Not quite so. All Instructors Candidates have to start with a three day program (in a Training Facility), then maybe they get certified, some don't.....SPF=randyg
To all SPF students: Pix = 1000 words
- Thread starter randyg
- Start date
Not quite so. All Instructors Candidates have to start with a three day program (in a Training Facility), then maybe they get certified, some don't.....SPF=randyg
The outsiders?
Pot shots?
Thin skin?
Lou Figueroa
The easy way to solve your confusion is to attend one of our SPF schools. You are more than welcome to attend one of mine...SPF=randyg
If you're going to call me confused, would you then please explain what it is I'm confused about.
Lou Figueroa
Good Post! I know I have worked with hundreds of students. We always use video evaluations at the beginning as well as at the end of the course. No two students look the same on their initial video. In the final video, they rarely look the same either, but you would see many similarities based on what they learned in class. We don't try to clone pool players. We help them incorporate some proven techniques and processes into their own game. And the results pretty much speak for themselves.
The students with the greatest success are the ones that are willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try something new. If someone wants to learn, we can help. If they want to continue doing what they have always done, they will continue to get the same results. Our instruction probably isn't the best thing for them.
Steve
NO!!!! Before 1992 all a person had to do is apply for a BCA Instructors Certificate. "Now I am one". Sad, but true.
In 1992 the BCA Instructors Program was formed, all under the guidance of BCA staffer, John Lewis. In a very short time we had committees and by-laws for our Instructors. Every year our program has become better and more defined. Every year our numbers increase.
Right now we are proud to have BCA Master Instructor, Fran Crimi, as our go between the Instructors and our sanctioning body. Fran handles all the daily routines for both sides.
Hope this helps a little...SPF=randyg
I hold a Ph.D. and was a distinguished professor at my university where I taught literally thousands of undergraduate and hundreds of graduate students, many of these people have gone on to become professional educators. With those credentials and having attended RandyG’s school I can unequivocally state that he is among the best instructors I have met in or out of the collegiate environment.
While it is true that no two students learn the same way nor do they use the tools they have been taught in the same way, there are sound fundamentals that every student needs. What they do with the material they learn is dependent upon the student, not the instructor.
There are many theories about how and what to teach. Some are better than others. RandyG and his associates have among the best of methods for exposing and sensitizing a student of the game to the necessary elements that need to be mastered. While I have not been exposed to all possible methods of teaching pool players I have been exposed to a great many teachers. Some have a better understanding and mastery of their subject matter than others and some have better skill than others with regard to the ability to teach what they know.
I think that when he states that one “should” do this or that he is taking about a topic that needs to be mastered and one or more ways the student can master the topic or principle under discussion. For instance, there is no right way to read and synthesize the scientific literature (there are some wrong ways). There are some ways that are far more productive than others. With much study, thought and review RandyG has arrived at a useful approach to the game. He teaches a highly productive method, from which any serious student of the game will benefit.
It is not so much the idea that there is a right way as it is that some ways are better than others.
While it is true that no two students learn the same way nor do they use the tools they have been taught in the same way, there are sound fundamentals that every student needs. What they do with the material they learn is dependent upon the student, not the instructor.
There are many theories about how and what to teach. Some are better than others. RandyG and his associates have among the best of methods for exposing and sensitizing a student of the game to the necessary elements that need to be mastered. While I have not been exposed to all possible methods of teaching pool players I have been exposed to a great many teachers. Some have a better understanding and mastery of their subject matter than others and some have better skill than others with regard to the ability to teach what they know.
I think that when he states that one “should” do this or that he is taking about a topic that needs to be mastered and one or more ways the student can master the topic or principle under discussion. For instance, there is no right way to read and synthesize the scientific literature (there are some wrong ways). There are some ways that are far more productive than others. With much study, thought and review RandyG has arrived at a useful approach to the game. He teaches a highly productive method, from which any serious student of the game will benefit.
It is not so much the idea that there is a right way as it is that some ways are better than others.
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A couple of thoughts...
