As a father of two young kids who just bought my first table, I am interested how he became a champion. What steps were taken for him to achieve this goal? I would like to share with my children the love of this game when they are ready. How often does he play and how often is that play in a competition setting? Are you his only coach?
I am an APA 6 and my kids are 3 and newborn so I have time for all 3 of us to improve. My 3 year old already shows interest in the game at my parents house so I want to keep that fire burning. I think pool is such a great thing to share with your kids. I know my dad and I used to have a blast on his table growing up.
Wow, nice questions.
It really started with the fact that I play (as is probably the case with all good players, they tended to learn from their parents and picked up the love of the game from them). At about 8 he wanted to go play with me, so I got a cheap kid cue for him and luckily the room I was playing in was all ages, no booze. He just went from there with his interest in the game. While I was his major teacher as to the right way to play (stance, how to hold the cue, how to develop a good stroke, aiming, playing position), the players he played with in the pool room all contributed to continuing his interest in the game. They treated him like a player, no-one made him feel like he was bad, even when he was hehe. Watching many many pool videos together also helped, he would come in for about 15-30 minutes and sit with me watching Reyes, Strickland, Pagulayan, SVB, and others. He was also allowed to join the league there, and he actually won the last league championship on the day that room closed, he was probably 10 or 11 then, and a low C player back then.
When that room closed a few years ago, I started looking for another room he can play with and we found a Jr APA program ran by Roy Pastor nearby. I got him signed up, and he started playing there, I also took him around local tournaments, including in the last year or so to Snookers where the top players play, so he got to see Mike Dechaine and other top area players in person as well as pick up things from more and more competition. The league changed to the USAPL one a while ago, but the Jr program stayed the same and he kept playing in that, including getting an invitation to the 2012 Jr National tournament even though last year he did not qualify, because of his dedication to playing and learning and trying to get better. This year as you read, he not only qualified in the qualifier tournament, but a few weeks after that won the State Championship.
While this may sound a bit egotistical, I think his ability and love for the game partially came from the fact that I often brought him to tournaments to play and watch as well as made sure he had fun playing, as well as ensuring he had a good pool of players to learn from, not just me, and that he learned the "right" way to play. And he naturally loved to play as well, he'd rather play pool than do just about anything else.
We only play 2 times a week, maybe 3, because we don't have a table at home, it's mainly the league I play in with him on Wed, and his Jr league on Sunday, with maybe an extra day of practice every 2-3 weeks. I am actually hoping we will be able to get a table for the house because he is pretty good with only playing a few times a week, I'm sure he can only get better if he can play 3-4-5 days a week even for an hour.
Us playing together and driving to tournaments has really made our family bond stronger, his playing is a pretty big part of our family life, I think for the better.
& you too!