I've been playing for an awful long time. I personally use quite a bit of english but I do it almost unconsciously now. I know, people are going to say that my previous post said just the opposite. My previous post, not using english if you can help it, was aimed to help a newbie to the game. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. Everyone had to start sometime and when they do, they should get stop, follow and draw down pat before they try to use english, imho. If you ask a pro what type of stroke or english he/she used right after a shot, they might not be able to tell you because they are way past that level of play. I was practicing next to Nick Varner in Reno and another player asked him how he hit a certain shot and he looked at him quizzically and said, "Gee, I don't know, I just shot it."
Another thing about english, I don't think a lot of pros need to hit the cb at the extreme outside edges because their stroke is so good they don't need to. I would counsel new players to work on your stroke the most. Very good players will say on occasion that when they were playing their best, they were in "dead stroke". Your stroke which is your ability to stroke through the cb giving you the ability to stop the cb on a dime, draw the cb the length of the table and still make the shot or make the cb follow the ob to a spot you wanted to land on is critical to becoming a good player imo.
As far as the different shafts are concerned, I wouldn't be too concerned with that. The great players can shoot lights out with a house cue.
Another thing about english, I don't think a lot of pros need to hit the cb at the extreme outside edges because their stroke is so good they don't need to. I would counsel new players to work on your stroke the most. Very good players will say on occasion that when they were playing their best, they were in "dead stroke". Your stroke which is your ability to stroke through the cb giving you the ability to stop the cb on a dime, draw the cb the length of the table and still make the shot or make the cb follow the ob to a spot you wanted to land on is critical to becoming a good player imo.
As far as the different shafts are concerned, I wouldn't be too concerned with that. The great players can shoot lights out with a house cue.
sarahrousey said:drivermaker you speak the truth about Efren. I think to answer your question about why people want to complicate things by using english has to be that 1) it looks really cool when you use alot of english or 2) they think it means they are at a higher level by using it. Some people swear that every shot requires english and others do not. I think using left or right english on every shot is way too complicated. Maybe the use of laminated shafts has changed the way things are done. It makes it much easier to use english than a regular shaft. That is just my opinion though. What is everyone else's opinion about that?
Sarah