Long post: some helpful suggestions for "participating" in forums
Scott (and others in the "instructor" role who participate in forums):
First, apologies for the long post -- me fleet-fingers got the best of me in this one, but I wanted to keep the natural flow.
Having been an instructor myself for several decades (not for pool, but information technology, martial arts, and other things both in the military as well as civilian life), I'd like to share with you some things I learned over the years, from both sides of the fence (instructor-side, and student/reader/someone-within-earshot-side), alongside people from all walks of life:
1. If you've either never been or haven't been for quite a while on the student/reader/someone-within-earshot side of the fence, it is *very difficult* to tone-down the confident, "authority" stance on topics that you may have some knowledge of. Afterall, "you're a CERTIFIED instructor dammit -- who is this person arguing with you?" Or, even if you know you're correct on a certain topic and the other person is obviously wrong (or the person is otherwise too emotional/passionate to think clearly), it's not easy to soften the "you're wrong" message without coming across as some kind of Catholic Nun, "ruler across the knuckles" type. I know I myself had a very hard time first learning how to become a good instructor without hitting these bumps in the road of having someone tell me that I'm a know-it-all or worse, a condescending pr*ck. Naturally, a few virtual "black eyes," an open mind, and time/experience itself helped mold me into a knowledge-sharing type that is completely unrecognizable from when I first started decades ago.
2. I touched upon it in the previous bullet, but that word -- certification -- is a double-edged sword. Sure, certification helps set a baseline standard for which the knowledge is gained and shared, but it also has the undesirable effect on the person achieving it -- what I call the "ivory tower" effect. There are many books written on this topic, and I won't delve into it here, but suffice to say it takes a VERY STRONG person to resist the temptation that the knowledge he/she was certified on is irrefutable and that anything "less" (or "outside the box") is simply urban legend or just plain wrong. It's not a function of the person with the certification being wrong or mentally manipulated, it's just plain human nature. One is naturally proud of his/her achievements, especially when in person, the knowledge/instruction is well-received and rave reviews shared. But yet, written correspondence / postings to message boards seem to get this same person in hot water. Which leads me into the next point...
3. Remember folks, these forums are the WRITTEN word -- it's not like you're standing face-to-face with someone, where vocal and physical body inflections add a lot to *HOW* your message is received. In fact, take away all those vocal/physical inflections, and what you have left is a "Whoomp! There it is!" take-it-or-leave-it message that, if not crafted correctly, can come across as an icepick-in-the-eye to the reader. It takes a very sage person to think things out before writing them, then reading them over again before pressing the "Submit" button to see how he/she himself would feel if he/she were the recipient of that message. And even then, delaying pressing "Submit" if there are any emotional feelings still present -- wait until later when those emotions subside, when he/she is more lucid in thought. Emotions are poison when it comes to written correspondence that is read by many people from all walks of life! Speaking of the all-walks-of-life topic...
4. Social melting pot. Such is the nature of the AZBilliards forums -- you have every kind of person reading them -- bus drivers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, I.T./computer technology people, Ph.Ds, unemployed, beauticians, store clerks, Wall Street types, ...on and on and on. It's easy for misunderstandings to occur when one comes from a certain regiment or "walk of life," to relay information to other people from other regiments / "walks of life" if the information is not packaged or couched correctly. Without the benefit of natural ability or of formal training on how to deal with people from all walks of life, suffice to say this skill comes from experience.
What does this all have to do with this SPF thread in particular? Without naming names (another hard lesson learned in my decades of instruction), there are times in certain posts I've seen when, even though it was not intended, one or all of the above points were violated when sharing information or otherwise dispelling bad or controversial information that was posted. Although it came from both sides (i.e. the SPF side and the countering side as well), more often than not, it started or was escalated by the SPF side. And even if the emotions were stirred on the non-SPF countering side, it was a post from the SPF side that, well, maybe came across as "ivory tower"-ish or something to cause the emotions in the first place. JoeyA's post, while caustic in certain places, *did* have valid points in it.
As someone wisely noted, this is not medicine or nuclear science; this is pool. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and considering how flexible and adaptable the human body is, it can adapt to even the worst stroke to learn how to use it to pocket balls. SPF is only one way to try to package certain fundamentals together for a baseline that can be taught. It is certainly not the only way.
In summary, the mind is a powerful adaptable organ; too bad it sometimes gets in its own way when interacting with other minds. But over time, it too learns how to resume stride after stumbling over an obstacle. This here is the point when working in these forums -- there are certain "fundamentals" one should follow to prevent misunderstandings / emotional flares.
Perhaps there should be a course taught to instructors (not just in pool, but other topics as well) where SPF would stand for:
S = Sharing
P = Personable
F = Friendly
(Notice nowhere does "knowledge" or "teaching" come into play -- that is implied by the "Sharing" part -- and sharing is just that -- sharing the knowledge, not enforcing it.)
I genuinely hope this was helpful, and most importantly -- taken constructively!
-Sean
Mike...Thanks for your thoughtful response. I was talking with my wife about this very subject last night, AFTER I let my emotions get the best of me, with what JoeyA posted. In the long run, I do not have 12 hours a day to spend on forums like this (like a lot of regular posters). As such, I probably miss a lot of threads that I might have been able to participate in. When I'm traveling (which is VERY often), I might go 2-3 days without even logging in...and when I do, everything that I was reading previously is now 4-5 pages back, and it's all new. So, if you look at the bigger picture, with the total numbers of threads that are put up, I probably don't participate on a huge percentage of them...that would be physically impossible. However, whenever possible, I do post, and offer what I feel to be valuable advice, always for free. You can tell someone something all day long, on the internet. Whether they "get it" or not, is often subjective. That's why many folks choose to seek me out for private instruction, or come to pool school. If you look at the total amount of time I spend here on AzB (or lack thereof), the numbers of posts offering free advice, are many in number.
Your videos that you have posted on You Tube are excellent. You obviously have the time, knowledge, and ability to do that...sadly I don't. I'm a complete newb when it comes to knowing how to use these techniques effectively...so I'm glad you have picked up the ball! Belying some of my posts, I do not like to argue, which is why I choose to stay out of many threads dealing with things that either don't work as described, or are controversial at best. There are a lot of things that just cannot be effectively conveyed here, that are easily and accurately conveyed in person.
Thanks for the kind words, and I look forward to both an opportunity to meet you, and visit your new room...as well as an opportunity to work together, in the future!
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
