Time required to be an A player

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NeedTheSix

Registered
I have a question.

For those that are A players, how many years of solid playing did it take for you to reach that level where you can consistently dominate the table?
and how much did you play?

Thanks
 
depends on the player, when they started, if they have natural talent or need to be taught
 
NeedTheSix said:
I have a question.

For those that are A players, how many years of solid playing did it take for you to reach that level where you can consistently dominate the table?
and how much did you play?

Thanks
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A few years to life time, and even then maybe never. It all depends upon your natural ability when start playing, how well and fast you can learn the basic fundimentals, and availibility of a good coach / instructor who will take you on as a student of the game.


JIMO
 
spanky79 said:
depends on the player, when they started, if they have natural talent or need to be taught
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Along these lines:
I have seen guys/gals with tons of natural talent, but too proud or hard headed to the point they were not willing to learn/listen and figured they could do it all on their own with no help. Even though a player at a much higher level would try to help them advance their game, they just had to do it their way. Progress was fast at first, but slowed after a while.
I have also seen those with much lesser talent that were open minded and were willing to listen/learn become very solid A players. The same A player that tried to help the person with obvious natural talent, took the lesser talented player under their wing, and they surpassed the player with natural ability pretty quickly.
No matter which category you fall into, to truly get to the A level, it will take a lot of hard work and table time to get there. It will not happen overnight. I would say I was a solid B++ player in my prime and it took a few years to get there playing every day. Of course my idea of what an A player is, and yours could be very different but to reach the level I think you are talking about, be prepared to put in many hours on the table for several, if not more, years.
 
NeedTheSix said:
I have a question.

For those that are A players, how many years of solid playing did it take for you to reach that level where you can consistently dominate the table?
and how much did you play?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It took Oscar Dominguez about 4 years of intensive play/practice to get there. He worked his butt off and was about the fastest I've seen.

I would say if someone has the talent, about 5 years to reach 80% of their peak, and with some people that is A level. That last 20% might take 5 more years. I marvel at the young players who can get to highly competitive levels, like Keith and Corey Deuel did, at such a young age.

Chris
 
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I think 99% of people that start in their 30s or earlier have the hand-eye coordination required to get to an A level within 10 years or 5 if they play full time. The reason a lot of people don't get there is because they lack the time, desire, commitment, drive, knowledge, instruction, character, or a combination of those to get there.
 
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well it took me 1year of none stop pool playing in a bar room not 24/7 pool but alot of playing i got good with in that year mark
 
Hussa,

always hard for me to *rate* a skill level like "A-Player". But if your talking here about being on a professionals level or a *close* level who could beat also a pro-player it s about 3-5 years imo.
Just about how and what you re practicing. Talent is in my opinion really a bit overrated. It s just about hard and serious work!

lg
Ingo
 
I'm a B on a good day, and I I've played a bunch of pool. Every A that I've run into has no problem destroying me. They all have played a decades worth or more.
 
get your own table with brand new good quality cloth practice daily until you have worn the cloth out entirely..you'll be as good as you are going to get ... IMO
 
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The best way to get to A level is to stay single.
Well...just make sure you stay single ^^
 
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It took me about 1.5-2yrs before was considered an A player but i played daily gambled hourly, and hit every tourny every night. ive seen alot of people out there who have been doing the same thing for yrs and are b and c players at best. the sad reality is that some people will never get there for one reason or another.

I dont really play anymore 4 kids, wife building cues but im still an A player it is something that sticks with you, once your there.

Probably the largest thing one could work on is knowledge base if you know how to stop the other person from winning then you can leave a window for your self to win.
 
10,000 Hours

Based on Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers", it typically takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve world-class status in anything, provided you have the natural ability to take you to that level. It also helps if you learn the game at a young age under the tutelage of someone experienced in teaching proper fundamentals - thereby sidestepping the bad habits that most of us possess.

Ron F
 
Depends on how you measure 'A'.

Is it beating the 9b ghost in races to 9 in your basement, or is it finishing well is a big tournament? If it is out and about, then skill at pocketing balls isn't all it takes.

There is a mental side to the latter that you cannot replicate anywhere other than the ring.
 
Ron F said:
Based on Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers", it typically takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve world-class status in anything, provided you have the natural ability to take you to that level. It also helps if you learn the game at a young age under the tutelage of someone experienced in teaching proper fundamentals - thereby sidestepping the bad habits that most of us possess.

Ron F
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A level is far from world class. Most people should be able to reach it in far fewer hours.
 
I have like most started off as a D player, took me about year to become a C player, then to become a B player it took me about 2 years, I am solid B player now with moments of A speed. I am hoping that in the next year or two that I will be an A player even if its on the lower end of the A level. It is cool to see your progress, I think that is what league players do, starting off at a 3 or 4 speed and then moving up to 6 or 7 speed.

I know moving from the lower speed are just learning the basics, like going from a D to a C, but a C to a B and then a B to an A really is a slower process IMO. It is kind of like when I drag raced cars, to go from a 14 second car to and 11 second car was not too tough, you would get to a certain point where to make your car a half second faster or even a couple tenths it took a good deal of money or changes.
 
Fast Lenny said:
..I am solid B player now with moments of A speed. I am hoping that in the next year or two that I will be an A player even if its on the lower end of the A level. ...
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You are not getting spots anymore.
 
For me it was about 5 years of playing a LOT. I would say I wasn't a serious A player until I started playing in lots of tournaments and gambling against other strong players, though.

For me the biggest difference between being a B player and an A player is, without a doubt, confidence. As a B I would come to tables, study the layout, and then think to myself, "I think I can get out here." As an A player, I study the layout and just think, "I'm out!"

The same goes for the way you look at other players. As a B there were guys I would look at and think, "Hmm, I don't think I would want to gamble with him," and then a couple years later I could look at the same guy and think, "Hmm, I'd chew off my arm to gamble with that guy."
 
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