Style of the greatest players?

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ricky9ball

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You cannot fail to see if you watch old pool videos, as I do. That many of the greatest players of all time, rarely get fully down on their shots. The older players that names are often spoken in hushed tones, have their heads way off the cue, but still play at the highest level. So does it really matter, or is it what your most use to and how you have been taught? Ricky9ball.
 
ricky9ball said:
You cannot fail to see if you watch old pool videos, as I do. That many of the greatest players of all time, rarely get fully down on their shots. The older players that names are often spoken in hushed tones, have their heads way off the cue, but still play at the highest level. So does it really matter, or is it what your most use to and how you have been taught? Ricky9ball.
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I believe that there are natural players that can wing a lot of it, but if they never learn the fundamentals, their game will not be complete. If they realize the shots they have to use the fundamentals they will. I believe the best know their odds and make a decision based on them. Also, they play safe, an idiot like me, very rarely sees a safe and when I do I screw it up. played two safes Monday both led to opponents run outs. Lol
 
ricky9ball said:
You cannot fail to see if you watch old pool videos, as I do. That many of the greatest players of all time, rarely get fully down on their shots. The older players that names are often spoken in hushed tones, have their heads way off the cue, but still play at the highest level. So does it really matter, or is it what your most use to and how you have been taught? Ricky9ball.
Click to expand...

As pool moved away from 14.1 to games requiring longer shots, snooker-like stances became more popular. Perhaps, like in other sports, teachers learned more about mechanics and physiology as time went on. Hoppe's books are a good read on how he viewed stroke fundamentals during his era.

Most here will tell you (accurately in my opinion) that your game will improve by working with a competent instructor as fundamentals do matter.
 
When I started learning in earnest, I was all about that Mosconi pamphlet. That stand up stroke is much easier for an untrained arm to get the hang of. It wasn't long though, before I got tired of hitting the cueball bad and slowly grew into the <on the stick> approach. The straight pool guys of yore stood above those semi open racks because that was the best way to see those shots in real time. This carried through in the easy position ethic and maximizing close and unmissable shots where that stand up stroke was perfect. I never saw those guys play but you see pictures of Mosconi way down on the stick, Lassiter way down on the stick... I guess it depended on what they were shooting
 
ricky9ball said:
You cannot fail to see if you watch old pool videos, as I do. That many of the greatest players of all time, rarely get fully down on their shots. The older players that names are often spoken in hushed tones, have their heads way off the cue, but still play at the highest level. So does it really matter, or is it what your most use to and how you have been taught? Ricky9ball.
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Agreed. I question whether chin on cue is a true fundamental. For most players, a painful back and neck is not worth the effort.
 
ricky9ball said:
You cannot fail to see if you watch old pool videos, as I do. That many of the greatest players of all time, rarely get fully down on their shots. The older players that names are often spoken in hushed tones, have their heads way off the cue, but still play at the highest level. So does it really matter, or is it what your most use to and how you have been taught? Ricky9ball.
Click to expand...
If the game they played the most emphasized shotmaking, the head naturally went down; if the game they played the most emphasized angles, the head naturally stayed high. As the main game has gone from 14.1 to 9-ball, the heads are going down. Compare the current snooker players (emphasis on shotmaking) to 3C players (emphasis on angles).
 
My favorite players in history did what they felt they should do for each shot.
Walter Lindrum was chin on cue, standing almost straight up, and everything in between.
…..some future players will bring those concepts back again.
…trying to have the same style for every shot is suspiciously like painting by numbers.

Mind you, I’m probably influenced by golf, where you’re changing stances and clubs all the time.
 
In 40yrs i've seen upright, buried-chin, sidearm, goofy foot, goofy eye'd and just about every other way the game can be played. They all found a way to make it work. Sigel's spread-eagle stance always looked uncomfortable as shit to me but that cat shot as straight as anyone i've ever seen. Whatever works folks.
 
Island Drive said:
Shooter's accuracy will maximize, when sighting ''down the barrel''.
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You can’t sight ‘down the barrel’….the rest of your face is below your eyes.
and how does ’near’ rifle sight aiming help when you’re spinning whitey?
Many snooker players say ‘chin on cue’ and ‘cue on chest’ is to make their stance solid.
 
kling&allen said:
As pool moved away from 14.1 to games requiring longer shots, snooker-like stances became more popular. Perhaps, like in other sports, teachers learned more about mechanics and physiology as time went on. Hoppe's books are a good read on how he viewed stroke fundamentals during his era.

Most here will tell you (accurately in my opinion) that your game will improve by working with a competent instructor as fundamentals do matter.
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Reading Hoppe's book caused a lot of confusion for me as a teenager trying to learn good fundamentals. The pictures of him with bridge hand off the table and sidearm stroke created a lot of cognitive dissonance since I already knew that no one else recommended those practices. To be fair, Hoppe explained in the text that his own style resulted from practicing as a child when he couldn't reach the table and he didn't necessarily suggest everyone emulate him.

An even older book, Daly's Billiard Book, focused on balkline but had a fantastic section on stance that became my pre-shot routine before I ever heard that term used.
 
There's a lot going on in this thread. Power shots (break shots, draw shots and force follows) cannot be accomplished by simply sighting by looking down the rifle. You have to get more upright to accomplish these strokes. For simple pocketing of the ball you have to be down low. Players like the two Willie's started very young and thus had to have a side arm stroke just to address the cue ball with some acumen.
 
As with most things in life, there are no absolutes.

The best lesson comes from the game of Golf, "The scorecard doesn't ask how, just how many."

Another man's game can't help you when you're out the next month's rent. Be yourself! Everybody else is already taken.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I think the main advantage of chin on cue is that the eyes are in the same location relative to the stick on every shot.
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Never thought of that…I use backhand english so that wouldn’t concern me as much.
Hanging around Jimmy Moore made me more comfortable with my approach.
 
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garczar said:
In 40yrs i've seen upright, buried-chin, sidearm, goofy foot, goofy eye'd and just about every other way the game can be played. They all found a way to make it work. Sigel's spread-eagle stance always looked uncomfortable as shit to me but that cat shot as straight as anyone i've ever seen. Whatever works folks.
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There is so much about this game/sport that is much like golf, not all of the golf greats had a perfect swing either, I saw a guy breaking down Efren's stroke, it showed he never stopped the cue during his warm up strokes and always used one extra practice stroke before hitting the cue ball, Shane Von Boeing has a very deliberate pause before hitting the cue ball, there isn't right or wrong but what is right for you, experiment and see what works best for you, if you are running racks you are doing something right
 
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