Player Developmental Stages

BillYards

BillYards

Playing Style: Wu Tang Fu
Silver Member
Recently, I have finally climbed another step in my progression towards billiards excellence. Thinking back over the years I have played got me wondering what the plateaus and steps exist for billiards players. Here is my stab at it:

Stages (Part I):

Level 1 – Bangers ‘R Us
At this level, you played once in a while, had and awkward stance and bridge, bashed the balls around and laughed when something amazing happened. Your girlfriend beats you at pool and your friends laugh at you. Your curiosity about the game may have been sparked, starting you on your billiard path.

Level 2 – Shot-making
Suddenly you seem to be drawn to pool more and more while out at the bars. You develop skill at holding the cue and shooting shots. You start to understand basic physics of the game and become great at scoop-jump shots. You start to break harder and miscue less. You start to pick over the cues available, looking for a favorite. You think it is cool to chalk your cue by spinning it with your foot. You see The Color of Money. You think it is cool to twirl your cue and slash it through the air like a sword.

Level 3 – Awareness
Now you know that practice improves your game. You see yourself perform some magical shots on the table and start to believe that you might have talent at this game. You start to think about rules and maybe playing in a tournament or league. You start watching the better players in your area and appreciate their skills. You use a closed bridge. You think it is cool to shoot behind your back. You buy a video and a book and a cheap cue. You start to learn how to maintain a cue. You learn some basic table etiquette. You are surprised to learn that scoop-jumps are illegal and frowned upon by experienced players. You watch The Hustler. You hack-up a local table learning how to properly jump a ball.

(Continued in Part II)
 
Stages Part II

Level 4 – Progression
This level is where you make a big jump. You start practicing with a friend that is a strong player. You start to learn some cueball control and position play. You start to develop a real stroke. You play combinations and caroms. You begin breaking with a purpose. You run your first rack. When away from the table, you daydream about pool and make various bridge hand configurations in the air. You start to learn how to win games. You join a league and shoot in a local tourney on a regular basis. You want a better cue, maybe a McDermott or Meucci. You hack up a local table trying to learn how to masse. You can’t do it.

Level 5 – Safe to win
You are now playing all the time and start to read your opponents’ ability. You start playing safeties when you can’t get out. You are not surprised when you run a rack, and you may even expect to run racks. You take some lessons and buy more tapes and books. Your girlfriend leaves you because you are shooting too much. Your pants have a wide, faded line across them where they have been rubbing against the table. Your middle finger can bend at a funny angle when pushed down on the table. You learn to shoot one-handed and think you are king of the world. You dream about pool when sleeping. You are surprised to learn that your parents don’t value the amazing billiard talent that has blossomed on their family tree. You learn how to shark your friend. You realize that you will never make a good living by shooting pool. You are aware of the mental aspect of pool, but unsure about the development of that aspect. You hack up a local table that you were trying to re-felt.

Level 6 – Pattern Attack
You stop sharking your friend so that you can get the best out of him… so he pushes you harder. You start to become very aware of pattern play and natural flow of the table and game. Your table management skills allow you to keep control of the table. You win more in league and in local tournaments. You get your butt handed to you at the national tourney in Vegas. You gamble with players that you know are bangers. You trade-in your Meucci for a Black Boar. People are scared to play you and groan when they draw you in a tournament. You buy more books and have an amazing depth of physics knowledge about the game. You gamble and match-up with players that are stronger than you. You lose, but know it is just another lesson, another step to improving. Your mental game starts to grow. You are one of the top two or three shooters in your league. You buy and hack up a local table while moving it into your house.

Level 7 – Maturation
You take responsibility for your misses and find new ways to stay focused despite distractions around you. You start to really internalize and examine your thought processes. Your mental game becomes strong. You realize that you have fallen into a category: gambler/hustler, tournament player, or (if you get married) great banger.

Level 8 – Gears
You learn how to gear-down like a 4X4 in low low, getting yourself into “The Zone” automatically. You run strings of balls and games. You are able to compete with surprising calmness. You visualize it, then do it. You still like to throw the balls out and thrash them down recklessly, but you also get a thrill from winning matches with careful shot-making and pattern play. You fold laundry on your table at home. Your wife smiles.
 
