.....
In the end, HAMB needs to be the key ingredient in your game, regardless of the engine that drove you there.
If after years of play you still find yourself requiring a system. Then I challenge the choice of that system. Do you think about how to tie your shoes...?
As far as if talent can be learnt...? Well I know many believe I have it, even though I don't agree. Proficiency and talent look the same when watching from the rail.
I agree, the end result is product of HAMB, though it certainly doesn't have to be a million balls. It can be a small fraction of that.
In bold... There are only a few different ways to tie your shoes. Lol. But there are thousands of different shots on a pool table. The reality is such that you can play pool for 30 years and never repeat certain shots enough to become proficient with them, and so they remain low percentage shots. And when one of those shots comes up, a player that has no system knowledge has two options...1: Play a safety, or 2: Use your best judgment/guess based on the limited experience you have at pocketing that shot, and just go for it.
However, a player that can whip a system out of his pocket for those particular shots has a third option -- Pocket the ball without having to guess or rely on inadequate experience. And the more you use the system for those particular shots, the more you repeat successful attempts. And the more you do this, the less often you're going to need the system.
Concerning proficiency and talent, you're exactly right... From the rail they look the same.
It's like that with every talent or skill. Most people watch great golfers or pool players or baseball players or musicians or whatever, and assume these people were born to do what they're doing, as if they're "naturals". And yes, they could certainly have some genetic advantages, but those skills and talents are still learned through practice and repetition.
Friends have always told me that I am more talented than anyone else they personally know, because I was a good baseball player, and because I can play pool, and guitar, drums, piano, banjo, and because I write songs and stories, etc.... But, honestly, all they're really seeing is the results of dedicated practice and repetition. Well, when it comes to writing music or short stories, there is probably some natural creativity going on. Some people are simply more creative than others. Besides that, skills and talents are generally earned through hard work, through learning, practicing, and repetition. To think you have to be born talented in order to learn or even master a talent or skill is simply not correct.