I see where Lou is coming from....there have been a more than a few posts where the SPF system/BCA/whatever sorta comes across as this cult....a lot of people sort of dogpile and it reads as being the absolute only way to play pool....it was a little scary and steered me away in a big way....granted, that was just my perception, not saying that is the way it is
Then my game just seemed to fall apart (lack of confidence among other things) that essentially snowballed into an inability to run more than two balls at a time....well, I started talking to Randy, and with him being local, I invested in a class with him.....in the 8 hours, I was taught working vocabulary, basics, parts of the stroke, eye stuff....in 25 years of pool, I was doing some version of all of this stuff, but now I knew what I was doing, and more importantly, knew how to address issues and what to look for when I felt "out of stroke"......although I have not adopted every part of what he taught, I do have the ability to diagnos stroke problems on my own and I found out what part of the teachings do work for me....
Like golf, baseball, or any other contact sport, the vast majority of top players are similar if not exact during contact....how you get there can be completely different from player to player....
Randy, hope you are doing well and the knee is better.....would like to meet you out at Sherrill Park sometime soon for a round when you get time....hope all is well....
I see where Lou is coming from....there have been a more than a few posts where the SPF system/BCA/whatever sorta comes across as this cult....a lot of people sort of dogpile and it reads as being the absolute only way to play pool....it was a little scary and steered me away in a big way....granted, that was just my perception, not saying that is the way it is
Then my game just seemed to fall apart (lack of confidence among other things) that essentially snowballed into an inability to run more than two balls at a time....well, I started talking to Randy, and with him being local, I invested in a class with him.....in the 8 hours, I was taught working vocabulary, basics, parts of the stroke, eye stuff....in 25 years of pool, I was doing some version of all of this stuff, but now I knew what I was doing, and more importantly, knew how to address issues and what to look for when I felt "out of stroke"......although I have not adopted every part of what he taught, I do have the ability to diagnos stroke problems on my own and I found out what part of the teachings do work for me....
Like golf, baseball, or any other contact sport, the vast majority of top players are similar if not exact during contact....how you get there can be completely different from player to player....
Randy, hope you are doing well and the knee is better.....would like to meet you out at Sherrill Park sometime soon for a round when you get time....hope all is well....
A couple of thoughts...
I see where Lou is coming from....there have been a more than a few posts where the SPF system/BCA/whatever sorta comes across as this cult....a lot of people sort of dogpile and it reads as being the absolute only way to play pool....it was a little scary and steered me away in a big way....granted, that was just my perception, not saying that is the way it is
Then my game just seemed to fall apart (lack of confidence among other things) that essentially snowballed into an inability to run more than two balls at a time....well, I started talking to Randy, and with him being local, I invested in a class with him.....in the 8 hours, I was taught working vocabulary, basics, parts of the stroke, eye stuff....in 25 years of pool, I was doing some version of all of this stuff, but now I knew what I was doing, and more importantly, knew how to address issues and what to look for when I felt "out of stroke"......although I have not adopted every part of what he taught, I do have the ability to diagnos stroke problems on my own and I found out what part of the teachings do work for me....
Like golf, baseball, or any other contact sport, the vast majority of top players are similar if not exact during contact....how you get there can be completely different from player to player....
Randy, hope you are doing well and the knee is better.....would like to meet you out at Sherrill Park sometime soon for a round when you get time....hope all is well....
Doctor says NO golf until June, then look out. I can't bend over a pool table yet and I have to be ready for Vegas in May. This is going to be close. Claude is ready to start Sparring with me the minute I give him the word. I have been exactly 13 days out of surgery. I start walking this Friday.
Get your Mother Drills done and I will talk with you later.....SPF=randyg
I recently had the pleasure of working with Scott Lee. How he conveyed the information was outstanding. We developed quite a crowd at the pool hall during the lesson.
I already ran out of the business cards he gave me lol. Hopefully some will contact him.
-Bryan
WHAT?!
