Question for the Tin Man

Lastly...

We may be entering into a conversation about
Winning vs. Improving

For players that really just want to win more but not necessarily improve their measured aptitude (for lack of a better phrase), focusing on their decision making could give them immediate results in the win-loss column. While I like winning as much as the next guy, it's not really my focus when it comes to pool. For me, it's more of like a martial art in that it's more about controlling my mind and body, and letting the results take care of themselves.

I suppose improving one's decision making would be measurable in some sense but maybe not show up in like say -- one of Dr. Dave's tests.
 
Yeah....my game went to crap for a while as I really didn't play/practice much from summer through fall. Then with covid shutting things down, I decided to make a pretty major change to my game. But now .... things are clicking back into place. So I'll commit to posting a 10 ball ghost video within the next week or so. And not one of those precious selected, lightening strikes videos where I look perfect. I'll show my flaws.
Game quality does not matter if it is longer race. like race to 15 or 20. Then it shows probably average play. Maybe you can put rough estimate how well you played. Like little better or worse than normal etc..
And 10 ball is better than 9-ball because you need to make more balls after break. Patterns get little more complicated then.
 
Game quality does not matter if it is longer race. like race to 15 or 20. Then it shows probably average play. Maybe you can put rough estimate how well you played. Like little better or worse than normal etc..
And 10 ball is better than 9-ball because you need to make more balls after break. Patterns get little more complicated then.
Gotcha.

I may even go back through those old ghost videos and see if pattern play errors jump out at me, being a few years removed from those. That would maybe indicate I do have a blind spot in this area.
 
To somewhat borrow your phrase:

This post has to be among the more beautifully written ones I've ever read on this forum. :)

It really is all about the joy that comes from stepping out and taking the journey.

Thanks for chiming in.
I sense we love pool for all the same reasons.
 
Tin Man, when you play 1-P do you carry an oil can just in case?

help me....please...




Jeff Livingston
 
OK, having just completed a 12 hour session yesterday and gearing up for a 3 day kicking off shortly I have new words. What I've already said is that I am not expert level at patterns/cue ball, I am in a class almost of my own. It sounds absurd to write but it is what it is. But what's amazing about pool training is there is so much more that goes into it than patterns and cue ball. The cooking example was the nuts. There is so much that goes into pool and it has to be blended together just so.

Yesterday when I was working with my student we were focused on some patterns and cue ball, for sure. We wanted to assemble certain shots certain ways to complete some of the runs that came up. But in order to be successful we had to iron out so many little gaps in his technique and his knowledge. I'm only going to pick one example (see diagram). He had a cut across the end rail from a half ball hit angle. The situation demanded a rolling cue ball with outside english to come straight towards the spot.

He was shooting this with slightly too much elevation, and he was using a center left. Now this can work, yet it's not optimal. The problem is the cue ball curves coming towards the one ball. Not only does it make the shot way more difficult to judge, but it means that you are approaching the one ball from a thinner angle making it harder to control the cue ball speed while still confidently making the shot.

To help him level out I had him go from straight left (9 o'clock on the cue ball) to high left (10:30). Why? Well, we don't need above center to get the cue ball rolling naturally. That happens automatically at this soft swing speed due to the table friction. That's the entire reason we're using a spin shot and not a stun shot (the stun requires more swing speed to ensure a sliding cue ball and this would send the cue ball too far up table). The only purpose of hitting the cue ball higher was this allowed a more level cue stick. This in turn minimized the swerve, which allowed him to shoot straighter with a hair more swing speed. He went from over-twisting and overcutting this ball and struggling with consistency to smoothing it in and making it routinely. (FYI, I have seen many people make another mistake with this, they try to use a 'drag shot' with outside to help make up for the fact they are hitting it uncomfortably soft, this just enhances the curve and makes it worse in my opinion. Maybe that makes sense from long distance but not here.)

This didn't happen once. This didn't happen twice. This happens all day long. And this happens continuously, hour after hour, day after day, with all of my students. There are perpetually multiple small nuances and adjustments that come up on all types of shots. Little ways to make the shot more consistently, control speed more consistently, control direction more consistently, and make the target zones bigger or with more gradual negative consequences for slight misses. I will stop at one example because the alternative would be to write a book.

