The most naturally talented pool players that you have ever known?

J

justinb386

Banned
I am curious to hear some stories about the most talented players that you have ever known.

Players who got really good (like to a consistent A level) really quick (like within 6 months after the 1st time that they ever picked up a cue).

I met this pretty young player when I was living in Lexington KY (who was in his early 20's I am guessing), and he played really strong, and really consistent.

I asked him how long he had been playing, and he told me "about 6 months".

That just really shocked me, because I considered myself to be a naturally talented player (started playing when I was 14, and I got pretty good pretty fast, but not within 6 months).

It took me a couple of years to get to a pretty consistent A level, but that was just on my home pool room tables (which were 8 foot valleys, with pretty easy pockets).

I am also curious about players that you guys have known over the years that had almost no natural talent at all, but really loved the game, and really worked hard over years of a lot of practice (like 8 hours every night), and eventually got pretty good.

Any players like that that ever got to a very high skill level?

An old friend of mine was like that, and eventually he became a pretty decent B player (after what seemed like 1,000's of hours of drills and practice).

He would come in to the pool room every night, and shoot by himself for like 6-8 hours (shooting drills, and practicing shots that he was not good at).

It took him years, but he slowly got better and better.

Anyways, I would just like to hear some good stories about very naturally talented players, and other good players (that had practically no natural talent at all) that worked their way up (in skill level) slowly, and eventually became very good (maybe even solid A players).
 
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Allen Hopkins

I believe he ran his first 100 around the same age when GI Joes and He-Man were my thing.
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious to hear some stories about the most talented players that you have ever known.

Players who got really good (like to a consistent A level) really quick (like within 6 months after the 1st time that they ever picked up a cue).

I met this pretty young player when I was living in Lexington KY (who was in his early 20's I am guessing), and he played really strong, and really consistent.

I asked him how long he had been playing, and he told me "about 6 months".

That just really shocked me, because I considered myself to be a naturally talented player (started playing when I was 14, and I got pretty good pretty fast, but not within 6 months).

It took me a couple of years to get to a pretty consistent A level, but that was just on my home pool room tables (which were 8 foot valleys, with pretty easy pockets).

I am also curious about players that you guys have known over the years that had almost no natural talent at all, but really loved the game, and really worked hard over years of a lot of practice (like 8 hours every night), and eventually got pretty good.

Any players like that that ever got to a very high skill level?

An old friend of mine was like that, and eventually he became a pretty decent B player (after what seemed like 1,000's of hours of drills and practice).

He would come in to the pool room every night, and shoot by himself for like 6-8 hours (shooting drills, and practicing shots that he was not good at).

It took him years, but he slowly got better and better.

Anyways, I would just like to hear some good stories about very naturally talented players, and other good players (that had practically no natural talent at all) that worked their way up (in skill level) slowly.
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In the modern era, SVB and Jayson Shaw are natural talent's IMO. that being said i know they work hard on thier game's but i trully think they have a natural talent towards it.

-Steve
 
stevekur1 said:
In the modern era, SVB and Jayson Shaw are natural talent's IMO. that being said i know they work hard on thier game's but i trully think they have a natural talent towards it.

-Steve
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Both of those guys have been playing since they were like 6, so for this to be true, they would have had to be playing like a B at 6.5 or 7.

I think he was asking who picked up a cue and 6 months later was a "good" player. Not so much who has the most talent overall.


There was one college kid I played in a tournament who was decent compared to some there, he was about a C and knew how to move the cueball and play position, just maybe did not execute it all the time. He said he was only playing for a few months, I would have guessed a year.
 
I've heard this from countless tv commentators over the years and imo it's hard to disagree.......Earl
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious to hear some stories about the most talented players that you have ever known.

Players who got really good (like to a consistent A level) really quick (like within 6 months after the 1st time that they ever picked up a cue).

I met this pretty young player when I was living in Lexington KY (who was in his early 20's I am guessing), and he played really strong, and really consistent.

I asked him how long he had been playing, and he told me "about 6 months".

That just really shocked me, because I considered myself to be a naturally talented player (started playing when I was 14, and I got pretty good pretty fast, but not within 6 months).

It took me a couple of years to get to a pretty consistent A level, but that was just on my home pool room tables (which were 8 foot valleys, with pretty easy pockets).

I am also curious about players that you guys have known over the years that had almost no natural talent at all, but really loved the game, and really worked hard over years of a lot of practice (like 8 hours every night), and eventually got pretty good.

Any players like that that ever got to a very high skill level?

An old friend of mine was like that, and eventually he became a pretty decent B player (after what seemed like 1,000's of hours of drills and practice).

He would come in to the pool room every night, and shoot by himself for like 6-8 hours (shooting drills, and practicing shots that he was not good at).

It took him years, but he slowly got better and better.

Anyways, I would just like to hear some good stories about very naturally talented players, and other good players (that had practically no natural talent at all) that worked their way up (in skill level) slowly, and eventually became very good (maybe even solid A players).
Click to expand...
Top of my list was Mike Carella, Long dead. When he was young he seemed to get better as you watched. He once played Ronnie Allen one pocket with weight. By like the third session of play Ronnie had to change the game.

