when I was a young'n. Their two biggest sponsors at that time were Roy Rogers and Marriott. I tried to introduce pocket billiards, wrote a lengthy proposal, and submitted it to the president. I pointed out the value of teaching children to practice, as well as developing the hand-and-eye coordination skills. At that time, NASA astronauts would play pool when in training before going into space. [RIP, Shuttle.]

The 4-H president replied by thanking me, but that they did not have the funds to bring pocket billiards into the 4-H line-up of activities. His reply letter was polite and brief.

Some schools do try to insert innovative classes within their curriculum. I remember taking karate as a physical education class in high school. We also took a class on rope twirling. We also were taught archery in junior high school. Why not pocket billiards?

I can lasso anything within my sight with a lariat!