What is the perfect age for a new poolplayer?
- Thread starter CrownCityCorey
- Start date
I got my son a mini pool table and a short cue at age 4. I just let him play with it like any other toy, never wanting to force him to play due to the risk of turning it into a chore. Now he now likes to come to the pool room with me on occasion and likes to have his own table to hit balls on, but dislikes if I try in any way to give him tips or instruction. He is now 9 and can shoot a little and make balls on a 9 footer, however I limit his time there for now because his stroke arm does start to "chicken wing" out to the side due to the height of the table. In a year or two his height will catch up and a pendulum stroke should be much easier. I hope to have a home table by that time. I know some pros like Keith MccCready learned to do very well with the elbow out to the side but I dont want that to be an obstacle he has to learn to overcome. So for now I just take him here and there and let him plays as long as he wants for fun. It helps that my fiance's grandparents own the non smoking pool room and treat him like a king when he's there (free mini pizzas, hot dogs, drinks, etc) lol.
My son was nine years old in theses videos.
He has a real hard time reaching shots on a nine foot table and the words playing safe is not in his native tounge. He does shoot on the seven foot tables quit a bit. He just turned ten this month. He takes shooting very serious. He plays the ghost a lot. That seems to be the way he likes to practice.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113541558387&l=17375368187374593
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113566028387&l=3395575546694690225
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113636593387&l=1225767822122283112
He is getting to the point, if he has ball in hand he can run some balls, He still misses a bunch of balls from not chalking and not taking his time. I hope that comes with age. He has a good start at pocketing balls. It is very hard to get threw at his age. I am very very proud of him.
He has a real hard time reaching shots on a nine foot table and the words playing safe is not in his native tounge. He does shoot on the seven foot tables quit a bit. He just turned ten this month. He takes shooting very serious. He plays the ghost a lot. That seems to be the way he likes to practice.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113541558387&l=17375368187374593
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113566028387&l=3395575546694690225
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152113636593387&l=1225767822122283112
He is getting to the point, if he has ball in hand he can run some balls, He still misses a bunch of balls from not chalking and not taking his time. I hope that comes with age. He has a good start at pocketing balls. It is very hard to get threw at his age. I am very very proud of him.
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I am a firm believer in the 10,000 hours rule. 10,000 hours of focused/quality experience and practice is how much you need in order to be an expert in any given subject. This has been shown to be true for all professions..engineering, music, science...no reason why this wouldn't apply to pool. The key to this rule is the word "quality." Just banging balls meaninglessly would not qualify.