My approach is simple. It's like learning to read. I have the alphabet of which shots I believe are the 95% shots we should be using to run tables (700 and under players are using 1-3 shots in the 75% range per rack, making consistency with run outs nearly impossible). Then I have a way of reading tables to understand how to compose these shots into run outs. This is simple but amazingly rich. We start with simple patterns (like learning 3 letter words). Then we go to more challenging layouts. Then we are running out ghost 9 ball racks with random layouts. Along the way I am filling in countless gaps in knowledge and technique that must be corrected to learn how to optimize each of these shots. And finally we are doing the same thing on safeties, kicks, breaks, jumps, mental game, goal setting, and everything else required to be pro level. We do this for 3 days straight, 24 hours on the table (which is often 30+), with this person staying at my house, taking meals together, and obsessing with pool the entire time. This isn't a lesson, it's a transformation. There's a reason my first student called it a 'poolgrimage', and my second said 'total pool immersion'.

Bottom line, if someone's production isn't at my level it's because I have pieces developed that person doesn't. The idea that they have developed all of the pieces but just need to practice them more is impossibly far fetched. For one I don't do anything all that special on the execution side. I'm not like Filler or Shaw where people shake their heads and say "I can't do that". I'm more in the style of Ralf Soquet where you can watch him for an hour and never see him do anything you can't do, but somehow he puts it together at an elite level. So it's not that I'm incredibly gifted with execution. And the second reason is that the amount of table time required to have learned and developed the understanding of the game I have will simply force anyone to become a competent player. Someone would need 25,000 hours of table time (and yes, watching thousands of matches, competing with pros, etc) to acquire my vision of the game, and if they had then they'd be able to execute as well as me. And yes, I hear the people snickering about how I admit I've put a ton of time in my game, and they are saying "See, you just need to put in hours, instruction alone won't get you there". What is it with you people who say that? Of course you have to put in the time, but you have to put in the time doing it right. It's not one or the other, it's both, and instruction allows you to get 3x more out of what you put in so you can get further with the limited resources of time and energy we all have.

No oil can. No heart. Just pool. This is Ames, mister.

1613646472723.png
 
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i havent read all the replies all the way thru
sorry for that
but there is a saying
"you dont know what you dont know"
also another set of eyes can see things that you might not
if you think that time with the " tin man" demetius jelatis will not help your game you are in denial and do not have a realistic appraisal of how you play or how much you know
how could you not learn from the expertise and experience of demetrius?
disclaimer
not talking about raw beginners
jmho
p.s.
my 3 days with demetius were definitely worth the money ... (y) :)
 
OK, having just completed a 12 hour session yesterday and gearing up for a 3 day kicking off shortly I have new words. What I've already said is that I am not expert level at patterns/cue ball, I am in a class almost of my own. It sounds absurd to write but it is what it is. But what's amazing about pool training is there is so much more that goes into it than patterns and cue ball. The cooking example was the nuts. There is so much that goes into pool and it has to be blended together just so.

Yesterday when I was working with my student we were focused on some patterns and cue ball, for sure. We wanted to assemble certain shots certain ways to complete some of the runs that came up. But in order to be successful we had to iron out so many little gaps in his technique and his knowledge. I'm only going to pick one example (see diagram). He had a cut across the end rail from a half ball hit angle. The situation demanded a rolling cue ball with outside english to come straight towards the spot.

He was shooting this with slightly too much elevation, and he was using a center left. Now this can work, yet it's not optimal. The problem is the cue ball curves coming towards the one ball. Not only does it make the shot way more difficult to judge, but it means that you are approaching the one ball from a thinner angle making it harder to control the cue ball speed while still confidently making the shot.

