Congratulations, SJD. You have discovered the keys to the kingdom, craftily hidden in my post. Well done.
The secret to being great at pool
- Thread starter mullyman
- Start date
Congratulations, SJD. You have discovered the keys to the kingdom, craftily hidden in my post. Well done.
competition is something I enjoy but it isn't "fun"
A great point. I enjoy competition, we all do. However it wouldn't be accurate to say I'm having fun during competition. I always had two or really three gears in pool. One was the social fun gear, I really was having fun drinking socializing and banging balls around with friends. What little focus I put in was on missing balls and setting up other people so I didn't brutalize casual players on the table.
My second gear was a gambling gear, still not my best game in many ways but always enough game that most the money came my way over the course of an evening.
Finally there was the rarely seen full competition gear. Only my equals or giving a huge handicap in a strange place that I wasn't coming back to brought this game out. This was the gear I enjoyed using the most and I only got to use it once in a blue moon. However, only once can I say I was having fun while I was playing in this gear. I used to play chess against a far better player. Playing the very top gear of pool was indeed like that, no mistake allowed for hours at a time. That can leave you more tired than swinging a sledge hammer all day.
Hu
A great point. I enjoy competition, we all do. However it wouldn't be accurate to say I'm having fun during competition. I always had two or really three gears in pool. One was the social fun gear, I really was having fun drinking socializing and banging balls around with friends. What little focus I put in was on missing balls and setting up other people so I didn't brutalize casual players on the table.
My second gear was a gambling gear, still not my best game in many ways but always enough game that most the money came my way over the course of an evening.
Finally there was the rarely seen full competition gear. Only my equals or giving a huge handicap in a strange place that I wasn't coming back to brought this game out. This was the gear I enjoyed using the most and I only got to use it once in a blue moon. However, only once can I say I was having fun while I was playing in this gear. I used to play chess against a far better player. Playing the very top gear of pool was indeed like that, no mistake allowed for hours at a time. That can leave you more tired than swinging a sledge hammer all day.
Hu
Actually, one of the things I have always told people (only half jokingly) was that playing high level pool is likely a result of a mental disorder (this only works if you actually play at a high level; otherwise you just sound like a hater, LOL).
But seriously, how could anyone without an OCD or something play enough hours of pool to get to the SS or pro level? Most people would die of boredom in a few weeks. Think about it, if a kid got hooked on tiddlywinks when he was 6, and was still playing it for 6 hours a day when he was 25, he'd have a diagnosis and a prescription.
Aaron
But seriously, how could anyone without an OCD or something play enough hours of pool to get to the SS or pro level? Most people would die of boredom in a few weeks. Think about it, if a kid got hooked on tiddlywinks when he was 6, and was still playing it for 6 hours a day when he was 25, he'd have a diagnosis and a prescription.
Aaron
I personally believe that there are MANY secrets to success. Some of which will eventually be exposed as time goes by and a few I know of but will not reveal here on AZ.
If there weren't......then why are there so many people who do everything cited in the origonal post but still fail to make it to the advanced levels.
If there weren't......then why are there so many people who do everything cited in the origonal post but still fail to make it to the advanced levels.
you're onto something here.
Like I told Mad Max awhile back. Top notch players are NO different than great artists, musicians and actors. This type of person or personality thinks completely different than the 99.9%er's. Their curiosity and nature were most likely formed during their growing years. Efren is a perfect example of a player that could never totally satisfy his addiction, cept to play more, then play more then sleep then play more, and he was unable to stop. This is why if you take the herd of great players from China/Taiwann/Japan or anywhere and they are taught to be great and become great, they will never be an Effie, or a Harold Worst or Willie Hippe or Greenleaf. Society and life and the times....Borne these players and they didn't have much say, a higher power led them down this road of life.