THE PSYCHE OF A POOL PLAYER
Most everyone in the professional world of sports has a trainer. That doesn?t mean that the average barroom pool player needs to go on a diet or eat all the salads or the right type of nutrition, although that may be true, that?s not what I?m talking about. You don?t have to go out and run a couple of miles everyday because you?ll get your exercise going around the table. A trainer is someone who will improve a professional or semi-pro athlete?s game. A pool instructor is someone who can improve your game.
In the game of billiards or pool, whether it is played in a bar, on a circuit, in tournaments, leagues or around the world, most of the players that I know have never taken a lesson. Myself, I?ve only taken one and I regret that because I learned so much from that lesson. I regret not taking it earlier in my game.
These instructors have taken many hours of training to pick out various people?s, I don?t really want to say "flaws", but actually it is. Whether you are stroking, how you?re hitting the ball; how you?re standing; how you?re positioned; how you?re holding the stick; whether you follow through; whether you stand up; whether you poke, not stroke. There are so many variations on what you can do wrong and I?ve done most of them if not all.
In my travels, I?ve been asked many times, "Where can I go to find a good instructor, who can teach me how to make my game improve? How can I learn to do trick shots? How can I learn to break? I want to know what I?m doing wrong." That?s encouraging. There are some people out there that realize that no matter how often they practice, if you don?t practice correctly, you?re not going to improve. Or if you practice the same flaws in your game, over and over again, you?re not going to improve either. Your game may be erratic, it may be spontaneous, and that?s the reason you need to get back to basics. You need to learn what you?re doing wrong in order to move on and improve your game consistency. I would guess probably 90% of the average players has learned as much about shooting the cue ball, applying the english, the diamond system and just how in general to shoot the ball, but he or she is still inconsistent with their game. Finding the flows in your game from a trained professional is in my opinion the best way to go because they will have you do different drills, different exercises that you can do in order to improve your game. If you don?t know of an instructor ask your friends, ask your league operators, go into a pool hall and ask whoever is working there if somebody can teach you how to improve your game to become more consistent. Then let me know. You can e-mail me at otbnews@aol.com I?d like to know what you think after you?ve taken some lessons.
Some lessons can be a little bit expensive but find out what you are going to get for the lesson it may also be less costly as a group. Maybe you need more than one instructor to teach you different things or you need to move to another instructor so you can learn different techniques. Everybody is different so if you want to improve your game - don?t go out there and buy that $1,000 stick. Invest in yourself and find an instructor that can teach you how to improve your game. Then you can invest in that cue.
Most everyone in the professional world of sports has a trainer. That doesn?t mean that the average barroom pool player needs to go on a diet or eat all the salads or the right type of nutrition, although that may be true, that?s not what I?m talking about. You don?t have to go out and run a couple of miles everyday because you?ll get your exercise going around the table. A trainer is someone who will improve a professional or semi-pro athlete?s game. A pool instructor is someone who can improve your game.
In the game of billiards or pool, whether it is played in a bar, on a circuit, in tournaments, leagues or around the world, most of the players that I know have never taken a lesson. Myself, I?ve only taken one and I regret that because I learned so much from that lesson. I regret not taking it earlier in my game.
These instructors have taken many hours of training to pick out various people?s, I don?t really want to say "flaws", but actually it is. Whether you are stroking, how you?re hitting the ball; how you?re standing; how you?re positioned; how you?re holding the stick; whether you follow through; whether you stand up; whether you poke, not stroke. There are so many variations on what you can do wrong and I?ve done most of them if not all.
In my travels, I?ve been asked many times, "Where can I go to find a good instructor, who can teach me how to make my game improve? How can I learn to do trick shots? How can I learn to break? I want to know what I?m doing wrong." That?s encouraging. There are some people out there that realize that no matter how often they practice, if you don?t practice correctly, you?re not going to improve. Or if you practice the same flaws in your game, over and over again, you?re not going to improve either. Your game may be erratic, it may be spontaneous, and that?s the reason you need to get back to basics. You need to learn what you?re doing wrong in order to move on and improve your game consistency. I would guess probably 90% of the average players has learned as much about shooting the cue ball, applying the english, the diamond system and just how in general to shoot the ball, but he or she is still inconsistent with their game. Finding the flows in your game from a trained professional is in my opinion the best way to go because they will have you do different drills, different exercises that you can do in order to improve your game. If you don?t know of an instructor ask your friends, ask your league operators, go into a pool hall and ask whoever is working there if somebody can teach you how to improve your game to become more consistent. Then let me know. You can e-mail me at otbnews@aol.com I?d like to know what you think after you?ve taken some lessons.
Some lessons can be a little bit expensive but find out what you are going to get for the lesson it may also be less costly as a group. Maybe you need more than one instructor to teach you different things or you need to move to another instructor so you can learn different techniques. Everybody is different so if you want to improve your game - don?t go out there and buy that $1,000 stick. Invest in yourself and find an instructor that can teach you how to improve your game. Then you can invest in that cue.