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An excellent description, particularly levels 4 through 8! They certainly will bring a strong feeling of nostalgia to anyone who has gone through them.

The most talented players, as well as those who are exposed early to a strong pool environment, often seem to almost skip straight through levels 2 and 3!

Rep to you, bro.
 
thats a great post, i agree with it, and yes step 9 is becomming a one hole player(i'm not). The funny thing is I havent played in 13 years and havee been playing around a little and I have all those stages happen in a one hour, I'll run out from nowhere play great caromss, break up clusrtes of balls, or plat a air tight safty. etc only the things years of playing taught me. looking at the run out pattern from the 3 to the 9, AND then miss a spot shot by a 12 inches, jump out of a shot, forget how to stroke a cue, cant draw the rock 6 inches, its all in me and i'm all over the place, its amazing to me how within an hour I'll be a great player for 8 minutes, average player for 10 minures a banger for 15, its all over the place, if i could circul my wagons I feel its right there but man its weird to watch a guy with a stroke like mine miss by 2 feet.
 
4 stages of proficiency

This came from a book I once read. Don't remember the name.

1. Unconsciously incompetent

2. Consciously incompetent

3. Consciously competent

4. Unconsciously competent
 
MFB said:
This came from a book I once read. Don't remember the name.

1. Unconsciously incompetent

2. Consciously incompetent

3. Consciously competent

4. Unconsciously competent
Click to expand...

Nice post. Right on the money.
 
I remember thinking I was the man with those illegal scoop jump shots. Unfortunately, it wasn't that long ago.
 
I'd say after my 10 or so months of playing that I am a 4, but that step up to a 5 looks like a big one! :rolleyes:
 
despotic931 said:
I'd say after my 10 or so months of playing that I am a 4, but that step up to a 5 looks like a big one! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well, 10 months to get to stage 4 is pretty quick, I think. I know one guy that got to stage 5 in six months. It was amazing, but he played every day and had some coaching. He obviiously had talent too.

Juega: Haha! I did not trade in a Meucci for my Black Boar! My first cue was one that I found in the back room at the pool hall I worked in. It was the pool and bowling center in the student union on the campus of the University of Wyoming.

I met many good players there and one recommended Richard Black, so I ordered a brochure. I was dejected regarding the prices, since I was a poor college student, but I could not forget the Black Baron design and knew I had to have it. I found out that it would be a 10 month wait for the cue, so I sent in my deposit and waited. After that long wait, I was blown away when I opened the cue. UPS just left the box inside of my screen door, by the way... But I found it before someone swiped it. I was so excited that I opened the box in the bathroom with the lights off. In the darkness, I could feel the cue and smell the fresh finish. I fumbled around until I could get the joint protectors off and get it screwed together, then I turned on the light and was blown away by the cue. That was one of the best days of my life. Thank you, Richard Black!

Obviously I wrote the stages based on my experience, but I did not draw 100% from my progress, but from what I have observed also.

Hope you guys have a nice tourney this weekend and hope to see you soon. I will be going to see Ray at Criollo to pick up my signed photos from the PR Shootout.
 
BillYards said:
My first cue was one that I found in the back room at the pool hall I worked in. It was the pool and bowling center in the student union on the campus of the University of Wyoming.
Click to expand...

LOL...I also found a cue, that had been left for years, in the back room of the gameroom on campus (CO...early 70's). The cue was the top end Palmer, from the catalogs, with the curly line inlays, running along the forearm of the cue. I had to have some work done on the cue, as it had been mistreated over the years (and subsequently abandoned)...but eventually sold that cue for more than $2k, to a collector! You never know what you might find... My friend Randyg spent years traveling with the McDermott 9-ball Tour, and would scour every pawn shop in every town they went through, looking for cue deals, and buying every Palmer he could find. Eventually he ended up with a collection of over 1000 Palmers!:eek: :D
He has since sold almost all of them, for tidy profits!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Interesting interesting, I think I am gettin comfortable in step 8. I can't wait to go to Vegas this year and see how I do. Hah a guy groaned yesterday when I drew him in a tourney hha, it was a little tournament race to 2 winner breaks, he didn't even shoot lol.

Eric.A.
 
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