To help him level out I had him go from straight left (9 o'clock on the cue ball) to high left (10:30). Why? Well, we don't need above center to get the cue ball rolling naturally. That happens automatically at this soft swing speed due to the table friction. That's the entire reason we're using a spin shot and not a stun shot (the stun requires more swing speed to ensure a sliding cue ball and this would send the cue ball too far up table). The only purpose of hitting the cue ball higher was this allowed a more level cue stick. This in turn minimized the swerve, which allowed him to shoot straighter with a hair more swing speed. He went from over-twisting and overcutting this ball and struggling with consistency to smoothing it in and making it routinely. (FYI, I have seen many people make another mistake with this, they try to use a 'drag shot' with outside to help make up for the fact they are hitting it uncomfortably soft, this just enhances the curve and makes it worse in my opinion. Maybe that makes sense from long distance but not here.)

This didn't happen once. This didn't happen twice. This happens all day long. And this happens continuously, hour after hour, day after day, with all of my students. There are perpetually multiple small nuances and adjustments that come up on all types of shots. Little ways to make the shot more consistently, control speed more consistently, control direction more consistently, and make the target zones bigger or with more gradual negative consequences for slight misses. I will stop at one example because the alternative would be to write a book.

My approach is simple. It's like learning to read. I have the alphabet of which shots I believe are the 95% shots we should be using to run tables (700 and under players are using 1-3 shots in the 75% range per rack, making consistency with run outs nearly impossible). Then I have a way of reading tables to understand how to compose these shots into run outs. This is simple but amazingly rich. We start with simple patterns (like learning 3 letter words). Then we go to more challenging layouts. Then we are running out ghost 9 ball racks with random layouts. Along the way I am filling in countless gaps in knowledge and technique that must be corrected to learn how to optimize each of these shots. And finally we are doing the same thing on safeties, kicks, breaks, jumps, mental game, goal setting, and everything else required to be pro level. We do this for 3 days straight, 24 hours on the table (which is often 30+), with this person staying at my house, taking meals together, and obsessing with pool the entire time. This isn't a lesson, it's a transformation. There's a reason my first student called it a 'poolgrimage', and my second said 'total pool immersion'.

Bottom line, if someone's production isn't at my level it's because I have pieces developed that person doesn't. The idea that they have developed all of the pieces but just need to practice them more is impossibly far fetched. For one I don't do anything all that special on the execution side. I'm not like Filler or Shaw where people shake their heads and say "I can't do that". I'm more in the style of Ralf Soquet where you can watch him for an hour and never see him do anything you can't do, but somehow he puts it together at an elite level. So it's not that I'm incredibly gifted with execution. And the second reason is that the amount of table time required to have learned and developed the understanding of the game I have will simply force anyone to become a competent player. Someone would need 25,000 hours of table time (and yes, watching thousands of matches, competing with pros, etc) to acquire my vision of the game, and if they had then they'd be able to execute as well as me. And yes, I hear the people snickering about how I admit I've put a ton of time in my game, and they are saying "See, you just need to put in hours, instruction alone won't get you there". What is it with you people who say that? Of course you have to put in the time, but you have to put in the time doing it right. It's not one or the other, it's both, and instruction allows you to get 3x more out of what you put in so you can get further with the limited resources of time and energy we all have.

No oil can. No heart. Just pool. This is Ames, mister.

View attachment 585619
Okay - you're winning me over a bit. But I don't want to be accused of taking part in a deceptive marketing ploy here, so I refuse to be completely won over. I had a chance to get out last night and play on a tight 9 foot Diamond which doesn't happen much for me. It was pretty friendly play but there was enough at stake that we were playing seriously. My opponent was a 625 or so player, playing on his home turf. I spot him a few games in a race to 9 (and I like it). Anyway, I was a bit distracted mentally, actually by this thread but not really in a bad way. Due to this thread while playing, I was probably paying closer attention to what he was doing than what I was. I'm 100% convinced that this player would benefit tremendously from your camp and the example cited in your post reminds me of a shot I saw him do wrong 3 times during our play. He was playing a fairly easy shot near one of the corner pockets with a bit of an angle, having to hold the cue ball near the end rail for the next ball. So how'd he play it? He slow rolled this shot with high inside english and spun it over to the side rail. It didn't work very well. I think he only managed to get a reasonable shot on the next ball once. So he has a blind spot here where he doesn't understand that he can really spin this ball way more by playing low inside english. He could have easily held his cue ball on these shots. But by playing high english he's made these shots nearly impossible.

