Not an instructor but here is what I focus on. Straight stroke. Light "cradle" grip, clearance in my stance, slow backswing with a 2 second pause, eyes on object ball during backswing, smooth acceleration, keeping dead still no movement.
Instructors
- Thread starter chas1022
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Yes, pretty much in every sport today , when you look for where someone is going in the wrong direction - for established pros, most of the time they don't want to mess with success, just get the person back to whatever came off the rails in their timing or address - for the intermediate- sometimes a total make over - makes you wonder sometimes about the greats in all sports from the 1920s thru the 1960s- man some of those guys were consistently great forever!- you have to admire past greats in all sports who were consistently great throughout their careers without the benefit of the training tools we have today to " right the ship" when things go a little south.
It's funny ( kinda ) that many years ago, SPF was not widely taught .
Now, if you watch the pros play, it's like ALMOST EVERYONE does SPF.
Before Allison Fisher came , it was almost like everyone was free-stroking .
And there were some who criticized the consistent approach and stroke as being too robotic to be interesting.
Back in the 1950s Joe Davis gave (snooker) players a pretty good blueprint for mechanics. He also explained to people that their beliefs about aiming were wrong and he described a simple demo where they could see that for themselves.
I do have to say that I enjoy the 80s and 90s, even early 2000s pool videos a lot more than the newer ones when everyone has the same static stance and cue motion among the European, Asian and many American players. Yes it's the "correct" way to be consistent, but it's like watching a tournament with 1 guy playing not 128 individuals. Only difference seems to be how well they execute those same strokes and aim.
I converted a bunch of the Accustats videos to watch on my computer and TV off the network, and also have some of their newer ones saved, I find myself pretty much always just re-watching the 90s and early 2000s matches and very few from the past decade.
Tell me more please. I’m interested in Joe Davis. Someone told me that Joe looked at the cueball last, as do I. I’ve never looked into it to find out if that was true about him. But everything I hear about this guy resonates with things I do. What should I look at? Where could I find more about this demo for aiming?
Thanks!
KMRUNOUT
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Look for his book "Complete Snooker" from the 1970s. Should be around $50.
Most active players like league players/AZ members?
I'll say aim, stance, stroke. Issues include players work on stroke with wrong bridge length, wrong grip, chicken wing position, etc.
SJM might be the best instructor that denies being one! Some of the things he says here incorporate other things you must have for these to work but this is as good of grouping of three things as I have seen. While he didn't mention reading patterns, it is impossible to play speed and angles properly without first knowing what you are trying to do so his list incorporates pattern play without listing it.
If I listed three things it would be reading patterns and cue ball control. One choice left over. Like SJM's listing, mine incorporates other things. If you have cue ball control you will pocket the object balls, just a given. I lump cue ball speed and angles into one listing, they are as readily broken out as Stu did.
Like Willie Mosconi's claim of pool being a very simple game, the theory I believe in is very simple. See where the cue ball needs to go, put it there. That requires reading the entire pattern. At first backwards from the money ball then frontwards, after enough table reading it can just be read frontwards. With the entire inning planned and cue ball control, difficulties have been planned through before ever getting to them. While it can happen when taking over from another player or after the break, during a run try to avoid having both sides of a shot being difficult. If pocketing the ball is hard, I want it to be easy to play shape. Likewise, if shape is going to be a little tricky, I want pocketing the ball to be easy. Most runs can be planned to work out this way, at least one side of the shot easy.
I guess I'll use up that last thing to list before leaving. Minimal cue ball movement. The less the cue ball moves the less chance it has of getting in trouble!
Hu
Bob...Pretty difficult to argue with success. The SPF approach to learning has shaped thousands of players into champions at the state, regional and national level. With 40+ years of training behind us, we are the dominant leaders in teaching pool. They say mimicking is the greatest compliment, and what we see is most other prominent instructors (even some of the European instructors) adopting the SPF philosophy.
Scott Lee
It is kinda like a "pro" player. I suspect there are very few people on here that haven't given a little instruction. At what point does someone claim to be an instructor? Depends on the mood they are in!
Hu
Hu...Or the 'creditials' they carry! In my experience, there are many who deem themselves able to teach (some by their skill level), but few that actually understand and communicate the dynamics of good learning habits and how to install them in our students.
Scott Lee
Scott,
As you know, most people that play at a pro level get opportunities to play instructor with people shoving cash their way. As a general statement, current competitors don't make good instructors. Different mindsets and most can't bounce between the two. Credentials are of course one way to judge an instructor but there are many good instructors out there without them. Too, what makes a good instructor for a player at one level doesn't necessarily make a good instructor for a player at another level.
Coaching raw beginners I just tell them to hit a spot with medium speed most of the time, once in awhile soft, even more rarely hard. Ladies in particular don't second guess, they just do what they are told. They don't even realize they are playing angles and shape. All they know is that they are making balls and this is fun!
Hu
Buddy Hall is a perfect example SPF no better stroke then the Rifleman.