John Schmidts tutoring paying off...

[Marop]

It seems that helping John film his new DVD and playing straight pool with him for 4 days is starting to pay off. I believe my overall offensive game has improved about 20%.

It takes some time to digest all the things he showed me but it seems to come to me the longer I practice. In 3 years I have run in the 90's three times with a high of 97, but after I made those runs I couldn't folow them up with any decent run, they seem to come only when I was in dead stroke.

Lately I have been putting together numeous runs above 50 sometimes 2 or 3 a day. My patterns are better, I'm not running into many balls and I'm taking care of problem situations much better. Today I ran 42, 44, 45, 48, 54 and 95, by far the most consistant straight pool I have ever played. I don't know if 100+ is ever going to come but one can only hope. John says its just a matter of time.

I know I would have never reached this level without Johns help. I'm sure all of you that have purchased the new DVD will get a wealth of information from it.

Bill

 

[Blackjack]

It seems that helping John film his new DVD and playing straight pool with him for 4 days is starting to pay off. I believe my overall offensive game has improved about 20%.

It takes some time to digest all the things he showed me but it seems to come to me the longer I practice. In 3 years I have run in the 90's three times with a high of 97, but after I made those runs I couldn't folow them up with any decent run, they seem to come only when I was in dead stroke.

Lately I have been putting together numeous runs above 50 sometimes 2 or 3 a day. My patterns are better, I'm not running into many balls and I'm taking care of problem situations much better. Today I ran 42, 44, 45, 48, 54 and 95, by far the most consistant straight pool I have ever played. I don't know if 100+ is ever going to come but one can only hope. John says its just a matter of time.

I know I would have never reached this level without Johns help. I'm sure all of you that have purchased the new DVD will get a wealth of information from it.

Bill

Bill

Those are great runs, and you are learning from one of the best players ever. On my quest to run my first 100 balls, I frustrated myself by thinking too much about the outcome -(run total) and too little about the process required to get me there.

It's real easy for me to come on here and say "concentrate more on the process rather than the outcome" - but it is the truth.

My first 100+ run occurred when I just stayed within my comfort zone with shots, patterns, and break shots. Nothing fancy. No jaw dropping shots or anything that would have made a highlight reel. There was also a little bit of luck involved (every high run needs that edge) - but I remember that when I finally got there, and after the excitement died down inside of me, I realized that it was because I was able to keep everything simple - and within the confines of what I was capable of doing at the table. I was nice to the balls, I was nice to the pockets, I was nice to the cue ball, and in turn - they were all nice to me too!

Having a great teacher like John is an awesome thing - he has so much knowledge - so much talent - and so much control over what he does at the table - being able to tap into that for a while... what an awesome opportunity to have been blessed with! I know - I've been there with John shooting at the table running balls like it's nothing - all the time telling me how bad he sucks at pool... ... but his mastery over the elements - over the balls - over the situations he works with - its a goldmine worth of knowledge for those of us privileged enough to witness it first hand.

It might take a few more weeks (or months) for everything you saw to come together and become part of your complete game. Remain patient and remember it's just one shot at a time. Eventually you will get on the break ball for that 8th rack ... then the 9th, and the 10th...

 

[Marop]

Bill

Those are great runs, and you are learning from one of the best players ever. On my quest to run my first 100 balls, I frustrated myself by thinking too much about the outcome -(run total) and too little about the process required to get me there.

It's real easy for me to come on here and say "concentrate more on the process rather than the outcome" - but it is the truth.

My first 100+ run occurred when I just stayed within my comfort zone with shots, patterns, and break shots. Nothing fancy. No jaw dropping shots or anything that would have made a highlight reel. There was also a little bit of luck involved (every high run needs that edge) - but I remember that when I finally got there, and after the excitement died down inside of me, I realized that it was because I was able to keep everything simple - and within the confines of what I was capable of doing at the table. I was nice to the balls, I was nice to the pockets, I was nice to the cue ball, and in turn - they were all nice to me too!

Having a great teacher like John is an awesome thing - he has so much knowledge - so much talent - and so much control over what he does at the table - being able to tap into that for a while... what an awesome opportunity to have been blessed with! I know - I've been there with John shooting at the table running balls like it's nothing - all the time telling me how bad he sucks at pool... ... but his mastery over the elements - over the balls - over the situations he works with - its a goldmine worth of knowledge for those of us privileged enough to witness it first hand.

