Shane Van Boening took the Billiard University (BU) Playing Ability Exams!

dr_dave

dr_dave

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Shane Van Boening recently took the Billiard University (BU) Playing-Ability Exams. Here are his videos:

Exam I - Fundamentals

Exam II - Skills

Here's how Shane scored:

F1:10 + F2:10 + F3:10 + F4:8 + F5:8 + F6:7 + F7:16 + F8:15 = 84
S1:10 + S2:15 + S3:14 + S4:14 + S5:7 + S6:4 + S7:1 + S8:3 + S9:5 + S10:4 = 77

BU Score = Exam I:84 + Exam II:77 = 161 (Doctorate of Pool)

If you want to try the exams and see how well you can do compared to Shane, everything you need is available for free on the BU website.

Enjoy, and good luck,
Dave

PS: If you try the exams, please post your scores (and videos if available) on the AZB BU sticky thread, as other AZB users have done.
 
Drop The Rock said:
I get the feeling Shane is going to try again...
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I think so too, especially Exam II. The Exam II video posted was his first attempt. I'm positive he can do much better on his next attempt.

The Exam I video was his second attempt. He didn't do nearly as well on his first attempt (71), and he wanted to try it again immediately. It was fun to see him turn up the intensity and focus.

Regards,
Dave
 
Drop The Rock said:
I get the feeling Shane is going to try again...
Click to expand...

I could definitely see him trying again and getting a higher score. I took about 3-4 years off and decided for the heck of it to go down and try it in the basement with my wife. I got a 129 and felt if I was actually playing a decent amount I could get into the 160s range (possibly big assumption but it doesn't seem too much of a stretch). Thanks for posting Dave, I shared this on my Facebook.

Matt
 
This is awesome.

But that moment when you realize Neil scored higher than Shane on the BU exam.

Neil is a world-beater, confirmed.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
This is awesome.

But that moment when you realize Neil scored higher than Shane on the BU exam.

Neil is a world-beater, confirmed.
Click to expand...
I know you are joking, but in case you (or others) aren't: Neil's score was the best he was able to accomplish with numerous attempts at the exams. Also, Neil was playing on a bar box (albeit much "tighter" than most bar boxes). The same applies to my high scores on my home table. It took a lot of hard work; although, it was time well spent because it helped me bring my game up a significant notch.

If Shane were to dedicate some practice time to the exams, which he probably will because he liked them, and if he were to attempt the exams multiple times each, I am sure he could post scores that very few people in the world could touch. However, I don't think even Shane is capable of a perfect score on the Doctorate version of Exam II ... although, I would love to see it.

FYI, I plan to create a BU Exam Challenge soon offering money prizes for top scores in various categories. I hope that will encourage people to show us what is really possible.

Regards,
Dave
 
dr_dave said:
I know you are joking, but in case you (or others) aren't: Neil's score was the best he was able to accomplish with numerous attempts at the exams. Also, Neil was playing on a bar box (albeit much "tighter" than most bar boxes). The same applies to my high scores on my home table. It took a lot of hard work; although, it was time well spent because it helped me bring my game up a significant notch.

If Shane were to dedicate some practice time to the exams, which he probably will because he liked them, and if he were to attempt the exams multiple times each, I am sure he could post scores that very few people in the world could touch. However, I don't think even Shane is capable of a perfect score on the Doctorate version of Exam II ... although, I would love to see it.

FYI, I plan to create a BU Exam Challenge soon offering money prizes for top scores in various categories. I hope that will encourage people to show us what is really possible.
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Also, maybe Neil is a little better player than some people might think. :eek:

Regards,
Dave
 
BRussell said:
Did you meet with him while he was at the Wyoming Open?
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Shane was in Fort Collins for a couple of days (staying with our local pool room owners) getting some practice in before heading up to Wyoming.

Mike Masey was also heading to Wyoming. Mike occasionally visits our pool hall in Fort Collins when he passes through Colorado. It was cool that Mike showed up right in the middle of Shane's BU Exam filming (Mike does a cameo appearance in the first video). Mike was very curious about the exams and watched for a while.

It is always a pleasure spending time with these guys and getting a close-up view of them playing.

Shane and Mike finished 1st and 2nd in the Saratoga 8-ball event. I'm convinced it was because of the BU Exam practice. :grin-square:

Regards,
Dave
 
Spimp13 said:
I could definitely see him trying again and getting a higher score. I took about 3-4 years off and decided for the heck of it to go down and try it in the basement with my wife. I got a 129 and felt if I was actually playing a decent amount I could get into the 160s range (possibly big assumption but it doesn't seem too much of a stretch). Thanks for posting Dave, I shared this on my Facebook.
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Matt,

Please consider giving it another go and posting new scores (and videos if possible) on the AZB BU sticky thread.

I plan to also give the exams another serious go in the near future.

Catch you later,
Dave
 
It's great to watch a Champion being awarded his Doctorate.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
 
Thank you, Dr. Dave, for all you do for Billiards Education.

I figured you were are a great asset to the sport after I picked up your billiards instructional "textbook" when it was released back in 2004; but your continued contributions are deserving of everyone's praise.
 
GeoEnvi said:
Thank you, Dr. Dave, for all you do for Billiards Education.

I figured you were are a great asset to the sport after I picked up your billiards instructional "textbook" when it was released back in 2004; but your continued contributions are deserving of everyone's praise.
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Thank you for your kind message. I appreciate it.

Best regards,
Dave
 
Very enjoyable...A tip of my hat to Dr. Dave for all he does on his posts here. Dr. Dave, you'll never know how many people you have helped improve their game..
 
dr_dave said:
I know you are joking, but in case you (or others) aren't: Neil's score was the best he was able to accomplish with numerous attempts at the exams. Also, Neil was playing on a bar box (albeit much "tighter" than most bar boxes). The same applies to my high scores on my home table. It took a lot of hard work; although, it was time well spent because it helped me bring my game up a significant notch.

If Shane were to dedicate some practice time to the exams, which he probably will because he liked them, and if he were to attempt the exams multiple times each, I am sure he could post scores that very few people in the world could touch. However, I don't think even Shane is capable of a perfect score on the Doctorate version of Exam II ... although, I would love to see it.

FYI, I plan to create a BU Exam Challenge soon offering money prizes for top scores in various categories. I hope that will encourage people to show us what is really possible.

Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...

It seems like there are two ways to think about the tests: One is a natural "pop quiz" where you don't really practice them and just rely on your ability to score as well as you can. In testing they call that an aptitude test, which is (supposedly) like the SAT or GRE, or an IQ test. This seems like it's how Shane was tested here.

The other way to treat these tests is to practice the skills, learn and improve, and then take the test with full knowledge of all the drills. In testing that's more like an achievement test, like a final exam for a class.

Shane may not get the highest possible score or beat everyone else by as much as expected given his ability, but he's taking it in a different way than probably most of the other scores that are listed.
 
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