Instruction Results

[Curdog]

I know this subject has been covered in some detail lately, but I have a question which I haven't heard answered.
Pool instruction seems to be becoming often a pretty costly affair. Many instructors charge as much as $1000 - $1500 per day. What I'm interested in hearing is results that board folks have experienced after taking lessons. I know everybody has 'opinions', but has anybody got any actual true life experience? What I am trying to understand is what results might be reasonable to expect. I don't seem to have a problem in getting hustled at the table. I just want to make sure an instructor isn't the one doing the hustling!
Let me add that I am a serious player to the point that I spend on average 4-6 hours of table time a day. If I don't get games, I practice alone. Work ethic is not a problem.
Look forward to your comments.

 

[know-nada]

When I first started playing - I got the bug like no one's business. All I wanted to do was play pool all day every day and beat as many players that I knew to be better than me as I could. Not long after I "got the bug" one of the top players in our area (which I didn't know that at the time) told me he thought I had some talent and could help me with my game. That was all I needed to hear - sign me up!! So I took lessons and my game came along but I always wanted more. I couldn't seem to get enough information that I could say made measureable differences in my game. I had ups and downs and plateaus and ultimately I came to believe, like it seems many others do, that pool is 99% mental. I kept asking the best players in town for more information taking more lessons from some and just asking questions of others and simply watching the best whenever possible. I found that some of the best players have absolutely no idea how they do what they do and in my experience, most good players even if they have good information to provide, are lacking in the communication and understanding depts. They just couldn't get a feel for where I was at with my game, what information or progression of information I would need to get where I wanted to get and on top of it all, when they did offer information they had no idea on how to tell whether I was getting it or not. Then a friend recommended Steve Lingelbach who owns the Oregon Billiard Academy. So after several years of having given up on taking lessons and believing that my success or lack there of was only in my head I signed up with Steve. One of my first lessons was about cue ball control and the things I learned in that lesson alone apply to every game that I have played thereafter and continue to play today. Every additional lesson I took resulted in something new that I added to my bag of tricks. He didn't try some hoakus-poakus stroke adjustment or some "go home and meditate" words of wisdom. I learned game situations, kick systems, diamond systems, and all sorts of stuff. Now those I guys I tried to learn from first don't like playing me. And whenever someone tells me how mental the game is - I tell them "It's truly amazing how much less mental you become when you have the confidence of knowing exactly what is going to happen when you shoot."

 

[know-nada]

Oh yeah - and by the way, he charges $40/hr. The least expensive non-hacker I've ever heard of.

 

[sjm]

I know this subject has been covered in some detail lately, but I have a question which I haven't heard answered.
Pool instruction seems to be becoming often a pretty costly affair. Many instructors charge as much as $1000 - $1500 per day. What I'm interested in hearing is results that board folks have experienced after taking lessons. I know everybody has 'opinions', but has anybody got any actual true life experience? What I am trying to understand is what results might be reasonable to expect. I don't seem to have a problem in getting hustled at the table. I just want to make sure an instructor isn't the one doing the hustling!
Let me add that I am a serious player to the point that I spend on average 4-6 hours of table time a day. If I don't get games, I practice alone. Work ethic is not a problem.
Look forward to your comments.

Curdog, as you’ve noted, the matters of what constitutes good pool instruction and who can deliver it, have gotten a lot of play on the forum of late, but yours is the first mention of cost.

I think a generic answer is called for, as a buyer of any goods or services faces the same basic choices as any other buyer. I can go for the brand name but I pay more for it. In some cases, the brand name is strong because the product is measurably superior, such as a Master lock. In other cases, it is the brand image and not the superiority of the product you are paying for. For example, I’d be hard pressed to believe that Band-aid bandages are measurably superior to the generic adhesive bandages sold by most pharmacies. Sometimes a high price is based on a combination of both product quality and brand image.

The prices you quote seem a little steep, but the best pool instructors are worth the big bucks. Still, if you choose to pay top dollar for lessons, make sure you are signing up with the superior instructors, who may or may not have a strong brand name. Spend your money wisely.

Finally, I feel that instructors that have worked with expert and pro level players are, on average, more likely to be deserving of top dollar than other instructors. It’s always a good idea to ask an instructor you’re considering working with who else they have worked with.