Not the first time that something like this has been posted after receiving a lesson, so I'll go ahead and continue the trend while it's still fresh in my mind. This won't be a review of my skills at this point since it's going to take time to "train" these methods into my stroke (I believe Scott said 21 days per psychology "rules of thumb").
A group of five of us had a day's lesson with Scott this last Friday (May 2nd). We started up at 9 am at the local pool hall and continued to around 7 pm. Whether or not Scott's lesson comes across for everyone involved, his group fee for a day's lesson is an absolute steal in my mind. His charge is $1000 for up to a group of six for 8+ hours. Having him for 10 hours averaged that price out to $20 an hour per person! Let me try that again, $20 an hour per person!!!! Unless your best buddy is a pool instructor, I can't imagine finding a better deal at even double that money. Perhaps even triple. If we hadn't all been tuckered at by 7 (we're wimps), we could have kept Scott for another 5 hours per his word. Bargain!
That being said, I'm all for a one-on-one lesson if you can afford it. I don't think the group lesson took too much away from us, but one-on-one probably gives you better focus for the lesson.
Scott is very personable, well-spoken, and engaging. It's not a boring lesson. He's open to questions and the lesson isn't done to the standard of "his way or the highway". He teaches the lesson to your body mechanics and did it for each of the five of us. I think that maybe having five of us could have slowed down the pace just a little, but that's probably expected. I think the overall group interest waned on him at the end -- our faults, most likely from information overload -- but the key objectives seemed to have been covered well.
Scott started off his lesson probably the best possible way: video analysis. Seven different shots into the side pocket recorded on DVD's for each of us. After all were recorded, we went back through individually what fundamentals were were doing right and wrong. I would like to point out that Scott really pointed out more what we were doing right versus trying to find flaws in all aspects of our stroke. The lesson could easily take a turn at this point if an instructor starts hammering on you about your flaws.
Scott had a video monitor with him and would outline the key points of your stroke on the screen with a marker. We would then run through all seven shots with cadence and the actual shot. Fairly interesting on what similarities all five of us had with each other and what some of us were doing incorrectly that we probably would have never noticed watching each other. I was pretty much spot-on for which of us would have the best repeatable stroke and was glad to see one of my flaws easily apparent on the playback (lurching forward). Very correctable.
The video analysis was our favorite part of the day, not to take away from the other portions of the lesson. I think this was the best way to start out to get everyone pumped about the rest of the lesson.
We then started into the "school" part of the lesson by reading and interacting with a lesson book that Scott hands out. The next step of the lesson was understanding our body mechanics in relation to our stance and bridge and grip. This part of the lesson had the biggest immediate impact as my grip hand was choked up about a hand or two on the stick per my body type. The group went through the pendulum stroke and understanding the fundamentals behind it. I don't really want to give anything away verbatim from Scott's lesson book, but this section gave us a better understanding of how to deliver the stroke.
"The Mother Drills" came next which involved establishing a rhythm, using our eyes on a shot, center ball alignment, and speed control. For me, Scott's speed control drill was top-notch. I've read, seen, and tried many different types of speed control drills and I found Scott's to be the best that I've seen.
We then continued the rest of the lesson with some other drills that we could try, discussions about the break, and any other questions that we could come up with. The lesson also concluded with 3 DVD's taping all of the lessons that occurred on our main table.
I should point out that Scott makes it real clear about how much of the tip contacts the cue ball and what impact being a bit off has on a shot. I think we all have a general idea about that, but having an instructor point it out makes it real clear. Based on what little amount it takes to be off, Scott emphasizes that it's okay to be off and miss a shot during our training period. Once we get that repeatable stroke going, a lot less misses should be occurring in our game. I, for one and I knew I was off, was probably off-center by a tip of what I thought was center-ball according to my bridge.
I felt kind of bad about ending the day at 7 pm since Scott seemed ready and raring to go for another 10 rounds. I know I was beat and honestly just a touch under the weather at that point. I would have loved to stay longer, but the body was telling me "no". But consider, 10 hours is what Scott spent with us, 2 hours over what he guarantees, without charging a penny more. Class act!
PS - I was in a big tournament yesterday. I didn't fare too well -- my excuse was having to wear glasses when I usually wear contacts -- but I tried incorporating some of Scott's lesson into my stroke. I knew it probably wouldn't be a good idea to try right away, but I tell you that I had a few shots yesterday that I stroked as well as I ever had when I was conscious of Scott's tutelage.