Mike was learning from him as they played and began doing things he saw Ronnie but better. He played every game on the table at a high speed including 3-C Billiards and Golf on the 6 x 12 snooker table.

More currently I would say Dennis Hatch. Unbelievable talent. Even as a young kid, put a cue in his hands and he could play. He is another that seemed to get better right in front of your eyes.
 
Changed playing hands mid career

Cecil Tugwell - Was a champion reight handed, changed playing hands mid career and became a champion left handed, now how strong is that!!
 
Earl for sure and again, Leonard 'Bugs' Rucker! Here's a man that throughout his life NEVER had his own cue! Played multi-thousand dollar pool matches with a borrowed or cue from the rack! And was in the TOP 3 1hole players in his prime and one of the TOP 2 bankers FOR the MONEY of ALL time!

Can you imagine spotting TOP players, 'playing off the rack!' I think that pretty sporty!
 
macguy said:
Top of my list was Mike Carella, Long dead. When he was young he seemed to get better as you watched. He once played Ronnie Allen one pocket with weight. By like the third session of play Ronnie had to change the game.

Mike was learning from him as they played and began doing things he saw Ronnie but better. He played every game on the table at a high speed including 3-C Billiards and Golf on the 6 x 12 snooker table.

More currently I would say Dennis Hatch. Unbelievable talent. Even as a young kid, put a cue in his hands and he could play. He is another that seemed to get better right in front of your eyes.
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Imo DH played better in his early 20s late teens than he does now . He was fearless in 1994 and was pulling off jump draws like they were hangers. Scary player back then although he's still great but the 1st two times I seen Dennis play I was sure he was getting ready to change pro pool.
 
macguy said:
Top of my list was Mike Carella, Long dead. When he was young he seemed to get better as you watched. He once played Ronnie Allen one pocket with weight. By like the third session of play Ronnie had to change the game.

Mike was learning from him as they played and began doing things he saw Ronnie but better. He played every game on the table at a high speed including 3-C Billiards and Golf on the 6 x 12 snooker table.

More currently I would say Dennis Hatch. Unbelievable talent. Even as a young kid, put a cue in his hands and he could play. He is another that seemed to get better right in front of your eyes.
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I hate to disagree with you Mac, but, MC couldn't beat a C player in 3 Cushion! In Detroit I gave players like him, Billy I, Mike Segal and Vernon Elliott, 12 and the break on 25, none of them EVER got to the finish line! Just the facts, that's all!

I even played Mike once at the 'Congress' Bowl in North Miami once, even, he didn't know me then.
 
John Schmidt. He didn't even start playing pool until he was 20 or so I believe.

Doug Young. Ray Hanson says that Doug started running over people from basically the first day he picked up a cue.
 
Here we go again with this naturally talented players.

The quickest learned player I've seen was Chris Rose. He was playing low A level within 6-8 months.

He was talented, but he received proper instruction from the first time he really picked up a cue. He was 21 before ever really playing, so it wasn't young age either.

I hate that natural talent thing. If anyone has EVER seen someone become a top level player without receiving proper instruction/coaching, I would love to hear about it. I've never seen it.

Jaden
 
Back in the day,the late Tito Keanu was spotting solid runout bar table players within a year,and within 3 he was supposedly making a living playing the 10 ball ghost on 9 footers in Tulsa,Ok.

Gotta say Skylar is on up there as well. Tommy D.
 
Jack Briet, "Jersey Red", now deceased but a terror in the late 50's and 60's. I saw him play when I was a teenager. The guy could talk nonstop and shoot at the same time. He was a tremendous one- pocket player, 9 ball and also was player of the year in 1963.

We became reacquainted in the 90's when I co-owned a pool room in Alvin, Texas. Red was living in Pasadena, Tx., and still playing in the Houston area. Certainly, due to age, his skills had declined, but he was capable of "flashbacks" and he helped mentor Jeremy Jones in one-pocket.

He told me that Eddie Taylor was the greatest banker he ever saw and a Texas player nicknamed "Cannonball" was number 2, in his opinion.
 
I go waaaaay back to the late 1940's, but I will fast-forward to the 60's and beyond.

"San Jose Dick" McMoran was a joy to watch. We never matched up,
as I was mainly a 14.1 player and at the top of my game.

Rafael Martinez is to a Cue as Itzhak Perlman is to a Violin Bow. It's
always a pleasure to watch him "dance" the CB around the table as
if he were a contestant in a Waltz Competition.

Tony Watson comes to mind as being a "Natural" player. I haven't
had the pleasure of watching him in action in many years, but I'm
confident he still plays at a high level (when he puts his mind to it).

Corey Deuel is an All-Around Natural Pool Player. I am still in awe
of his stellar performance in the U.S. Snooker Championship and
have admired him since his early days.
 
Jaden said:
If anyone has EVER seen someone become a top level player without receiving proper instruction/coaching, I would love to hear about it. I've never seen it.
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Depends on what you mean by "receiving proper instruction/coaching".

I would guess many of the top Filipinos simply learned through observation, as opposed to someone actually formally instructing/coaching them.
 
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