Since people want to frame this match as CTE vs. Feel and making me the "poster boy" for CTE - (which I didn't want.)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSKV5CK_fziXgJfmuqZiy_N-C5JFHNg8w
In his match I played really bad for a variety of reasons. But I still managed to play decent in spurts usually followed by some brain dead error, wrong shot chosen or bad execution or both.
This "bad blood" that led up to this match started about 15 years ago in this thread.
Hal Houle is For Real
Lou made a shitty response to my post reporting my experience with Hal. Even though I responded politely he just kept on with the snide shitty remarks until I at some point challenged him to play some. That led to a long flame war of it's own.
I got the opportunity to play him in a little RSB tournament in Chicago not long after that and managed to beat him in "his" game of one pocket in a little race to two. I got lucky for sure but I also used Hal's methods to aim and that helped me to pocket balls in a game I wasn't to familiar with.
In the ensuing years we had a truce after having drinks at the bar at one of the DCC events.
Fast forward to AZB and I made a harmless quip that Lou had lost to me after he had started in again with the nasty comments in the aiming system threads. I had merely chimed in to tell my story about meeting Hal and the results.
This then led to me offering Lou 9/8 for $100 with a promise to lose at least five hundred if he could beat me. We saw each other several times at shows and not once did Lou offer to play.
Then on one pocket.org another person barked at me to play for $20,000. Quite a jump from the $100 I offered. Now I have always considered Lou to be a good player and complimented his play the one time in Chicago that I beat him. This high roll offer was just purely stupid. I initially declined but then came back and said I would play for 10k. I was called a coward and a nit and other names by Lou and his "posse". Anyway that ran it's course but then for some reason Lou continued to use that thread to say I was scared to play. I said I was willing to play for 10k and the offer was never rescinded.
So.......a match ended up actually being proposed, we negotiated the terms...you all know the story and here is the video of it. Spoiler - I lost. 9:6.
But here is why I posted this here.
Many want to paint this as the epic clash between CTE (or better said Hal Houle type aiming) and Feel aiming.
Lou is the die hard million balls feel guy and I am the die hard aiming system cheerleader. The only thing is that I am not a great player and never have been. I am an OK player but not disciplined at all. So no aiming system can FIX the other problems in my game, bad stroke, bad timing, bad strategy, bad speed, bad attitude etc...
What the aiming system did do for me though is keep me in the game to some degree. there were a lot of shots I took which I wouldn't have even tried without having an aiming system to use to line them up. I didn't make all of them and I dogged a lot of easy shots as well. But for sure CTE kept me in the game and I did use it or 90/90 virtually every shot where it was a bank to my hole that I wanted to make OR a shot directly to my hole. For other shots I used feel or gb or the mirror system as needed.
What I want you to see in this match though is that CTE is not a "fix" or a magic bullet that turns a weak player into a strong one. But watch the match and imagine what it would have been like if I had played steady with a good stroke. Lou has a nice smooth stroke. Put his stroke in my hands armed with CTE and imagine what the outcome would have been.
Because I want you to really look at Lou's game. He made some great shots and dogged a lot of shots as well. He gave up lots of shots that I didn't capitalize one. The point being that as a feel player of his experience level I think the shots he missed and how he missed them are the key. Imagine a player of Lou's table demeanor and experience armed with a better way to aim. I would have been crushed badly, maybe 9:0
As it stands though he couldn't keep me from winning games. He ran more balls than I did, often running 6 and 7 when he got a shot. His straight pool prowess was quite clear. But he simply dogged a lot of shots as well. So my point is please look at the contrast in style and imagine if I had Lou's experience and stroke coupled with CTE - or if he CTE or some other objective method of aiming.
If you want to make this match about CTE vs. Feel then really look at it with those parameters in mind.
Imagine what someone like Stan, who is not really a one pocket player, would do to Lou if they matched up. Stan has the same demeanor, the same deliberation, the same ability to run balls the right way in straight pool AND he has a better way to aim and a larger arsenal of shots available because of it.
Ok, that said, have a laugh at my game because it was mostly awful with a few decent moments. I will post examples of where CTE helped me as time permits.
