Shoot a Million Balls? Give me a break.

as far as hitting the most balls nobody can beat what old arizona lee used to do.

he would lose most all his cash playing someone 9 ball and then practice for the next amount of hours till his money ran out or the room closed.

and he always played the same just a bit lower than a weak shortstop.
 
Don't wish to argue here, but I've known a few players the purists would call bums for using the whole pocket and cheating them regularly in order to leave with the cash. Thot never occurred to them not to.
My standards must have fallen when I wasn't playing 14:1 regularly and hit the road, If I had any to begin with??😉
The standard I held myself to was to win. Period. Use the whole green, pitch, court, field, board, any and all of it.

Anybody trying to hit center pocket all the time is taking away over half the possibilities on the table. I like to brush the long rail on the way to the corner, rattle twice, and fall. "You almost missed!" Damned hard for the other player to not drag out the money for "one more game" when if things had been slightly different they would have won.

Better to be lucky than to be good! (and hitting a million balls helps you get very lucky!)grin

Hu
 
A Pro told me he bet that he has missed 100K more shots than I have.

I first picked up a cue in 1973.

My table time has been strong for long periods and also periods of weakness over the years.

These days I'm playing more than the average, but I'm running out of time to learn.
Just too old for ambition to be great.

Just working on knowing more and maybe getting better along the way.
Maybe

I don't care a whip about winning or losing.

Just want to learn more.
 
you learn most form your own misses. like almost all players even the pros when they miss most times it is from undercutting the shot.

part might be from throw or skid or just the way you see the shot as we all unconsciously look at the center of the cue ball.

and second coming up short on position when going past gives you more leeway in your chances of being okay.
 
I think no one had a faster or as fast a gear paired with the precision that Earl had...regarding Buddy, sure he was more of a deliberate player but the OP said 30 seconds ''at best'' in general which just is not true.
30 seconds per shot is reasonable is if you are learning and focusing to remedy errors and perfect your routine.
 
30 seconds per shot is reasonable is if you are learning and focusing to remedy errors and perfect your routine.
But you said ''at best'' not for beginners and thats what you calculated your numbers on.A beginner will not stay a beginner very long, so
your numbers cannot be correct.

And I just watched a bit of Buddy, a deliberate player, he shots at 7-16 seconds per shot, timed from when his bridge hand touches the table, so nowhere near 30.
 
Anybody trying to hit center pocket all the time is taking away over half the possibilities on the table. I like to brush the long rail on the way to the corner, rattle twice, and fall. "You almost missed!" Damned hard for the other player to not drag out the money for "one more game" when if things had been slightly different they would have won.

Better to be lucky than to be good! (and hitting a million balls helps you get very lucky!)grin

Hu
Long before Efren, when I got "lucky" and made a combo or billiard on the nine I would always act like I got lucky.
 
A Pro told me he bet that he has missed 100K more shots than I have.

I first picked up a cue in 1973.

My table time has been strong for long periods and also periods of weakness over the years.

These days I'm playing more than the average, but I'm running out of time to learn.
Just too old for ambition to be great.

Just working on knowing more and maybe getting better along the way.
Maybe

I don't care a whip about winning or losing.

Just want to learn more.
Yep....
I've now gotten back my proper walkup & cueing, speed control is always in play :).
But quite often now I still hit the shot/shape/speed dead perfect.... that's the fix I enjoy with this game.
 
But you said ''at best'' not for beginners and thats what you calculated your numbers on.A beginner will not stay a beginner very long, so
your numbers cannot be correct.

And I just watched a bit of Buddy, a deliberate player, he shots at 7-16 seconds per shot, timed from when his bridge hand touches the table, so nowhere near 30.
I wasn't trying to launch Starship. I just wanted to frame the proposition. When you shoot a million balls you take the time necessary to shoot a million balls. The time you take includes figuring out your next shot, walking around the table, etc. 30 seconds is quite reasonable. T-minus 30 seconds and counting. 29, 28, 27,...

Let me add: standards, once again. Shooting for the center of the pocket develops an accurate aim. So when you can make the pocket center whenever you want to, you then have the ability to cheat the pocket whenever you want to. It is wise to acquire this ability. Mike Sigel consistently hits pocket center. I recommend emulating him unless your goal is intentionally striving for a lower standard. But hey. Go figure.
 
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Better practice is to isolate the errors, faults, and flaws, and starting on that end, work the shit out like it's the work it is.
I'd sure like to. What do you mean: "work the shit out like it's the work it is." You mean hit a million balls?

Maybe someone else might also like to offer an explanation?
 
I wasn't trying to launch Starship. I just wanted to frame the proposition. When you shoot a million balls you take the time necessary to shoot a million balls. The time you take includes figuring out your next shot, walking around the table, etc. 30 seconds is quite reasonable. T-minus 30 seconds and counting. 29, 28, 27,...

Let me add: standards, once again. Shooting for the center of the pocket develops an accurate aim. So when you can make the pocket center whenever you want to, you then have the ability to cheat the pocket whenever you want to. It is wise to acquire this ability. Mike Sigel consistently hits pocket center. I recommend emulating him unless your goal is intentionally striving for a lower standard. But hey. Go figure.
Sigel is an alltime great, no doubt but not someone I would recommend imitating, his stance, a bit jerky warm up strokes, cue fencing is not something a beginner necessarily would benefit from.I'd take Buddy or Mizerak over him as far as fundamentals are concerened.
 
The book by Malcolm Gladwell - “Outliers” suggests that it takes on average about 10,000 hours of good practice to become world class at something. So you are right on track here.
that book and that 10000 number almost 2 decades ago was like gospel. But it is passe no longer relevant. Gladwell was being simplistic trying to quantify give easy answer to something complex to sell books. :LOL:Apparently he misunderstood and oversimplified the research
 
that book and that 10000 number almost 2 decades ago was like gospel. But it is passe no longer relevant. Gladwell was being simplistic trying to quantify give easy answer to something complex to sell books. :LOL:Apparently he misunderstood and oversimplified the research
Yeah. True. But it is an interesting reference point when someone does the math.
 
Anybody trying to hit center pocket all the time is taking away over half the possibilities on the table. I like to brush the long rail on the way to the corner, rattle twice, and fall. "You almost missed!" Damned hard for the other player to not drag out the money for "one more game" when if things had been slightly different they would have won.

Better to be lucky than to be good! (and hitting a million balls helps you get very lucky!)grin

Hu
My father's oft quoted line, "Rather be lucky than good any day!!"
Heard it at least once or twice while watching him weave his craft.
Intentional misses and rattling pockets become second nature in those places. Important part of the players game. Hu is among one of the best at it still alive today.
I call Shotgun!!!
 
I wasn't trying to launch Starship. I just wanted to frame the proposition. When you shoot a million balls you take the time necessary to shoot a million balls. The time you take includes figuring out your next shot, walking around the table, etc. 30 seconds is quite reasonable. T-minus 30 seconds and counting. 29, 28, 27,...

Let me add: standards, once again. Shooting for the center of the pocket develops an accurate aim. So when you can make the pocket center whenever you want to, you then have the ability to cheat the pocket whenever you want to. It is wise to acquire this ability. Mike Sigel consistently hits pocket center. I recommend emulating him unless your goal is intentionally striving for a lower standard. But hey. Go figure.
I agree somewhat. You have to be able to hit center or you'll never learn how to cheat. All that stuff normally comes after a player has reached a certain level of play and is confident enough to venture beyond that. I'm not sure what standards has to do with it.
 
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