Fine, I saw (actually, I saw it the first time) but since you insist
Sooooo, what happened to all those pre-1992 Certified Gold Star on the Forehead Man Has a Pulse BCA Instructors? Certainly they had to qualify under the new and improved and super stringent standards, no? Please don't tell me they were grandfathered in and are running around amok-ed.
And now you say there's this three-day program candidates have to attend. (You would think that for something often described as one of the toughest, most demanding sports on earth, it'd be a tad longer than three days, but I digress
What about a requirement for reoccurring training and certification every few years (I sure you don't just send in a check)?
How about a Continuing Education requirement? You know, to prove you've kept up with the latest Mike Page, Dr. Dave video and the negative squirt OB-18 shaft someone will eventually come out with.
What about a Playing Aptitude Test? Before you get your BCA stamp of approval as an instructor, do you have to prove you can run three balls, or is owning a Chalk Dude sufficient?
Lou Figueroa
(Smorg tribute follows)
I await you next bump
with bait on my breath
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I dan't know. They sound pretty specific about them shoulder and knuckles...
Lou Figueroa
A couple of thoughts...
I see where Lou is coming from....there have been a more than a few posts where the SPF system/BCA/whatever sorta comes across as this cult....a lot of people sort of dogpile and it reads as being the absolute only way to play pool....it was a little scary and steered me away in a big way....granted, that was just my perception, not saying that is the way it is
Well there is that Houligan, dance around the camp fire neked thing they have going on
Lou Figueroa
I recently had the pleasure of working with Scott Lee. How he conveyed the information was outstanding. We developed quite a crowd at the pool hall during the lesson.
I already ran out of the business cards he gave me lol. Hopefully some will contact him.
-Bryan
*Everyone* wants free knowledge. Getting people to pay for it is another matter entirely.
Lou Figueroa
There's parking validation available here?!!!!
Lou Figueroa
and here I've been
paying all these years
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I have reviewed the BCA certification program and was impressed by the similarity between their current system and the long tortuous route we followed to establish state then national licensing in psychology. In the early years, where the BCA is now, we grand fathered in people who would not be qualified using today’s criteria. When building a professional discipline it is necessary to consider and include those who are currently working in the field and may have many years of experience with little formal training.
In the late 60s and early 70s requirements for a license in psychology were minimal and it took a decade for the older less qualified people to retire or give up their license. In the early years there were problems with defining what was necessary to qualify as a licensed psychologist. Today the criteria are well defined and continuing education is required to maintain one’s license. Over the next ten years I suspect that pool instructors will mature into a well recognized discipline. Their current efforts appear to be analogous to what we went through in psychology. They are proceeding as would be expected and in accordance with what has been followed by many other recognized, certified, or licensed disciplines.
It is a long difficult route that requires the efforts of dedicated people who are inclusive and yet professional. There are many personnel, ethical, political, and monetary problems that must be addressed and not all disciplines make it to the recognized certification process. It would appear that pool instructors are proceeding down a similar path that many other disciplines have had to take in order to regulate their own professional lives.
In the late 60s and early 70s requirements for a license in psychology were minimal and it took a decade for the older less qualified people to retire or give up their license. In the early years there were problems with defining what was necessary to qualify as a licensed psychologist. Today the criteria are well defined and continuing education is required to maintain one’s license. Over the next ten years I suspect that pool instructors will mature into a well recognized discipline. Their current efforts appear to be analogous to what we went through in psychology. They are proceeding as would be expected and in accordance with what has been followed by many other recognized, certified, or licensed disciplines.
It is a long difficult route that requires the efforts of dedicated people who are inclusive and yet professional. There are many personnel, ethical, political, and monetary problems that must be addressed and not all disciplines make it to the recognized certification process. It would appear that pool instructors are proceeding down a similar path that many other disciplines have had to take in order to regulate their own professional lives.
Pool players have demonstrated over many, many years, and through many, many failed efforts, that they are notoriously bad at organizing themselves. So I would have to say this would be a *really* bad bet.
Lou Figueroa