It might take a few more weeks (or months) for everything you saw to come together and become part of your complete game. Remain patient and remember it's just one shot at a time. Eventually you will get on the break ball for that 8th rack ... then the 9th, and the 10th...

Dave,

Thanks for the kind words and advice. Having John being such a good friend and helping me with my game is priceless.

Next time I'm around your area well get together.

Bill

 

[Vahmurka]

no doubt John's tutorial will help even a guy like me who still can not run 30ies consistantly. And it will help everyone I believe. For sure having an opportunity to work with him in person is priceless. Like I keep saying I dream about it and hope this day comes sooner or later. So far I can't help waiting for his DVD to arrive.
Thanks for posting Bill!

 

[CueAndMe]

Bill, that's truly impressive playing. I'm quite envious. This game is so frustrating. Stringing 3 racks together at this point is a rarity for me, so I'll definitely be paying attention to what you have to say here. I have some lofty goals, and I don't get a chance to play that much, but I am getting better each time I play. I feel like I'm on the cusp of what you are doing now. And I sense that you are on the cusp of what Steve and David and John and a few others here are capable of. Let's just keep improving.

 

[Marop]

Bill, that's truly impressive playing. I'm quite envious. This game is so frustrating. Stringing 3 racks together at this point is a rarity for me, so I'll definitely be paying attention to what you have to say here. I have some lofty goals, and I don't get a chance to play that much, but I am getting better each time I play. I feel like I'm on the cusp of what you are doing now. And I sense that you are on the cusp of what Steve and David and John and a few others here are capable of. Let's just keep improving.

Thanks Jeff.

My straight pool game was at the same level for the past year or so, lots of practice but doing things the same way all the time did not let me improve. Just watching John play help somewhat but him actually telling me what I should and should not be doing really helped. Like I said it didn't come overnight but each day I seem to remember something else that he said to me while I was at the table. Thats why I think the DVD will be a lot of help to most people, you can play it over and over and you will always pick up something new each time.

Practice now is not nearly as frustrating. I am having more fun at the pool table than ever.

Bill

 

[CueAndMe]

What? This game is supposed to be fun!?
BTW, if that's your pool room in your avatar then I'm doubly envious.

 

[Marop]

What? This game is supposed to be fun!?
BTW, if that's your pool room in your avatar then I'm doubly envious.

That is my pool room in my avatar. In fact John will be here at the end of the month so at least now the table will have over 100 run on it. I only have a couple of weeks to try to get the 1st 100 before he gets here. We should take bets how many innings it will take him before he does it.

 

[iba7467]

That is my pool room in my avatar. In fact John will be here at the end of the month so at least now the table will have over 100 run on it. I only have a couple of weeks to try to get the 1st 100 before he gets here. We should take bets how many innings it will take him before he does it.

If we are talking over/under... I'll say 5.5.

If we are talking about a betting pool, I want 4.

 

[CueAndMe]

That is my pool room in my avatar. In fact John will be here at the end of the month so at least now the table will have over 100 run on it. I only have a couple of weeks to try to get the 1st 100 before he gets here. We should take bets how many innings it will take him before he does it.

You're so close. You've got to beat him to it. I love that it's just assumed that you're going to play straight pool when he comes over.

 

[Blackjack]

... I sense that you are on the cusp of what Steve and David and John and a few others here are capable of...

BP

For the record - I'm not even close to John's capabilities (just ask him lol) he's seen it up close.



John's high run is nearly TWICE what mine is - Ray Martin, Pat Howey, Danny Harriman, Thorsten Hohmann, and others are much more accomplished than I am at straight pool. I may be able to explain things a little better than most people, but just like you I am a student (and IMO) very inconsistent as a player compared to the ones already mentioned. Although I am "capable", seldom do I accomplish. That s because of a variety of reasons, the main one being the fact that I possess about 1/2 of their talent and knowledge. I guess that is what separates and divides the rest of us from the greatest players - is that we are busy fighting these battles in our own minds - the same battles that they face, only they seem to win these battle more often than we do.