PSS - If Tiger Woods need a coach, then as far as I'm concerned, every other competitor in the world could probably benefit from some form of coaching.
A group of five of us had a day's lesson with Scott this last Friday (May 2nd). We started up at 9 am at the local pool hall and continued to around 7 pm. Whether or not Scott's lesson comes across for everyone involved, his group fee for a day's lesson is an absolute steal in my mind. His charge is $1000 for up to a group of six for 8+ hours. Having him for 10 hours averaged that price out to $20 an hour per person! Let me try that again, $20 an hour per person!!!! Unless your best buddy is a pool instructor, I can't imagine finding a better deal at even double that money. Perhaps even triple. If we hadn't all been tuckered at by 7 (we're wimps), we could have kept Scott for another 5 hours per his word. Bargain!
That being said, I'm all for a one-on-one lesson if you can afford it. I don't think the group lesson took too much away from us, but one-on-one probably gives you better focus for the lesson.
Scott is very personable, well-spoken, and engaging. It's not a boring lesson. He's open to questions and the lesson isn't done to the standard of "his way or the highway". He teaches the lesson to your body mechanics and did it for each of the five of us. I think that maybe having five of us could have slowed down the pace just a little, but that's probably expected. I think the overall group interest waned on him at the end -- our faults, most likely from information overload -- but the key objectives seemed to have been covered well.
Scott started off his lesson probably the best possible way: video analysis. Seven different shots into the side pocket recorded on DVD's for each of us. After all were recorded, we went back through individually what fundamentals were were doing right and wrong. I would like to point out that Scott really pointed out more what we were doing right versus trying to find flaws in all aspects of our stroke. The lesson could easily take a turn at this point if an instructor starts hammering on you about your flaws.
Scott had a video monitor with him and would outline the key points of your stroke on the screen with a marker. We would then run through all seven shots with cadence and the actual shot. Fairly interesting on what similarities all five of us had with each other and what some of us were doing incorrectly that we probably would have never noticed watching each other. I was pretty much spot-on for which of us would have the best repeatable stroke and was glad to see one of my flaws easily apparent on the playback (lurching forward). Very correctable.
The video analysis was our favorite part of the day, not to take away from the other portions of the lesson. I think this was the best way to start out to get everyone pumped about the rest of the lesson.
We then started into the "school" part of the lesson by reading and interacting with a lesson book that Scott hands out. The next step of the lesson was understanding our body mechanics in relation to our stance and bridge and grip. This part of the lesson had the biggest immediate impact as my grip hand was choked up about a hand or two on the stick per my body type. The group went through the pendulum stroke and understanding the fundamentals behind it. I don't really want to give anything away verbatim from Scott's lesson book, but this section gave us a better understanding of how to deliver the stroke.
"The Mother Drills" came next which involved establishing a rhythm, using our eyes on a shot, center ball alignment, and speed control. For me, Scott's speed control drill was top-notch. I've read, seen, and tried many different types of speed control drills and I found Scott's to be the best that I've seen.
We then continued the rest of the lesson with some other drills that we could try, discussions about the break, and any other questions that we could come up with. The lesson also concluded with 3 DVD's taping all of the lessons that occurred on our main table.
I should point out that Scott makes it real clear about how much of the tip contacts the cue ball and what impact being a bit off has on a shot. I think we all have a general idea about that, but having an instructor point it out makes it real clear. Based on what little amount it takes to be off, Scott emphasizes that it's okay to be off and miss a shot during our training period. Once we get that repeatable stroke going, a lot less misses should be occurring in our game. I, for one and I knew I was off, was probably off-center by a tip of what I thought was center-ball according to my bridge.
I felt kind of bad about ending the day at 7 pm since Scott seemed ready and raring to go for another 10 rounds. I know I was beat and honestly just a touch under the weather at that point. I would have loved to stay longer, but the body was telling me "no". But consider, 10 hours is what Scott spent with us, 2 hours over what he guarantees, without charging a penny more. Class act!
PS - I was in a big tournament yesterday. I didn't fare too well -- my excuse was having to wear glasses when I usually wear contacts -- but I tried incorporating some of Scott's lesson into my stroke. I knew it probably wouldn't be a good idea to try right away, but I tell you that I had a few shots yesterday that I stroked as well as I ever had when I was conscious of Scott's tutelage.
PSS - If Tiger Woods need a coach, then as far as I'm concerned, every other competitor in the world could probably benefit from some form of coaching.
I worked with another Az'r in Colorado Springs the next day, who also really took well to the information!