Lessons or No Lessons, how far did you go?

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Seeing more threads around lately with people taking lessons and their oppinions on the teacher/results.

I personally have never taken a formal lesson from either a pro or an accredited teacher. All I know is from books (Byrne, you rock!), tips and observation from better players, and tons of watching video and some live matches. This has gotten me to a pretty good B level after many years, when I'm focusing on the game that is :) .

How far has your game gone with no lessons, or maybe only a few? Have you cracked into the C-B-A level on your own or did you really need outside help (I mean outside of getting some tips from a better player).

How far did lessons take you, maybe hepled you with things you already knew but took some guidance to follow-up on and fix?
 
Totaling 3 years playing I went from borderline retarded to being able to play pretty well. In one session of APA 9 ball on 9' tables I went to an 8 (while still being borderline retarded). I dont have any other way to put it.

The only person whos really seen me play was Mike Templeton in an Atlanta tournament and we both played like D players that first game.

Later on I got my first formal lesson to straigten my stroke and fix my stance etc. because I felt I had reached a plateau. About 3 weeks later my game had already caught back up to where it was and is now progressing again.

I went back to her for my "check up" to see how I was doing w/ my stroke and she said it was actually very good now. only off a tiny bit and i'll be going back in 3 more weeks to see if its any better or if theres more adjustments needed. It's been about 2 months total now since the first lesson and I feel really comfortable with the new setup.

I recommend lessons but I was told I was a high B or low A by many people before getting one. But ratings are all relative.
 
hang-the-9 said:
How far has your game gone with no lessons, or maybe only a few? Have you cracked into the C-B-A level on your own or did you really need outside help (I mean outside of getting some tips from a better player).
Click to expand...

There's a world of difference between no lessons and only a few lessons. I've had two lessons in my pool career. Both of them were absolutely essential to my game reaching the level it has in the amount of time it took.

But beyond that, I'm dubious that there would be very much value in further "lessons". Obviously you're never done learning about the game, but I feel instructors are most useful to teach fundamentals and basics, and the more esoteric things you spend the rest of your career learning about the game, you learn from other players, from experience, from reading, and from discussing. Not from being "taught".

I credit the lessons I've taken with at least a letter of difference in my game, i.e. I consider myself a B-/B, and I don't think I'd be better than a C-/C if I hadn't taken them. I'm still improving very rapidly in my game; I intend to be an A player some day, and at that point I think I'll be able to credit lessons with 2 letters of difference. They helped me create the framework of understanding the mechanics of the game, to give me a good basis and allow for rapid improvement. Without them, I think so much of the game would be a mystery to me that I would not have been able to improve much beyond C- level.

-Andrew
 
I've been playing seriously for just under 3 years now and would say that I am probably a low B player but I'm not really sure. I have strung 3 racks of nine ball once and strung 2 a few times. I have never had formal instruction other than taking in everything I can from better players; but I do plan on taking some serious lessons soon enough which I believe will take my game to an entirely new level of play.

I usually practice 15-20 hours a week but my practice sessions could definitely be improved with progressive drills and such. I would say lessons are the way to go, I just haven't had the time yet.
 
i'd skip the lessons and stick to table time and accu stats. there's one guy i took lessons from that had it worked out that if you took lessons from him you got half off your table time. at the time i was playing so much that even if i learned nothing it was worth it (id do that again).

buy some byrns dvds and target pool and practice until you get it right. i think what makes people think they're progressing is that all the sudden they're focusing when they practice more and that makes the improvement
 
No Lessons - just tips from better players, playing against better players, reading lots of books - went from a beginner (running 2-3 balls an inning) to a top player on the OB Cues Women's tour (formerly the Hunter). It took me about 5 years to reach that level and I have maintained it for the next 3.
 
A few years ago I took one lessen from a local guy and could hardly walk the next day because he had me in my stance for so long trying to ingrain it into my brain.

The next day, I tried to practice what he taught me, everything he wanted me to change felt so foreign to me. I tried to keep it up for about a week, and then went back to my old stance, grip, head position, preshoot, etc.... I now realize that was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made in my game.

About 3 weeks ago, after a very disappointing start to the first league session of the year, I determined to rebuild every part of my mechanics from the ground up. I bought a cheap digital video camera for $150 and started recording my practice sessions. Afterward, I would watch them and compare them to the things I see pro players doing consistently. I made notes of the things I wanted to change and started working on it. When I look at those first few recordings now, it?s a wonder I ever managed to run a rack.

After a few weeks of this, I doubt you could recognize me anymore by my mechanics. I now realize that everything that guy was telling me to do is almost exactly the way I'm shooting now. My old style was very good at making shots, but sacrificed too much when it came time to moving the cue ball around.

The results have been fantastic overall, but I did pay the price in the form of some lost games the first couple of weeks. This last week though convinced me to stick with it. I broke and ran at least as many 9 ball racks as I was able to with my old style, but they felt easier. I broke and ran far more 8 ball racks then I did with my old style, I owe this to a huge boost in my break power which is a direct result of better mechanics. In both games, I also got out far more often my first chance at the table. My gentle touch shots are also much improved and therefore, so are my safties. Moving the cue ball around just feels effortless now, if fact, I find that I really need to reign in my stroke, or things get out of control.

It's been an interesting few weeks and I weep when I think about where my game could be today if I had stuck with the lessons. I'm giving some serious thought to going and getting some more lessons from the guy.
 