(and for the record, I do want to play again someday for 20k+)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSKV5CK_fziXgJfmuqZiy_N-C5JFHNg8w
In his match I played really bad for a variety of reasons. But I still managed to play decent in spurts usually followed by some brain dead error, wrong shot chosen or bad execution or both.
This "bad blood" that led up to this match started about 15 years ago in this thread.
Hal Houle is For Real
Lou made a shitty response to my post reporting my experience with Hal. Even though I responded politely he just kept on with the snide shitty remarks until I at some point challenged him to play some. That led to a long flame war of it's own.
I got the opportunity to play him in a little RSB tournament in Chicago not long after that and managed to beat him in "his" game of one pocket in a little race to two. I got lucky for sure but I also used Hal's methods to aim and that helped me to pocket balls in a game I wasn't to familiar with.
In the ensuing years we had a truce after having drinks at the bar at one of the DCC events.
Fast forward to AZB and I made a harmless quip that Lou had lost to me after he had started in again with the nasty comments in the aiming system threads. I had merely chimed in to tell my story about meeting Hal and the results.
This then led to me offering Lou 9/8 for $100 with a promise to lose at least five hundred if he could beat me. We saw each other several times at shows and not once did Lou offer to play.
Then on one pocket.org another person barked at me to play for $20,000. Quite a jump from the $100 I offered. Now I have always considered Lou to be a good player and complimented his play the one time in Chicago that I beat him. This high roll offer was just purely stupid. I initially declined but then came back and said I would play for 10k. I was called a coward and a nit and other names by Lou and his "posse". Anyway that ran it's course but then for some reason Lou continued to use that thread to say I was scared to play. I said I was willing to play for 10k and the offer was never rescinded.
So.......a match ended up actually being proposed, we negotiated the terms...you all know the story and here is the video of it. Spoiler - I lost. 9:6.
But here is why I posted this here.
Many want to paint this as the epic clash between CTE (or better said Hal Houle type aiming) and Feel aiming.
Lou is the die hard million balls feel guy and I am the die hard aiming system cheerleader. The only thing is that I am not a great player and never have been. I am an OK player but not disciplined at all. So no aiming system can FIX the other problems in my game, bad stroke, bad timing, bad strategy, bad speed, bad attitude etc...
What the aiming system did do for me though is keep me in the game to some degree. there were a lot of shots I took which I wouldn't have even tried without having an aiming system to use to line them up. I didn't make all of them and I dogged a lot of easy shots as well. But for sure CTE kept me in the game and I did use it or 90/90 virtually every shot where it was a bank to my hole that I wanted to make OR a shot directly to my hole. For other shots I used feel or gb or the mirror system as needed.
What I want you to see in this match though is that CTE is not a "fix" or a magic bullet that turns a weak player into a strong one. But watch the match and imagine what it would have been like if I had played steady with a good stroke. Lou has a nice smooth stroke. Put his stroke in my hands armed with CTE and imagine what the outcome would have been.
Because I want you to really look at Lou's game. He made some great shots and dogged a lot of shots as well. He gave up lots of shots that I didn't capitalize one. The point being that as a feel player of his experience level I think the shots he missed and how he missed them are the key. Imagine a player of Lou's table demeanor and experience armed with a better way to aim. I would have been crushed badly, maybe 9:0
As it stands though he couldn't keep me from winning games. He ran more balls than I did, often running 6 and 7 when he got a shot. His straight pool prowess was quite clear. But he simply dogged a lot of shots as well. So my point is please look at the contrast in style and imagine if I had Lou's experience and stroke coupled with CTE - or if he CTE or some other objective method of aiming.
If you want to make this match about CTE vs. Feel then really look at it with those parameters in mind.
Imagine what someone like Stan, who is not really a one pocket player, would do to Lou if they matched up. Stan has the same demeanor, the same deliberation, the same ability to run balls the right way in straight pool AND he has a better way to aim and a larger arsenal of shots available because of it.
Ok, that said, have a laugh at my game because it was mostly awful with a few decent moments. I will post examples of where CTE helped me as time permits.
(and for the record, I do want to play again someday for 20k+)