National Standards for Pool Teaching Curricula

Thanks J-Flo for bringing this thread back to order, i was hoping for an answer, of "yes there is a committee that regulates how pool is taught, and look at all instructional material out there and certify" but unfortunately there is no such committee. Until then, word or mouth is your best bet. Certainly some form of certification from PBIA , or BCA.. would be a big plus.


Naji my friend....YES.

There is a committee and right now I am the chairperson of said committee.

We oversee many things within our P.B.I.A group and that includes some instructional material and all certifications.

randyg.
 
John...I know you had a great experience with a PBIA certified professional instructor. At the same time, I'd like to state publically that there are, imo, MANY very competent instructors out there who are currently not part of the PBIA membership. Among them are Joe Tucker, David Sapolis, Mark Wilson, Joe Villapondo, and Tony Robles. There are certainly others. All of these folks are friends of mine, and instructors that I would certainly recommend to anyone seeking good instruction. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Lets try and get this thread back on track after the derail by English and BBB.. I just took some lessons and im sure there are people out there not getting there money worth. I think pbia is was to go. Has any one had instruction not certified?
 
No Dought ...

John...I know you had a great experience with a PBIA certified professional instructor. At the same time, I'd like to state publically that there are, imo, MANY very competent instructors out there who are currently not part of the PBIA membership. Among them are Joe Tucker, David Sapolis, Mark Wilson, Joe Villapondo, and Tony Robles. There are certainly others. All of these folks are friends of mine, and instructors that I would certainly recommend to anyone seeking good instruction. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I would love to spend a few days with any one of those guys but the OP was looking for a organized curriculum or standard or governing body and the only one I have heard of is PBIA. I know there a good instructors out there.
 
Agreed...and my point was that each of those instructors have their own "organized curriculum", even though they may not presently belong to any type of "governing body"! Am I partial to the PBIA/SPF 'way of thinking'? Sure...but I wouldn't hesitate for a NY minute to work with any of the people I mentioned! :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I would love to spend a few days with any one of those guys but the OP was looking for a organized curriculum or standard or governing body and the only one I have heard of is PBIA. I know there a good instructors out there.
 
John...I know you had a great experience with a PBIA certified professional instructor. At the same time, I'd like to state publically that there are, imo, MANY very competent instructors out there who are currently not part of the PBIA membership. Among them are Joe Tucker, David Sapolis, Mark Wilson, Joe Villapondo, and Tony Robles. There are certainly others. All of these folks are friends of mine, and instructors that I would certainly recommend to anyone seeking good instruction. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

FORESURE!!!!!

Working with these guys would be a pleaseure.

randyg
 
:embarrassed2:

I'll bet your wife is not certified by some national group. When the BCA issues a certificate of competence they are assuming some responsibility. At the least they should be clear on what they are certifying and what they are not certifying.

Your idea that the "House Pro" should do the teaching is a good one. Perhaps all "certified" instructors should only be allowed with their certificate to practice in a public pool room that carries insurance and is always in the public eye. It would be easy enough to include this on a certificate and thus limit the BCA's liability. Legal council is needed here. Perhaps you could ask your sister?:embarrassed2:

OMG! Don't get the lawyers involved! :eek:

:D


.
 
When the BCA issues a certificate of competence they are assuming some responsibility. At the least they should be clear on what they are certifying and what they are not certifying.

The PBIA certification recognizes that the instructor has met the PBIA Instructor Program requirements and is qualified to provide instruction at their certification level.

You can find more information on the PBIA Instructor Program at Play Better Billiards.
 
Thanks J-Flo for bringing this thread back to order, i was hoping for an answer, of "yes there is a committee that regulates how pool is taught, and look at all instructional material out there and certify" but unfortunately there is no such committee. Until then, word or mouth is your best bet. Certainly some form of certification from PBIA , or BCA.. would be a big plus.

Naji,

The Professional Billiard Instructor's Association (PBIA) is now what used to be known as the BCA Instructor Program. The PBIA is still part of, and governed by, the Billiard Congress of America (BCA). And, the PBIA does still issue instructor certificates.

I should also mention that the ACS has an instructor certification program that is practically identical to that of the PBIA.

If you're looking for an organization that certifies ("guarantees") that a student will be taught "this, this, and that" by "this" level of instructor, for around "this" amount of money, and their game should jump by "this" amount; then I'm sorry to have to tell you that it doesn't exist.

Also, just because the two certifying bodies have different instructor level designations, I don't think those designations really tell anyone a lot. What really matters is reputation. Getting candid testimonials from past students is the best thing a person can do to "certify" that any particular instructor is what they are looking for.

Roger
 
Naji,

The Professional Billiard Instructor's Association (PBIA) is now what used to be known as the BCA Instructor Program. The PBIA is still part of, and governed by, the Billiard Congress of America (BCA). And, the PBIA does still issue instructor certificates.

I should also mention that the ACS has an instructor certification program that is practically identical to that of the PBIA.

If you're looking for an organization that certifies ("guarantees") that a student will be taught "this, this, and that" by "this" level of instructor, for around "this" amount of money, and their game should jump by "this" amount; then I'm sorry to have to tell you that it doesn't exist.

Also, just because the two certifying bodies have different instructor level designations, I don't think those designations really tell anyone a lot. What really matters is reputation. Getting candid testimonials from past students is the best thing a person can do to "certify" that any particular instructor is what they are looking for.

Roger

Thanks to all that contributed to this post,
Roger, what i was thinking of is a certification program, for example, like say "Energy Star for Appliances" where every appliance model cannot have a sticker until a sample is validated by a committee and lab tests. In Pool i see so many books, and DVDs written by either pros, or experts, or just knowledgeable people of which the technical knowledge presented have not been validated by expert recognized committee, however, possibly validated by a peer or a known pro, or no one. On the other hand, some instructors belong to a recognized board, other do not need to be, and can teach any way they feel based on feed back from their customers, or word of mouth.
 
Thanks to all that contributed to this post,
Roger, what i was thinking of is a certification program, for example, like say "Energy Star for Appliances" where every appliance model cannot have a sticker until a sample is validated by a committee and lab tests. In Pool i see so many books, and DVDs written by either pros, or experts, or just knowledgeable people of which the technical knowledge presented have not been validated by expert recognized committee, however, possibly validated by a peer or a known pro, or no one. On the other hand, some instructors belong to a recognized board, other do not need to be, and can teach any way they feel based on feed back from their customers, or word of mouth.

Naji, that, too, was once attempted by the BCA, and as I remember, it didn't work out very well. Randy could tell you more about that project, as I believe he was a member of the validation committee.

Roger
 
Just a quick comment, as it has been mentioned you want to be careful of having too much regulation. A good instructor will have his own curriculum to keep track. Each student is going to have their own issues and the instructor will need to adapt to each person to provide them with a method of moving their game forward.

Think of it as having note cards for a speach. The instructor has his notecards ready, but the actual lesson is like a speech where they will let their experience and knowledge of the game guide them to the key points.

I can't imagine any instructor not wanting to do a good job teaching, otherwise why would they do it? PBIA instructors have a reasonable amount of investment so trust me when I say we do have a commitment to students!
 
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