Lesson with Dennie Orcullo Today

victorl said:
Tate, I'm taking notes here, keep 'em comin! :)
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Here's one for you:

One thing I was kind of surprised about, on most shots I play position to an exact spot or a particular angle, no matter what the table looks like (and avoid blockers of course) . On many of the position plays, he doesn't care as much about what angle you leave yourself as he does what shot you leave yourself. Shot is more important than next position. He knows if you have skill you can get position many ways, so unless a particular route is blocked or balls interfere, on medium tough shots he wants you to "make the ball" first and just play shape to an area.

OK it sounds odd that this could be beneficial, but it does take some of the pressure off yourself shooting when you're not trying really hard to get position to an exact spot.
 
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TATE said:
Here's one for you:

One thing I was kind of surprised about, on most shots I play position to an exact spot or a particular angle, no matter what the table looks like (and avoid blockers of course) . On many of the position plays, he doesn't care as much about what angle you leave yourself as he does what shot you leave yourself. Shot is more important than next position. He knows if you have skill you can get position many ways, so unless a particular route is blocked or balls interfere, on medium tough shots he wants you to "make the ball" first and just play shape to an area.

OK it sounds odd that this could be beneficial, but it does take some of the pressure off yourself shot when you're not trying really hard to get position to an exact spot.
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Of course, when you can pot balls like Dennie, who needs position. :rolleyes:

All kidding aside, it's very cool of you to provide some of the specific insights you picked up. All too often people come on here and just say "What a great lesson - I'm not going to tell you what I learned so if you want to learn some stuff then you should go get one too."

Fact is this approach makes me want my own face time with Dennis all the more.

So tell me Chris, has it hit you yet how much of it you've forgotten or are now unclear about? :D That's the one draw back to when I've worked with John Schmidt in straight pool or Dave Hemmah in 9 Ball. I wish I had hired a court reporter to type a transcript as the lesson was going on. :thumbup:
 
Sounds like a very nice experience.
I often practice with some of the best players in China, however, that cannot be compared to your session with Dennis.

Did you find yourself to have higher expectations to your own game during the racks you played with him?

Thats quite often the case with me, I see how easy they do it and cant understand how I can miss relative easy shots :)
 
Thank you, Chris. I'm extremely jealous and subscribing to this thread. Excellent tidbits from a world class player.

Regards,
Koop
 
I watched Dennis practice today after he gave another lesson. He is truly one amazing pool player. In a world full of great players Dennis plays a game that most are unfamiliar with. Even while practicing I love watching how he moves the cue ball around, from position to position with seeming ease. His game and the way he plays looks so much different than what I'm used to watching.

I think a good lesson would be just sitting and watching Dennis practice for two hours, especially for a good player. And I'm dead serious about that. There is so much to learn just by observing how Dennis goes about carving up a rack. He will practice his break shot for a couple of hours (YES!) and then shoot Ten Ball racks for three or four hours, take a break and try something else for an hour or two. That's an average practice session for him. It's no surprise he plays the way he does with the amount of time he puts on the table.

Some days, particularly after a long tournament (DCC) Dennis will take a couple of days off to recuperate. After DCC he told me he must have played a thousand games of pool in the last nine days. Or at least it felt that way to him. He has no problem resting if he feels that's necessary. He likes to kick back, watch TV (he loves basketball) and sit outside and enjoy the California sun. And he loves to eat and then eat some more. He expends a lot of energy on the table and works up a good appetite. If no one else is around he will cook for himself (and me of course :)).

Dennis is committed to improving his game, not remaining stagnant where he is now. A big area of improvement just on this trip is his break in Ten Ball. He has been hitting my chin-up bar twice a day and has gone from maybe five chin-ups to a couple of reps of ten each time. He also jumps on my small trampoline for maybe ten minutes and does other fitness routines. His break is beginning to look Shane-esque! :cool:

As far as I'm concerned if anyone beats him in a match right now it's an upset. Or they had to play great pool and keep him in his chair.
 
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DogsPlayingPool said:
Of course, when you can pot balls like Dennie, who needs position. :rolleyes:

All kidding aside, it's very cool of you to provide some of the specific insights you picked up. All too often people come on here and just say "What a great lesson - I'm not going to tell you what I learned so if you want to learn some stuff then you should go get one too."

Fact is this approach makes me want my own face time with Dennis all the more.

So tell me Chris, has it hit you yet how much of it you've forgotten or are now unclear about? :D That's the one draw back to when I've worked with John Schmidt in straight pool or Dave Hemmah in 9 Ball. I wish I had hired a court reporter to type a transcript as the lesson was going on. :thumbup:
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I took the lesson to elevate my game to compete with you Sarge, especially since I saw you running around with that REALLY HOT CHICK at the Swanee.

But actually I partly wrote this commentary so I could remember to practice all the cool stuff Dennis showed me. What I want to know is, how can a guy literally half my size break the rack like the Hulk?
 
jay helfert said:
I watched Dennis practice today after he gave another lesson. He is truly one amazing pool player. In a world full of great players Dennis plays a game that most are unfamiliar with. Even while practicing I love watching how he moves the cue ball around, from position to position with seeming ease. His game and the way he plays looks so much different than what I'm used to watching.

I think a good lesson would be just sitting and watching Dennis practice for two hours, especially for a good player. And I'm dead serious about that. There is so much to learn just by observing how Dennis goes about carving up a rack. He will practice his break shot for a couple of hours (YES!) and then shoot Ten Ball racks for three or four hours, take a break and try something else for an hour or two. That's an average practice session for him. It's no surprise he plays the way he does with the amount of time he puts on the table.