Anyway - do I have these blind spots? I'm sure I probably do. Do I have more of these blind spots than I have pocketing deficiencies? I don't know about that one. To be clear, I DO NOT doubt spending time with you would help my game. From the sounds of it, it would probably even help my life as I would walk away from a positive experience with a little more joy in my life.

I guess time will tell. Carry on with your happy customers.
 
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I think it’s easier to see mistakes made by our opponents than it is our own mistakes. A lot of players simply make things harder by playing certain shots the wrong way. Maybe I should say they play them in a manner where it is harder to execute them or harder to control the outcome. As BD said even a 625 player makes simple mistakes. However a 625 player plays well enough that if they keep things simple and play the shots in a way that they can execute at a high percentage they have a lot of room for improvement.

I know I have plenty of room for improvement and this is just my opinion. Take it for what it’s worth coming from a guy who can’t hit the end rail with the cue ball.
 
Yeah....my game went to crap for a while as I really didn't play/practice much from summer through fall. Then with covid shutting things down, I decided to make a pretty major change to my game. But now .... things are clicking back into place. So I'll commit to posting a 10 ball ghost video within the next week or so. And not one of those precious selected, lightening strikes videos where I look perfect. I'll show my flaws.
It takes time to make that video. I would appreciate watching it and listening to the critiques. Thanks in advance for sharing your video.
However in fairness to you, I think it would be appropriate for you to post the ghost 10 ball layouts individually so there is time for those critiquing to present their pattern before you show your shooting pattern. After a day or so when critiques are posted, you could post your runs then we could compare.
 
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Well I said I would do it, so here it is:



Feel free to critique as I'm not as prideful as some of you may think. I'm actually my own worst critic.

Rack #1:
Should have stun drawed off the 5 and back to the middle of the table. Rest of the rack was okay
1-0

Rack #2:
Under hit the first shot. Normally would draw back to side rail but 5 ball was in the way. That messed the whole rack up. Under hit the 6 a bit too but got out.
2-0

Rack #3:
Got funny on the 4 came up an inch or two short on the five. Settled for a combo and got lucky to make it.
3-0

Rack #4: Hit the 2 bad. Wanted to play above the 5. I then missed position on the 4 and missed the shot.
3-1

Rack #5: Decided to play for the bank on the 2 ball but didn't get there. Missed the half-hearted attempt at the carom. The bank was the only way I saw to get back down for the 3. Maybe there was better option.
3-2

Rack #6: Came up short on position on the 4 by a hair. Played the 5 how I wanted to but failed to hit it. Thought about playing for a bank on the 8 but decided to run in to it instead. Missed position and missed the shot.
3-3

Camera missed break shot. Guess it shuts off at 31:49 for some reason.
Rack #7: I rushed the shot on the 7 ball causing me to not follow the ball properly, getting me out of line. Slow down! The rest of the rack was fine.
4-3

Rack #8: Needed to stun into the carom but rolled it for some reason. Committed carom cardinal sin and looked at carom causing me to miss.
4-4

Rack #9: Played horrible shot on 2 ball. The rest was a mess too.
4-5

Rack #10: Looking back I think made a postional mistake on the 1st shot. I should have left more angle on the 2, and played back and forth to get on that tricky 3. I get hooked after playing rail first shot on the 3. Ghost sneaking away.
4-6

Rack #11: I think I got a little unlucky to get straight on the 2. Tried to spin into the top of the 10. Maybe should settled for a uptable shot on the 4 but didn't even look at it. Tried to shot my way out but should have missed the 5 but got straight in. Played for the bank, didn't even consider playing long shot on the 8. Over drew shape on the bank.
4-7

Rack #12: Not much of a shot. Hit the bank bad.
4-8

Rack #13: Over hit another ball. Speed was off the whole set. Total mess on the 5, followed by another bad shot on the 6. Probably plenty of poor decisions this rack.
4-9

Rack #14: Too many bridge shots. What's up with that? Over hit another ball but recovered.
5-9

