POOL MOST DIFFICULT SPORT

I think it's as hard or easy as you want it to be, it all depends on what you want to achieve. Most are content with mediocre
play, but if you really want to reach the upper level, whether that be tournaments or gambling, I think it can be extremely difficult.

Just the other day I put the CB in the middle of the table, and shot hangers into the corner pocket. Each shot I would place another ball, target ball, on one of the diamonds around the table and each time I made the hanger I would make the CB contact that ball. If the target ball was on the same short rail as the hanger you had to draw or run up and down the table. After I practiced that for awhile I would add some blockers where you couldn't take the easy path but had to use a couple of rails to get there. Before I knew it 3 hours had passed and this was just on a hanger! You'd be surprised how many so called good players can't get to the correct side of the ball on the far short rail off of a hanger. Move the OB or CB a few inches one way or the other and it all changes! I know, I have no life and this is what I do for fun! :)
 
If I go out and play pool for an hour or 2. That would be a game. If I play once or twice a month in a 2 day tournament. I could still understand being a game.

But playing at the pro level. Tournament starts on a Wednesday and you play until 1 in the morning and need to be back by 10 and that is your schedule for the next 5 days. It is mentally draining and your back and legs start hurting around Friday. Going on about 6 hours sleep it is hard to stay sharp. Then the next week you have to travel to the next tournament by Wednesday to do it all over again.

I just travel around with my son to these pro events and I get exhausted by Friday. At the pro level you need to be in good shape and be able to stay mentally sharp for much longer than any other sport. Except maybe golf but event then you are resting in the club house after 3 to 4 hours of playing and back at the hotel at a decent time.

This is just my personal experience.
 
easy-e said:
I think it's a difficult game. Like Sammy said, everyone has their own opinion and Mark is clearly very passionate about this game.
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Commentators don't want too much "dead air" time so they come up with all kinds of stuff to talk about.
 
CESSNA10 said:
Recently while commentating a pool match Mark Wilson stated that
pool was the most difficult of all sports. Having played baseball at the
college level I would challenge Mark to try hitting a major league 97 mph
fastball or a major league curve or slider. That might change his thinking.
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He's smoking crack.

And not even the good stuff…
 
One thing is for certain, pool is something that can be enjoyed into the later years of our lives even by some of us with physical challenges.
But make no mistake about it, pool can also be that 'cruel mistress' to any player on any given day. As the old saying goes, "the pool Gods always demand an even ledger"
 
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RT Ford said:
Neptune - Joe Frady, 70, formerly of Neptune passed away on April 10, 2019 at the Lyons VA Medical Center, Bernards Twp. He was the beloved son of the late Anthony and Rose (nee Vaccaro) Frady. Joe is survived by his devoted brother Peter and wife Janet.

Joseph served with the US Army, First Infantry Division in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971. He was the recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 Device and the Vietnam Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars. Joe loved to play pool, golf and enjoyed fishing. He will be missed by his family and friends.
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I knew Joe when he was 12 years old.
I played a lot of pool with him during the '80's when he was right he was incredible on a pool table.
 
sjm said:
I think pool is one of the easiest sports. The athletically capable and athletically incapable have succeeded at it.

Like every other sport, however, becoming one of the very best at pool is difficult.
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I don't think athletic capability is the correct measure in this case, since it apparently means "in good physical shape." Hand-eye coordination, and being familiar with the underlying physics/geometry of the pool table are what are paramount. Someone who can run marathons and bench 400lbs might be a very poor pool player, while someone like, say, Steve Mizerak can be fantastic. It's hard to say the Miz was physically incapable in the ways that matter at a pool table.

That said, I do think pool is too easy a game. Not from a personal perspective (C+ player, baby!) but from a more general evaluative perspective. In baseball, someone who succeeds in getting a hit 3 out of 10 times is a success. In basketball, making a basket 5 out of 10 times is a success. In football, throwing a completion 6 out of 10 times is a success. In pool, you need to be close to 9 out of 10. That makes it very difficult to distinguish the top players because it's hard to be *that* much better than anyone else, when all the top players are already so close to "perfect." That's why we need this esoteric Fargo Rating, with thousands of games played to even begin to guess who is the best player of the top 20-30 or so.

So while I definitely agree it's as difficult to be one of the best pool players as it is to be one of the best of any other sport, the game itself has a comparative scale so far out to the right of the curve, towards 1.000 perfect play, that it's hard for the casual fan or even a serious fan to distinguish between players.

