To Become the Greatest

L

LastTwo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What expertise in other games do you think it would take to become the world's best all-around player, like Efren? I know he has a background playing 3-c and rotation. IMO certain games help with a certain part of the game. Straight billiards would greatly improve one's ability to carom shots I'm sure, 3-cushion would greatly improve the ability to kick and play safe. Snooker for sheer pocketing ability, 14.1 for precise cueball control and the ability to negotiate clusters. Rotation games like 9-ball or 15-ball to develop a powerful stroke (although I'm sure playing 3-c would help with that also).

If one's daily practice routine consisted of hours and hours of playing all of these games, do you think that would be the best way to become great, or do you think players should focus on a particular game, if that is all they are going to play?
 
LastTwo said:
What expertise in other games do you think it would take to become the world's best all-around player, like Efren? I know he has a background playing 3-c and rotation. IMO certain games help with a certain part of the game. Straight billiards would greatly improve one's ability to carom shots I'm sure, 3-cushion would greatly improve the ability to kick and play safe. Snooker for sheer pocketing ability, 14.1 for precise cueball control and the ability to negotiate clusters. Rotation games like 9-ball or 15-ball to develop a powerful stroke (although I'm sure playing 3-c would help with that also).

If one's daily practice routine consisted of hours and hours of playing all of these games, do you think that would be the best way to become great, or do you think players should focus on a particular game, if that is all they are going to play?
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Clearly you're on to something, and there can be no denying that a regimen consisting of all of these games would sharpen one's skills immensely. Still, nearly anybody wanting to be a great player needs to hook up with a top instructor to get thier fundamentals up to world class level.

You can't make a world championship caliber pool player out of somebody whose fundamentals aren't top-notch any more than you can make an omelette without eggs.
 
if you're talking about reyes level pool,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you have to be born that way.
 
If one of the greatest artists or art instructors in the world got ahold of me at a very young age and taught me everything they knew and worked with me into adulthood....I'd still be with my crayon set coloring far outside the lines. You either have a proclivity for something...or you don't.
 
SneakyPete said:
That's the sort of attitude that's stopped you from getting to the top in the first place.
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No it isn't. I arrived but it wasn't until I realized what top of the heap I should be shooting for. Lotta heaps out there me boy...pool is only one of them and a small one at that. At some point you get pretty far up and just say to yourself, "what the f*#k am I doing here and what's the sense of going any further".
 
bruin70 said:
if you're talking about reyes level pool,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you have to be born that way.
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Really? Just maybe, maybe...Efren would disagree with you here. Especially after all of the thousands of hours and millions of shots he's worked on over the years.

Give the guy his due, man! Geez!

Jeff Livingston
 
drivermaker said:
No it isn't. I arrived but it wasn't until I realized what top of the heap I should be shooting for. Lotta heaps out there me boy...pool is only one of them and a small one at that. At some point you get pretty far up and just say to yourself, "what the f*#k am I doing here and what's the sense of going any further".
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are you sure mike sigel didn't type this post?? LOL

VAP
 
drivermaker said:
There's an interesting article in the May issue of BD by George Fels...you should read it. (not in line with your goals)
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what was the title of the article? is it still on their website? i don't have a subscribtion to BD but with the problems i'm having with IP i think i just might have to subscribe.

VAP
 
vapoolplayer said:
what was the title of the article? is it still on their website? i don't have a subscribtion to BD but with the problems i'm having with IP i think i just might have to subscribe.

VAP
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"Poster Boys".....Lemme know if you can't find it.
 
chefjeff said:
Really? Just maybe, maybe...Efren would disagree with you here. Especially after all of the thousands of hours and millions of shots he's worked on over the years.

Give the guy his due, man! Geez!

Jeff Livingston
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I agree totally. The great Walter Lindrum always said that billiard players are made not born.




.
 
Mr441 said:
I agree totally. The great Walter Lindrum always said that billiard players are made not born.




.
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I guess great pool players have the same historyof bein' hustlers and playin for money makin' a living out of it... they have to be good coz their life prolly depended on it, or their next meal :D
 
To me the answer boils down to true desire.If you want it bad enough then this desire will keep you motivated enough to put the amount of time and effort necessary to reach that level of play.The catch is if you start investing large amounts of time into something and you are not achieving enough success then chances are you will not have the motivation to reach your goal. People like to do the things they are good at and this is where the natural ability comes in. If a person could honestly say that they enjoy the game enough to spend as much time as they do at there full time job and can put pool in front of everything else in there lives then I think you could say you have true desire .
 
chefjeff said:
Really? Just maybe, maybe...Efren would disagree with you here. Especially after all of the thousands of hours and millions of shots he's worked on over the years.

Give the guy his due, man! Geez!

Jeff Livingston
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the greats practice to hone their skills. the greats practice because they love the game. the greats practice because the game is their love and their life. the greats practice because it's like breathing air , like eating food,,,,it is their sustanance. the greats DON'T ask if it can be done or what does it take. THEY SIMPLY DO.

by your line of thinking, if you practice long enough you will become the best ping pong player in the world......if you practice long enough, you will become one of the best violinists in the world......if he practices long enough, stephon marbury will be as good as michael jordan,,,,if you practice long enough, you might win a gold medal or two in swimming,,,,if you practice long enough you may become a great artist of this century.

however, ,if you feel you(they) are too limited to accomplish any of the above, then you must understand that we all have limits. if you think you CAN accomplish any of the above,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,there is a pot of gold waiting for you, my friend. go for it!

wouldn't this be a beautiful world if we could do anything we wanted if we set our minds to it. then no one would have to drag himself to that 9 to 5 job he hates! but it doesn't work that way does it? some people do it better and easier than others.
 
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Mr441 said:
I agree totally. The great Walter Lindrum always said that billiard players are made not born.
.
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walter lindrum was taught METHODICALLY by his dad at an extremely early age......for hours a day on end. it was his life to practice. so i don't think lindrum knew where his talent ended and his practice routine began. to him, it was one and the same.
 
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