To shoot like a pro, look like a pro

DaveK said:
Work on good fundamentals. Then with a lot of well planned deliberate practice you may get to the pro level. It is hard work. There is no "simple" (and no "natural" pool player).

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7845157-bounce explains it very well, if one has the courage to see the truth.

Dave
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Excellent book! I even have it listed/referenced in my latest book as one of the top 10 books to help aspiring pool players
 
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
Look at 100 meter sprinters...they are basically all built the same...ditto with hurdlers, marathon runners, high jumpers, javelin throwers etc. Pool players also have a build and style. If you don't fit the mold you will never shoot at their level. Simple as that. The best players will be between 5'10, and 6'2, 175-220 lbs, and ages 25-55...although I think the main reason skill drops with age is older players are practicing less than the younger players...all things being equal I would expect you could continue on being very competitive well in to your 60's, 70's etc as long as you are healthy.
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That 5'10" is also very, very close to the height of the average adult male, you don't suppose that might have something to do with it, do you??
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
It really is that simple. I have been studying Gorst, Shaw, and Filler. To me they represent the best of pool. Gorst for deliberate technique, Filler for sniper, and Shaw for natural. The secret to playing like these players is to actually look like these players when you are shooting. If you don't have the exact technique they have then you will never be able to shoot like them. We all know club players who have been batting the balls around the pool hall for decades and have not improved an inch. If you approach pool right you will reach novice to pro level in 3 years tops. If its been longer than 3 years then you simply have stopped improving.

My suggestion is forget everything you know. Watch these players and view yourself shooting ie in the window reflection or video and just try to mimick what they are doing. If you forced Gorst, Shaw, and Filler to shoot the exact way you do, then they would be as bad as you...so the opposite is true.
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So according to you I aint going nowhere if I try to copy SVB, the Ko brothers, Chang, Kaci, Biado, etc??? Where do you come up with this stuff, do you sit around and invent "facts"? If I was going to decide to model my stroke after someone I would probably choose Tyler Styer, he has very robotic like outstanding fundamentals. A few years ago he was still playing at the local level, he has plenty of time to improve as a pro if that is his goal. Since it is not my goal to become a pro pool player I will probably continue to work on improving my stroke as it is and just looking for straightness, good acceleration thru the ball, and follow thru instead of trying to play like someone else.
 
SEB said:
I literally cannot believe you guys actually believe this. This is the blind leading the blind here…

No…there is no perfect style. Or height. Or weight. Or arm length.

Efren does a bunch of mechanics wrong. Earl cocks his wrist inward heavily on delivery. Filler has a punchy stroke that wobbles on contact (showing that even he isn’t delivering the cue perfectly straight), Alex P is 5 foot 2, Kaci is 6 foot 4. Max Eberly jabs at most balls, Stan Tarango jumps up on every shot, Mike Dechaine steers any shot with english.

Everyone has a different way of doing things and guess what? They all work.
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Your point is correct of course, but....

Efren's mechanics are pure....just different than cookie cutter textbooks, as are Earl's (perhaps purest of all) and SVB's. Earl and Shane don't cock their wrist (to use ur word...that inward rotation is actually flexion, not cocking), either way that happens on its own...they don't 'do it'. They swing free and the way the wrist turns over is just a function of their body angle and how they hold on to the cue. Efren's would turn over too if he didn't usually finish on his middle finger with his index finger basically 'off' the cue. All 3 play a different grip than the more common pronated, thumb-down, grip. It isn't 'wrong' as 3 of the greatest players ever didn't just stumble into the same mistake that they just overcame with talent and table hours.
 
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This brought back a memory of when I stopped in at the Corner Pocket corporate office in Billings Mt to visit with Frank McGown we got to talking about Cowboy Jimmy Moore who was coming into Billings and other towns where a Corner Pocket Billiards Lounge was .

Frank flat out told me to enjoy watching Jimmy but don't even think about trying to learn how to use a slip stroke like he does ! It was pure magic and I enjoyed the brief time I got to spend playing pool with him and at Frank's suggestion I never did try to learn the finer points of a slip stroke ha ha
 
fastone371 said:
That 5'10" is also very, very close to the height of the average adult male, you don't suppose that might have something to do with it, do you??
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Excuse me, I only read responses not OP drivel. That might justify my off Color thought of, "I have seen it stacked a lot higher than that."🤪
 
Tony_in_MD said:
I am glad I didn't copy Mizerak. Could you see me at 5'6'' 380 pounds?

I would have been a bowling ball instead of a pool player.
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At 380 and 5'6'' you're rolling into the shot instead of stepping in.
I learned a lot from Steve. I can hear him now, get your feet under you, those are your feet, they're connected to
your legs, which connect to the tip.
And why move the cue ball 20'' for single pocket position and have to play perfect when you can move it 8 ft, have 4 pockets, and have multiple choices.
 
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
Look at 100 meter sprinters...they are basically all built the same...ditto with hurdlers, marathon runners, high jumpers, javelin throwers etc. Pool players also have a build and style. If you don't fit the mold you will never shoot at their level. Simple as that. The best players will be between 5'10, and 6'2, 175-220 lbs, and ages 25-55...although I think the main reason skill drops with age is older players are practicing less than the younger players...all things being equal I would expect you could continue on being very competitive well in to your 60's, 70's etc as long as you are healthy.
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I will put this as diplomatically as seems reasonable ... you are wrong.

Dave
 
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
Look at 100 meter sprinters...they are basically all built the same...ditto with hurdlers, marathon runners, high jumpers, javelin throwers etc. Pool players also have a build and style. If you don't fit the mold you will never shoot at their level. Simple as that. The best players will be between 5'10, and 6'2, 175-220 lbs, and ages 25-55...although I think the main reason skill drops with age is older players are practicing less than the younger players...all things being equal I would expect you could continue on being very competitive well in to your 60's, 70's etc as long as you are healthy.
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Except the most decorated male sprinter of all time was probably 5 inches taller and 25 lbs. heavier than the average...comparing track and field body types to pool is ludicrous.
 
thenaturalpoolplayer said:
It really is that simple. I have been studying Gorst, Shaw, and Filler. To me they represent the best of pool. Gorst for deliberate technique, Filler for sniper, and Shaw for natural. The secret to playing like these players is to actually look like these players when you are shooting. If you don't have the exact technique they have then you will never be able to shoot like them. We all know club players who have been batting the balls around the pool hall for decades and have not improved an inch. If you approach pool right you will reach novice to pro level in 3 years tops. If its been longer than 3 years then you simply have stopped improving.

My suggestion is forget everything you know. Watch these players and view yourself shooting ie in the window reflection or video and just try to mimick what they are doing. If you forced Gorst, Shaw, and Filler to shoot the exact way you do, then they would be as bad as you...so the opposite is true.
Click to expand...
So, do you want us to look like this...

1671651500761.png



OR THIS?????


1671651562641.png
 
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