MinoInADixeCup said:
It's been an interesting few weeks and I weep when I think about where my game could be today if I had stuck with the lessons. I'm giving some serious thought to going and getting some more lessons from the guy.
Click to expand...


Thats the hardest thing in my opinion. Having faith that what someone is teaching you will in fact work for you and do it. Especially since you already had a stance and could make shots.

I sucked soo badly for a week and it was the most humiliating week of pool in my life but i just kept on doing what I was told to do in that lesson and eventually it started to click. Just have to trust them.
 
hang-the-9 said:
How far did lessons take you, maybe hepled you with things you already knew but took some guidance to follow-up on and fix?
Click to expand...

In order to learn from any teacher you need an open mind to accept new ideas.
 
I credit a set of lessons from a local short-stop with taking me from low to middle B to middle to high B. Mainly it was work on on smoothing out the stroke that did the trick.

Cory
 
Cory in DC said:
I credit a set of lessons from a local short-stop with taking me from low to middle B to middle to high B. Mainly it was work on on smoothing out the stroke that did the trick.

Cory
Click to expand...
You smoothed out your robot arm stroke? Look out, everybody, Cory is coming!

To stay on topic, I suspect that great players got there by a combination of desire, will, and talent, and would be great players with or without lessons. Working with an instructor for these players is probably about tweaking some aspect of their play rather than wholesale improvement. For the rest of us, lessons with a good instructor combined with serious work can take us to the next level of play, like Cory here.

I have done some fundamentals teaching myself, and what I observed is that when my students practice between sessions, they get better, and when they don't, they don't. All I was really doing for them was giving them things to practice.
 
Pool lessons

I've never had a lesson from a top player and most of what I know i've learned from watching good players and tons of Accu-stats matches. I learned how to play 9 ball the correct way from the pros and commentators on Accu-stats videos. I can't always execute all of the shots, but most of the time I know what needs to be done to get out.

The biggest thing in my pool career that helped my shot execution was a friend of mine helped me with an aiming system. I played pool all my life cutting balls by feel and I wasn't too bad, but I couldn't get any better. We live in different states and my friend talked me through learning this aiming system on the telephone until I figured out what he was doing. We both play with predator shafts to take most of the deflection out of the shots that require english and that was a big help also. I had trouble allowing for deflection before I started using predator shafts because I kept trying different cues with different types of joints until I finally settled on a style of cue that I like (5/16x14 piloted SS or ivory joint) and i've stuck with it.


James
 
I was a B- to B on a big table from about 1955-1970. I was a B+ to an A on a bar table. I never took lessons, but I wish I had. I think almost anyone can learn something to help their game from a good instuctor. Johnnyt
 
cubc said:
Thats the hardest thing in my opinion. Having faith that what someone is teaching you will in fact work for you and do it. Especially since you already had a stance and could make shots.

I sucked soo badly for a week and it was the most humiliating week of pool in my life but i just kept on doing what I was told to do in that lesson and eventually it started to click. Just have to trust them.
Click to expand...

Is this the same guy that told me in no uncertain terms that he loved his "chicken wing" and wasn't about to change it??

I'm glad she convinced you otherwise. It was the best thing you could have done for your game.

Steve
 
I started playing about 14 monts ago and play at about an A-. That took a lot of 12 hour days though. I think i am to the point where i want to start some lessons to see where it takes me.
 
Johnnyt said:
I was a B- to B on a big table from about 1955-1970. I was a B+ to an A on a bar table. I never took lessons, but I wish I had. I think almost anyone can learn something to help their game from a good instuctor. Johnnyt
Click to expand...
In those days you would have had a hard time finding someone to teach you anything. It seemed everyone wanted to keep everything a secret.
The only training aid that I can remember was that little Mosconi book.

These days I believe everyone can benefit from instructors, videos, and books that are available to us. They can shave many years off the learning time.
 
Bellsr said:
I started playing about 14 monts ago and play at about an A-. That took a lot of 12 hour days though. I think i am to the point where i want to start some lessons to see where it takes me.
Click to expand...

A-, 14 months, "ok". Proves my point about a rating being relative.
 
Bellsr said:
I started playing about 14 monts ago and play at about an A-. That took a lot of 12 hour days though. I think i am to the point where i want to start some lessons to see where it takes me.
Click to expand...

14 months...-A....

Dude, don't sell yourself so short here. Are you sure its not a solid "A"?
If you are at this point in a mere 14 months you should start thinking about giving lessons, you obviously don't need to be taking any.
Maybe you should be looking at moving on to something more challenging.:)
 
i do believe expierence is the best teacher just practice practice practice and find someone above your level to practice with
 
Catahula said:
14 months...-A....

Dude, don't sell yourself so short here. Are you sure its not a solid "A"?
If you are at this point in a mere 14 months you should start thinking about giving lessons, you obviously don't need to be taking any.
Maybe you should be looking at moving on to something more challenging.:)
Click to expand...

I find it funny people feel the need to talk shit. This is what i play as in one of the local tourneys and have been told by a couple of friends that are much better that i play at least at this speed. I put in at least 40 hours a week playing and have for the last 10 months. When im not playing im still thinking about the game or if im at work and not busy im watching matches online. I have gotten to this point because of the passion i have for the game. Without that passion i wouldnt be where im at today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top