Yesterday was a very Special day...........
The day started out with me giving a lesson only to have the player decide not to do it.
Like most places that I go to the players don't know I am coming and sometimes money is short. So the student declines.
So I did what I do most of the time and I told the student that I would do the lesson for only $50 now and he could send me the rest whenever he could comfortably do it. He agreed that would work so i showed up at 2:00 Sat for the lesson.
The player showed up a little bit late and said he decided not to do the lesson. I was pretty upset but only for him. This is a young man that is right at the crossroads of being a real player. Perfect Aim would help get him there. After this he could actually take the game to the higher level.
I tried to explain that I was comfortable with him owing the money for even a year but his own values had already made his decision solid.
But............ There is a silver lining in every cloud.
There was Ron Dobasynski. Just looking for someone to joust with. We have had many memorable battles over the years and this just has the making of a classic battle between 2 gladiators.
I walked over and asked him to play and he accepted almost before I asked him. In fact he said, I got all day, how about you. I told him, You got me all day.
All that was left was the game and the amount. Neither is a real factor. The real deal is who can beat who. Who could get to 7 before the other. Who could get the job done with safeties and finesse and making the shots with all the pressure of a big time match.
It started out kind of shaky for me. I hadn't played hardly at all since about a week before the fourth. Ron looked real solid the first set and won 7-6. it was a real nail biter.
Then i noticed a real weakness. With my Perfect Aim, when a person is left eye dominant they have trouble with cut shots to the way of their non dominant eye. Ron was no exception. The quarter ball hit is the worst to expose this problem.
I started pushing out so Ron had to shoot to the right after the break if i had to push and when I played safe, if possible I made it so he had to shoot or cut to the right.
The results were rediculous. Because he was missing these shots the confidence was diminished tremendously. Soon he was not only missing shots to the right too thick but he was hitting the shots to the left too thin.
This is a result of not knowing the problem and trying to adjust when you don't even know which way to adjust to correct your aim.
Ron never even won a set the rest of the day but he kept on slugging like the champion that he is. The last 2 sets were 7-0 and 7-1 and were even worse than the score showed if that is possible.
After the last set Ron quit and was pretty distraut over his terrible performance. he even made the comment that he was embarrassed. And I totally understand.
By teaching and playing on the road and trying to play world champions with very little practice I have been on this side of the coin also but not to this extent. My Perfect Aim and knowing how to get there makes my bad respectable.
Now I have a problem. Here is one of the best players to ever come out of Wisconsin ever. An accomplished teacher, competitor and just a real good guy.
Being 65 years old Ron has lost the natural ability to get these eyes in the most correct position possible to envision the shot correctly. He has no idea what the problem is like all players that pass the 50 year old plateau. At 65 Ron has been there for awhile and has struggled for awhile also. But it can be fixed and he can shoot as good as he ever did. He just needs to understand what has happened and know how to fix it.
Now i have a problem. I have the power to help my friend fix the game that he has helped so many players with in the past. His pride and knowledge is going to keep him from spending the money for the Perfect Aim lesson. I know I will have to show him for free if I'm going to show him. Even though what I show him is Priceless.
How can there be something like this that can fix what has virtually destroyed his game.I know he's thinking it must be the stroke, stance or maybe he just can't see.
I just had to help my old friend even though I know I will be competing with him again down the road and he has all the tools to get the job done anywhere and will be a real threat then to beat me.
But then again this is happening all over the country with players I have helped. .
I had already showed him that he was left eye dominant. He thought he was right eyed. He could hardly believe it.
I had to do it. I showed him the main meat of Perfect Aim.
I wish I could have had a camera there so I could have captured the look on his face when he was seeing for the first time what the real problem was and how to fix it. Without knowing that his right eye was trying to work a little like the dominant eye there was no chance of him figuring this out on his own. .
But just like many great teachers and students of the game Ron had never ever seen this before. Nobody is teaching what I teach with the exception of a few that have learned.
What is really cool is Ron could see the value real fast. He could see this is the real deal. The answer to what is making the balls not go in the hole.
Afterwards I thought to myself. I can't even believe that I was thinking about not showing this great champion, that has done so much for the game, how to fix his own game.
i know that ron will be teaching this and I might lose a few lessons here in Madison but for the good of the game that is OK. Players need to know this, every one of them, and Ron is for sure the man to get it done here in Madison.
As for me, I'll be off to PA after working with Jesse's son this afternoon. This 12 year old is going to get the most important pool lesson he will ever get in his life as regards to pool. . For me and Jesse it will be a kodak moment in life and pool. It might be the start of a new world champion, you never know considering the passion that Jesse himself has for the game. This is where it starts and might just happen someday.
Then it's off to Oil City, PA to work with Tor and the on the road reality show.
I'm really excited about this also because it is not only helping some very deserving players but it will kind of showcase what I teach.
Reaching more players and in turn helping more players than i ever thought possible before.
What started as a home made video and a pool lesson almost 5 years ago could become a household name in aiming for the whole world.
And once a player understands this they understand that it is just the way it is.
What a great game. When I first looked at those balls when I was young I just said WOW.
I still look at those balls the same way so many years later.
We're all just big kids when we get older when it comes to pool.
it don't get any better than this.
One man a van and the road......