Was pool better 50 years ago?

[CocoboloCowboy]

50 years ago everything was better, we had less Bull***T, people did not lock up every procession, we had more Pool Room, and place to play Pool.

All this electronic crap that is stuck to people finger was not invented, and their was no internet.

 

[ShootingArts]

Hi, lol, I was too lazy to read the last half of your post, but I just wanted to reply to your question about Efren. I do not think he needed any systems, or any of that other mumbo jumbo (whatever), lol. He learned everything, and mastered everything about all of the games, by just playing, probably 18 hours a day, for who knows how many years. I do not know if he ever did drills, for example, but I would not be surprised if he never did a single drill in his entire life. I would not be surprised if he gained all of his knowledge, and skill sets (in the various games) simply by competing against the best players he could find to compete against.

Keith McCready said that he never did drills, and I read that he was the most feared money player on the planet, back in the early 80's. Look how great he played, with that very unusual style. I believe that he got to be one of the best by simply just competing.

I believe that maybe many of the greatest may have never had any systems, and never did any drills. That would not surprise me a bit. They simply just knew the ins and outs of everything, and had a very high level of natural ability.

Or, maybe I am completely wrong about everything that I said above. I do not know. I just remember reading that bit, about Keith McCready saying that doing drills was a waste of time, in so many words, lol.

Efren learned a lot by watching including watching weak players. He spent a lot of time playing but also a lot of time watching how balls behaved on the table, according to his reports.

I think chess helped and helps his pattern recognition and play too.

A sleepless night makes for a long post from me!(grin)

Hu

 

[Brookeland Bill]

sure the top players are better but the question was is pool better.

in tournaments like stu goes to, it is much better play and execution so he likes that. and is right.

in pool rooms, pool is dismal. and that is right. few gamble. not many hang around and the social aspect is gone in most rooms.

the very top players are better now but go in a pool room now and few are very good where as 50 years back the rooms were full of good players. and there would be a half dozen that could run a 100 balls every day.

and more that if a 700 plus player came in looking for action he would have no chance with anyone who stepped up to play.

people virtually lived in the pool rooms. they were full of characters and fun, and it was what they did every day. not so anymore.

“people virtually lived in the pool rooms. they were full of characters and fun, and it was what they did every day. not so anymore.“

Absolutely on point. It was a culture in and of itself. Characters right out dime novels. No big blousy logo sponsor jerseys. No made up nicknames or aliases. Names that defined the player. LeCue and Parker’s in Houston in the 60’s were not for families or birthday parties. Tough joints. Hangouts. No break or jump cues. Replaced with microwave chicken and fries.

 

[vintagecollectibles831]

Efren learned a lot by watching including watching weak players. He spent a lot of time playing but also a lot of time watching how balls behaved on the table, according to his reports.

I think chess helped and helps his pattern recognition and play too.

A sleepless night makes for a long post from me!(grin)

Hu

Yeah, that is also the way that I learned. By watching the stronger players. I never had any interest in watching the weaker players, lol.

Even after over 30 years, a lot of shots that some of these top players pull off, still really blow my mind.

 

[sjm]

Stu,

I am selecting your post to question simply because I think you are one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable men in pool. I have tremendous respect for your knowledge. Now I will pick apart your post!(grin)

I. I would much prefer to face someone that constantly works with a half dozen systems than someone that only uses 1 or 1 to 3 systems and uses them well. Also, the person that works with many systems would be better off spending their time elsewhere in my opinion.

The eye test says you are wrong here. In fact, I think it is in kicking where there is the biggest difference between the players of today and those of yesteryear. One reason that the Filipino invasion was so successful in the 1990s was the great mileage they got out of the fact that they had better billiard knowledge than the rest, most of whom were American at the time. The gradual rise in billiard knowledge has, similarly, raised the quality of multi-rail position play by quite a bit. Today's players recognize more positions and can build more paths than those of yesteryear, and it is one of many reasons that they a) kick so effectively, and b) run out with such greater ease, despite the presence of much tighter pockets.

2. What does this gain over the same time gaining experience on the table?

The video equipment has allowed instructors to break down the stroke into more component parts than their counterparts of yesteryear and the slow-motion review of the stroke that is now possible enables instructors to study the stroke of any player more than ever before and to pinpoint the specific area(s) of deficiency. Ask someone like Mark Wilson whether video technology has made his job easier in analyzing the stroke of one of his students and you'll understand that video has made the job easier. Nobody is suggesting that weaknesses in stroke fundamentals could not be found and corrected back in the day, but it's so much easier today, and the quality of stroke fundamentals found among the stars of today's game validates the value added.

3. What does knowing the physics gain over knowing how the balls move without being able to spell physics?

Agreed that the gains in this area are very modest. Still, I think that today's players understand things like double hits, split hits, masse and swerve more than their counterparts of yesteryear because video has made these subjects more comprehensible.

4. I beat every major player I have beaten using draw and a touch of side. I found something that worked and used it for years. With many thousands of repetitions in that break, it worked for me!

Yes, history is filled with examples of players from back in the day that could beat anybody with the skills they had. It can be argued that the theory relating to the use of english hasn't changed much since back in the day. Still, the runout skills of the players of yesteryear pale by comparison to those of today's best.

 

[Banger]

Has a pool player ever played better because they had a degree in physics?

It hasn't helped me any.

 

[ShootingArts]

It hasn't helped me any.

Old friend and great poster here when he had the time Terry Ardeno said he had a Pool hall Degree!

Before the Net I used to buy a bunch of books. I bought seven on the same technical subject. When I bought the seventh I realized I wasted my money on the first six! Something along the same lines was what I was trying to say with my first post. If you can do things right with one method you may be just clogging the pipes learning a half dozen more ways. Sometimes you need back-ups, sometimes you just need to know how to do things right once without fail.

Hu

 

[markjames]

the great mike sigel would be a much greater mike sigel if he was in his prime along with the current greats such as filler, kos, biado and gorst and svb

because, as has been so well argued, the improvements in equipment, teaching, knowledge and travel have brought out abilities that players from the past had no access to and no awareness of

trouble is, he would be that much more of a loudmouth chatterbox jerk

and his egotistical hooplah game would be so over the top due to his even greater abilities to beat everyone that he wouldn’t go down in history as the dear old captain hook that we all love and cherish

 

[garczar]

Some things were WAY better: cheap table time, everyone played for something, road players, NO phones, a VAST array of colorful characters. Sure today's top players are beyond good but the 'scene' is a sterile milk-drinking shadow of pool's colorful past.

 

[Biloxi Boy]

Why can't a member give multiple "likes" to a single post? I press the "like" button a second time and nothing happens!

 

[bbb]

Why can't a member give multiple "likes" to a single post? I press the "like" button a second time and nothing happens!

actually if the first like worked the second like takes it away

 

[Banger]

Old friend and great poster here when he had the time Terry Ardeno said he had a Pool hall Degree!

Back in high school, I had a physics teacher who said you can be the greatest pool player in the world, if you understand physics. She was wrong.

Knowledge is always good, but it takes a heck of a lot of practice, too.