Rack #15: Got jacked up the 3 and decided to stroke ball because of that and really should have missed that one but it slopped its way in. 6-10 combo that I'll count ;)
6-9

Rack #16: Poor shot on the 1 ball kept me out of line and another poor shot on the 5. What to do with the 6? I think the shot I went for was okay, maybe could have doubled the rail but don't remember looking at that even. So...
6-10

Rack #17: I purposely came back on the 5 to give me some angle to work with. Hit a bad stop shot on the 6 but got away with it. Messed with my bridge should have taken one final reset once I figured out what I was going to do but instead I just drill the ball. Made a tough 10 though.
7-10

Rack #18: I think I played the right pattern. Would like other's thoughts.
8-10

Rack #19: Thought I could sneak past the 10 but ended up on the other side of the ball...doh! Came up short on the 4 but made the thin cut although it wiped it's feet. Hit another bad shot on the 6 as I was trying to get straight in. Recovered.
9-10

Rack #20:
Can't even remember what I was doing on the 3? Maybe should have played towads the 10 ball.
9-11

I usually have my cue ball under better control on my own table. Lately it's been so dry that the table has been playing faster. I also only warmed up for a about 5 minutes before playing this set. I probably would have fared a bit better if I had kept going but the wife was waiting on me for a lunch date and I couldn't pass that up.

What did I learn? I do make mistakes and need to get back into the habit of recording some sessions so that I can see them during my reviews. My table isn't the most difficult either. The pockets are 4.5 but when it's this dry they play pretty easy.

Also, as I rewatched this I'm thinking I may need to finally reevaluate where my game is because maybe cue ball control to shot making ratio may finally be where I think it should be (on the potting side) and I may need to start focusing more on whitey.

Feel free to chime in.
 
Oh and I was pretty nervous at first when I hit record knowing that I opened my big mouth and agreed to post one of these. Haha. I didn't really settle down until about half way through. I'm a really nervous player when I'm competing. I've sort of learned to fight through it. Maybe posting more videos would be a good way to fight the nerves. In the past I've practiced in my cold basement without enough clothes on to actually be cold. This sort of simulates playing nervous. At least for me it does.
 
Nice BD! I also played longer 10-ball ghost set to 15. Gonna do same kinda review to that set too after i watch yours.
I was gonna play to 30 but (got really tired about focusing so much)like you I get little nervous when i am taking video too.
I think that is good thing though. That means you care about performance and outcome. It is then similar pressure when competing.

Anyways, gonna review your match tomorrow.
 
Okay. I made my review on video reaction.
Watched the match and did make critical commentary about BD´s ghost match while i saw it first time.
That way i had about same time to think patterns as he did.
I tried to be objective and constructive but some might take it as nitpicking.
It was actually quite fun think to do after all.
Link here:
It is hidden vid on my channel so only people who read this thread can find it.
BasementDweller, If you wanna it be removed just say so and i delete it.
 
I only watched the first episode but here's my quick thoughts if you're interested...

First off it's a little hard to tell most of the time if you're playing the intended pattern. You have said that you are extremely confident in your pattern play but struggle with the practical application. That, for me anyway, makes it tough to know if you are playing a pattern poorly or simply coming up off of where you wanted to be and are attempting to recover.

The only things that jumped out to me in patterns was the tendency to use long draw rather than utilize natural paths and following through shots. The BIH play on the 1 ball to the 2/9 combo is a great example. Could have very easily cut that 1 in and ran 2/3 rails to the bottom of the table. You got away with it, kinda, but following with rails would be much simplier and put less dependance on your stroke.

The other that jumped out was a shot from the 2 to the 3 in the 4th or 5th rack. You were unhappy as sooon as you hit it, so again I don't know if it was a pattern thing or shot quality. However, the shot there imo, was two rail back and forth to the 3 ball. Way easier and almost certain angle on the 3 to reach the 4. You end up bad on the 3 and missed the awkward 4 ball.

Coles notes on a short sample. I don't think your shot selection is in the realm of not improving with instruction.

Thanks for the vids
 
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