Good players regularly go on the road with TOP PLAYERS for a few months and come back TOP PLAYERS. It's because the "SECRETS" have been revealed to them. LOL :killingme:
While the original poster did slip in the code word for let's get those guys, ("aiming system"), I don't really believe he meant to incite anyone.
It's getting so rough on here that we may have to vote on banning the words, "aiming system", and "SECRETS". :scratchhead::rotflmao1:
Joey:
"Ya know I luv ya ta bits" (as the Brits would say in a pub). But methinks we're also downplaying the "see no evil, hear no evil" approach to "slipping one in." And I know you're not going to actually deny that takes place on these boards, right Joey?
Aiming system advocates, being on that side on the fence, don't see a problem with it, because "it's getting the word out" afterall. You know, free publicity and all that jazz. Heck, there's nothing wrong with that -- that's capitalism marketing at its finest. Attach a word or phrase to an object, so that it gets eyeballs and eardrums (e.g. "...and we bring you this Lucasi Hybrid match score update for the 2011 Derby City Classic...").
But it was the back-pedaling that got me. The OP wanted to use an example to demonstrate what he meant by "pros being pros precisely because they're holding something back," and he wanted to use an example. This is great -- show by example! I believe in that; I'm listening. But he dropped the "aiming system" bomb. Then, he spends a good portion of the post back-pedaling, stating how he didn't want it to be turned into another aiming system thread, and it was used only as an example. But wait, we're not done yet! To finish with a flourish, this outright pitch was used as a coupe de gras, "
In the words of my greatest teacher thus far after he taught me THE aiming system and how easy it was to pocket ANYTHING after he taught me....." It's like stealing aint it?!" Boy, a lot of ground was covered on that one! Tell me that wasn't a Mariano Rivera closer cut-fastball right across the plate?
Do I think pros withhold things / secrets? SURE I DO. And I got news for ya: we all do, in some way/shape/fashion. When we (you and I, Joey) play 1-pocket, am I going to show ya all my moves? Sure I am -- but only after I execute them on ya to show how effective they are. (And yes, after all's said and done, I'll show ya what I was thinking and why I chose that particular move -- but not before that move has first stung.)
Are the amateurs "entitled" to have that pros' knowledge? Hell no. And depending on
who that amateur is, we can even make that a "f*ck no!" (Those that whine and complain about pros not sharing "all" their secrets definitely are
not even walking on the correct road to deserving them.) What in the h*ll makes an amateur think he/she is entitled to know all the pros secrets? I'll tell ya. Quick fix. Don't want to put the work in to earn it and most importantly, understand it fully. Wants quick and easy satisfaction. Click the fingers, and voila! It's there.
A crystal example of this goes back to that poster that wanted to know which chapter, which page, which paragraph, and finally, which sentence he needs to read in Bob Fancher's
Pleasures of Small Motions to get the maximum benefit, rather than reading this small 140-page paperback book (less than the size of today's
TV Guide) in its entirety. People like that, and people that accuse the pros of being pros precisely because they don't release everything, are one and the same in my book.
I'll give the shirt off my back to a player that shows not only interest, but INITIATIVE and MOTIVATION to really learn this game. I'd want nothing more than to have that player -- who has earned my respect and trust that he/she will do good for the sport we both love -- to further the knowledge I'd passed on to him/her. I have to be assured, though, that it's not a short-term fad with this person, or otherwise an attempt to end-run hard work to acquire the skills, only to admonish them later with a wave of the hand, "Oh, that was easy." This ain't the Staples red push-button!
There's a nice Thoreau quote about this, but my brain is kind of fried at the moment, and I don't want to misquote it. But I think you know the one I'm referring to.
-Sean