That's probably why Snooker has taken off compared with pool because perfection (a 147) is so hard, and with typical scores so much lower than what's possible that means individual games and therefore individual players can be more readily assessed on a wider spread of outcomes. Long races to 120 in pool which feature scores of breaks and runs (perfect play!) and final scores of 120-119, while thrilling at the end, never leaves anyone thinking that they've just witnessed history, or that either player "must" be better than anyone else. It's hard to dominate, and domination attracts fans (see: Ruth, Babe; Jordan, Michael; Gretzy, Wayne; etc).
 
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Rocket354 said:
... That said, I do think pool is too easy a game. Not from a personal perspective (C+ player, baby!) but from a more general evaluative perspective. In baseball, someone who succeeds in getting a hit 3 out of 10 times is a success. In basketball, making a basket 5 out of 10 times is a success. In football, throwing a completion 6 out of 10 times is a success. In pool, you need to be close to 9 out of 10. ...
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Another way to judge difficulty is by how often the player is challenged with something at the edge of their competence (like hitting a 95MPH baseball). I think on that basis tennis is one of the most difficult games because every few seconds a top player has to return a ball that most amateur players (think 400 Fargo but at tennis) would rarely get their racket on. I think that is the reason that tennis seems to be dominated by a few players in any era. A match provides many, many opportunities for a player to show his superiority and if one player is only a little bit better than his opponent, the many points with many difficult shots will swing the odds strongly in his favor.

On the other hand, at pool many runs are routine and if done reasonably well, the player has no challenge until the next break shot. A series of safeties is the only time at nine ball that there is some back-and-forth. One pocket is a much more difficult game than nine ball by this measure.

If you compare baseball to tennis for challenges/minute, baseball looks trivial.
 
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DeeDeeCues said:
Funny stuff. All other athletes adjust for many things, and many of them do it without having 30seconds to think about it.
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DeeDeeCues said:
Funny stuff. All other athletes adjust for many things, and many of them do it without having 30seconds to think about it.
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pool is so easy ,right? Why do so few have Mike Massey draw? Pro's get almost perfect shape almost every time with every type of stroke, if that is easy then there are millions of terrible pool players, they do it with almost no thought because they have spent the time and have a command over their stroke most can never achieve, much like golf. Your athletic ability doesn't matter, a 12 year old girl can outdrive an NFL lineman if her golf swing is better, same on a 9' pool table , you can hit hard as you want but without the proper stroke you won't get draw let alone world class precision position draw, and the ability to repeat it everyday.
 
SSP said:
pool is so easy ,right? Why do so few have Mike Massey draw? Pro's get almost perfect shape almost every time with every type of stroke, if that is easy then there are millions of terrible pool players, they do it with almost no thought because they have spent the time and have a command over their stroke most can never achieve, much like golf. Your athletic ability doesn't matter, a 12 year old girl can outdrive an NFL lineman if her golf swing is better, same on a 9' pool table , you can hit hard as you want but without the proper stroke you won't get draw let alone world class precision position draw, and the ability to repeat it everyday.
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I think your point got lost in all of the sidetracking. I've never been in situation playing pool that required me to use a twelve-year-old girl driving a golf ball. Maybe that's why I don't understand how hard pool is.
 
Back in the day golf used to be referred to as 'pasture pool' in the pool hall I used to frequent ,that is until some of the top pool players started to take up the game.
I remember Grady once saying that pool is the only game that what you do (as in safety play) has something to do with what your opponent has to shoot at. Where as games (or sports) such as bowling or golf has you playing the lanes or the course and not necessarily directly your opponent. I suppose tennis could also be included in Grady's observation.
 
WobblyStroke said:
ye that fatty couldn't run much, but could hit a ball 400feet and throw a ball over 90mph. Guy had the type of power regular folks can only dream of, even the ones with 6packs.

Kinda reminds me of David Wells telling the story of how he threw his perfect game while completely drunk off his ass. Some ppl are just built different. Just cuz one boozy fatass can dominate a major league roster for an afternoon doesn't mean much tho. That's a 1 in a million if not much longer odds occurrence.
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mlb.nbcsports.com

Today in Baseball History: Dock Ellis tosses his LSD-fueled no-hitter

On this date in 1970, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Dock Ellis tossed a no-hitter against the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
mlb.nbcsports.com mlb.nbcsports.com
 
RT Ford said:
Golf is a game of misses. Pool is a game of perfection.
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yes, because golf is so F-ing hard that even Ben Hogan, one of the most legendary ball strikers ever said he only hits about 3 or 4 shots a round that come off just as he imagined.

So ye, golf is a game of misses. The guy whose misses are closest to his intended shot wins. That said, just missing and keeping the results acceptable is harder than playing on 3inch pockets.
 
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