Are you dreaming? Busty has some of the most flawed mechanics, and he was still winning MOT at DCC with all the new champions before he lost his visa.
Pros today vs the pros yesterday
- Thread starter JoeyInCali
- Start date
Lemme know if Busti is playing Dennis or Biado even for money in the Philippines now.
I'm sure he was 15 to 20 years ago when Dennis and Biado came on the scene, and Busty was not super old yet.
You can make connections each generation. One of today's best players is Chang. 15 years ago the best player was maybe Shane. Shane is still "not too old". Chang and Shane played a big set to a draw a couple years ago. So you make that link.
Next you go Shane vs Archer, Archer being one of the top guys in the prior generation. Those two are about 15-20 years apart. During the TAR days, Archer beat Shane pretty good.
Then you go Archer vs Strickland.
Then you go Strickland vs Hall.
Then Hall vs Mosconi.
Etc. We can probably find matchups like these linking all the generations together. Roughly 15 years apart is about right IMO. These matches would have been a pickem.
Next you go Shane vs Archer, Archer being one of the top guys in the prior generation. Those two are about 15-20 years apart. During the TAR days, Archer beat Shane pretty good.
Then you go Archer vs Strickland.
Then you go Strickland vs Hall.
Then Hall vs Mosconi.
Etc. We can probably find matchups like these linking all the generations together. Roughly 15 years apart is about right IMO. These matches would have been a pickem.
Humans learn. The rules of cue sports have been changed many times because players figured out how to play nearly perfectly. A recent example of this is the break at nine ball. An earlier example is carom billiards which started as straight rail and then balkline and finally three cushion as the main game because the top players kept mastering the game to the point it was uninteresting.
When I learned to play, pretty much no one was interested in good fundamentals. Just do whatever feels good. Modern players have figured out better mechanics.
23DenaliBDE
Well-known member
If I were to guess I would say the oil pattern pushing and breaking down causes more variables than change on a table. Also, equipment capable of higher RPM now lends itself to making it harder to keep a line. Better pin action, though .
I would be curious about oil, oil pattern, and overall amount used in todays patterns vs back a few decades. My guess is slicker lanes to keep ahead of equipment. You can make a 190 + league bowler on his home lane look like an utter fool by simply laying down the pattern like they do at Nationals in Reno. Humbling would be the nicest description possible
Howdy All;
My two pennies worth;
Back 20 years we didn't have cellphone videos to see our stroke so as to fine tune it.
Hoppe sure didn't, or McCready, or Hopkins and check-out Mazin Shooni's side arm style.
Yet they were ALL Champions.
They played not on super smooth almost polished cloth, theirs was nappy and slow.
Nothing high-tech about their cues either, just wood, nothing from the engineers of NASA.
Whole new World, The Heroes of yesteryear v the techno kids of today, Apples v fruit loops.
Said my peace.
hank
My two pennies worth;
Back 20 years we didn't have cellphone videos to see our stroke so as to fine tune it.
Hoppe sure didn't, or McCready, or Hopkins and check-out Mazin Shooni's side arm style.
Yet they were ALL Champions.
They played not on super smooth almost polished cloth, theirs was nappy and slow.
Nothing high-tech about their cues either, just wood, nothing from the engineers of NASA.
Whole new World, The Heroes of yesteryear v the techno kids of today, Apples v fruit loops.
Said my peace.
hank
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
Back in the days of Varner, Strickland, et al, there was very little instruction. Maybe the old guy would give you a couple of pointers after he took your money, and you might have a road partner to work with, but the billiards education culture was nothing compared to today.
They have changed the surface finish of the balls to change how it interacts with the oil on the lane. The balls weighting has changed, too. They have different inertia about different axes and slightly off center weight so the ball shifts about the axis and the contact point moves about an eighth of an inch each revolution, so an unoiled surface touches the lane.
Both these guys had their best years in the 90s, even though this is a bit later:
the equipment has a lot to do with how good the greats of today look. when you can go 4 rails around the table with almost no power than it is much easier.
one way to tell is the straight pool players decades back, you made most all the balls in the two front pockets and only opened out a few at a time. if you blasted into the stack it didnt open easily and you might get stuck. it was friggin hard to run a hundred balls.
now they all blast the pack open and its like having ball in hand with an open rack.
the balls are more elastic and also polished. the cloth is fast and we have air conditioning which keeps the humidity low.
you dont have to use outside english on your cut shots to avoid the throw.
its a different ball game and comparing is tough.
one way to tell is the straight pool players decades back, you made most all the balls in the two front pockets and only opened out a few at a time. if you blasted into the stack it didnt open easily and you might get stuck. it was friggin hard to run a hundred balls.
now they all blast the pack open and its like having ball in hand with an open rack.
the balls are more elastic and also polished. the cloth is fast and we have air conditioning which keeps the humidity low.
you dont have to use outside english on your cut shots to avoid the throw.
its a different ball game and comparing is tough.
If it was easier today, how come they have much better shooting mechanics?
9-ball is a long distance game ( often ).
To make those balls 4.5" corner or less, you need very sound mechanics.
You dont think the two handed bowlers are dominating the game with that new style of delivery? the
No kidding! Me too.
Marc Bijsterboch is not a snooker player. He’a pool player from the Netherlands. The only snooker player that made an impact was Gary Wilson, who made it to the Round of 64.Here's an example, Marc the snooker player in the Spanish Final.
Made a GREAT shot on the purple ball to get out in the 1st game.
He broke the second rack, and was puttin' the rack together, he got a Little long on the 4 ball, being a Snooker player, hey these pockets are Buckets.
He's almost straight in on the 4 ball, around 3.18 minutes into the finals, alls needed, pull it over a ways to his left.
He got sloppy, he should of gotten Much closer to the 4 but it's ''still''a cinch shot
He should of been up 2-0 and breaking.
This second game error, cost him the match.
bm
Matchroom seem to want to push that Kledio Kaçi is a snooker pkayer, but the reality is that he’s trying to “focus more on snooker.” There is no question that he is a pool player who is trying to play more snooker, but all his snooker matches seem to be within the Albanian scene aside from his meh results in the Euro 6-red tournament.
Gary not Mark! Lol! Mark Wilson is a former pro player, great instructor, former Mosconi Cup captain, and probably my favorite commentator with whom I’ve had the pleasure to do matches
Here's my two cents. The players of today are on a whole new level compared to the top players of the past. The top players when I started playing in the early 90's were guys like Earl Strickland, Efren Reyes, Johnny Archer, Mike Sigel & Nick Warner. If you were to Fargo rate these players in their prime I think they would just be in the high 700's maybe at times touching 800. From what I remember these guys played great, but still missed a lot more shots than today's top pros. I don't think they would have a chance in some long sets against the likes of Gorst, Filler, FSR and Van Boening,
23DenaliBDE
Well-known member
I was hoping someone had an opinion on this. I had to quit bowling after a surgery before that was a thing. I quit watching when I quit playing and only recently realized anyone was doing that. It goes against everything I ever learned but it obviously can work and work well for some
same with 3c
and theres also so much knowledge available to everyone now