Some days, particularly after a long tournament (DCC) Dennis will take a couple of days off to recuperate. After DCC he told me he must have played a thousand games of pool in the last nine days. Or at least it felt that way to him. He has no problem resting if he feels that's necessary. He likes to kick back, watch TV (he loves basketball) and sit outside and enjoy the California sun. And he loves to eat and then eat some more. He expends a lot of energy on the table and works up a good appetite. If no one else is around he will cook for himself (and me of course :)).

Dennis is committed to improving his game, not remaining stagnant where he is now. A big area of improvement just on this trip is his break in Ten Ball. He has been hitting my chin-up bar twice a day and has gone from maybe five chin-ups to a couple of reps of ten each time. He also jumps on my small trampoline for maybe ten minutes and does other fitness routines. His break is beginning to look Shane-esque! :cool:

As far as I'm concerned if anyone beats him in a match right now it's an upset. Or they had to play great pool and keep him in his chair.
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He and Shane are the best in the world. Thanks for arranging it Jay - really appreciate squeezing me in.
 
+I watched Dennis the first day he was in So. Calif for a IPT qualifier. Hard Times had changed their cloth to a slower cloth. He came in on a Wed and went to table 1 and promptly ran a couple of racks of rotation. That weekend of pool was some of the finest I have seen. The final match between Dennis and Oliver Ortmann was superb. The final game of the hill/hill match was one I will always remember because of the pin point cue ball control Dennis showed in running out. Dennis spoke almost no English but told me how to pronounce his name. Ronnie Wiseman barked and barked at Dennis but Dennis was waiting on Alex to show up so nothing came of it. Lucky for Wiseman. Quiet, cool and deadly--and that was before he really had grown up. What a positive person for pool.
 
DTL said:
See red above.................funny, thought he said the opposite during his last pre-match TAR podcast (center ball). All good rotation players spin their ball.....Earl, etc.
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No matter what he says, he uses English of one kind or another on most shots just like the rest of us. I would estimate he advocated center line ball, draw or follow, on only 20 percent of the shots

Pro players manipulate the cue ball to extremes that are on the edge of impossible. Dennis is very good at loading up English on slow speed shots. Since the forward momentum of the cue ball is slow, the English takes well when it contacts the rail. Some of the shots he wanted me to play required slow forward speed but very high spin - I had difficulty adjusting to the large amount of spin needed.
 
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TATE said:
Hi Frank, how are you?

One thing he also did was use the diamonds as markers for position play. I already use balls as targets for position direction, but the diamonds give a little added mental image. I really don't use diamonds as markers except when lining up banks, kicks and combinations, so this gave me a little something to practice.
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I am doing good!

Yeah I LOL at your diamond comment. He was always pointing at them and was spot on hitting them all the time!
 
Chris, number one, yer a lucky guy to have had the opportunity to do this.

Two. You got to meet the bald guy.

Three. It deffinitely sounds by your description that Dennis hit upon some very important parts of the game to simplify it for you. I am guilty of this always.

I believe that I regularly miss the simple , (or over look them), in order to try for harder ones and I end up missing.

Terry - wishing that I lived closer to both you guys.

PS - well written and I could easily tell from your description what was going on.
 
TATE, you should buy a rice cooker and eat more rice. It helps improve your game :grin:

Jay, ask Dennis to cook for you chicken & pork adobo,
chicken_adobo.png

sinigang na isda sa bayabas,
SINIGANG-NA-SALMON-SA-MISO-PORTIONED%25255B1%25255D%25255B1%25255D.jpg

kalderetang baka,
kalderetang-baka-recipe.jpg

kare-kare
PATA%20KARE%20KARE.jpg

nilagang bulalo
photo236.jpg

and crispy pata?
Crispy%2BPata.jpg

yum makes me drool just thinking about them.
 
TATE said:
Besides the simple position routes, the main point he made about position play was not to stroke any harder than necessary because, as he said "pressure" causes you to miss. Pressure meaning excessive force. Say I was shooting a straight in on a fairly long shot and wanted to draw back a foot to make my next shot shorter on the other end of the table. He said no, just use a stop shot and leave the next shot a foot longer. His logic was you were less likely to miss each ball this way.
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I intended to comment on this yesterday but didn't have time. I've always, always shot too hard and it's cost me dear a few times. It's been a very hard habit to break and I don't always stroke less hard now without thinking about it. But, when I'm able to do so, my ball pocketing has improved quite a bit. I've always said that speed of stroke is one of, if not the most important part of the game after learning the basics.
I certainly envy you, getting to spend time with one of the nicest guys in pool and getting a lesson from one of the greatest players in the game today!! Hiya, Jay!
 
chambalero said:
TATE, you should buy a rice cooker and eat more rice. It helps improve your game :grin:

Jay, ask Dennis to cook for you chicken & pork adobo,
chicken_adobo.png

sinigang na isda sa bayabas,
SINIGANG-NA-SALMON-SA-MISO-PORTIONED%25255B1%25255D%25255B1%25255D.jpg

kalderetang baka,
kalderetang-baka-recipe.jpg

kare-kare
PATA%20KARE%20KARE.jpg

nilagang bulalo
photo236.jpg

and crispy pata?
Crispy%2BPata.jpg

yum makes me drool just thinking about them.
Click to expand...

All that looks familiar! Either Dennis or Carlo is cooking all the time! :rolleyes:
 
TATE said:
I took the lesson to elevate my game to compete with you Sarge, especially since I saw you running around with that REALLY HOT CHICK at the Swanee.
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Trolling for weight, eh? You can drop the act Tater, no one is buying it. ;) You knocked your own action with this one:

TATE said:
Out here I'm an "A" player. Usually I only play a few times a year, but since moving my offices to my home, I've been practicing more often. I give the shortstops a good match but lose to the pros.
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Remind me again, who's the defending champion of my tournament?

:thumbup::rotflmao::rotflmao1:
 
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