What I've Noticed About The Worlds Best Players

[Icon of Sin]

NO THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE..........everyone handles pressure diff.

there are some pros who can't handle gambling and some that are the best gamblers and can't do squat in the big tourneys......

to the 5 speed league player getting down on a difficult case ball to go to vegas I'd say is no diff than a top player doing the same thing for a win in a major.......

the feeling the first time I played for $50 a game was just like the first time I played 500 a game......

nerves are nerves.........doesn't matter the level of excellence the player has
achieved

How you think a 4 feels playing a 9 trying to go for a league championship.....the 4 is probably crapping their pants.....same pressure.......just as you progress your pressure tolerance for "X" situation becomes greater......but when you feel pressure it is the same feeling it just may take more of it for you to start trembling.


pressure is pressure, skill level is arbitrary to it
-Grey Ghost-

There is a difference. Re read my post. The pros are doing it in the high pressure situations. DCP is doing it in his house by himself during nothing but practice more then likely.

I agree to an extent that the typical league player will feel an ass ton of pressure when playing the final match for his team to win the trip to Vegas. Sure they will feel probably comparable pressure to the pro in the finals of a major... but just whn trying to break and run a rack in your house for nothing but practice... you can't compare a miss there to a miss you see a pro make in a major event.

 

[ShootingArts]

actually a good point

As some of you know i have been watching all of my old tapes and dvds of the pro matches that i have. And logging some of the shots and practicing them later. These matches include the World Championships, US Open, Challenge of the Champions, Mosconi Cup, some European tournaments, etc, etc.

And there's one thing i have noticed - THESE PLAYERS MISS! and sometimes they miss somewhat easy shots!

I am talking about players like Pagulayan, Hohman, Souquet, Strickland, Archer, Reyes, Bustamante, Fong Pang Chao, etc, etc. It makes me shake my head sometimes. I see them miss with ball in hand. And i see them miss shots that Helen Keller could make easily.

Maybe i shouldnt be too hard on myself when i miss a shot and hose up a runout....:thumbup:

Mike

At a single event I saw video of Efren and Bustamonte missing almost an identical shot in different matches, both short almost straight in shots on the money ball when it was seemingly impossible to miss. No reason to put anything on the ball to set up the next shot and no reason to miss to set up the player for a later hustle. I wouldn't bet against either of them making the shot a thousand times in a row.

The top players are better, that is why they are the top players. When they are playing lesser players without feeling much pressure they are better yet. However many hobby players think that a pro is out every time they get a look at a table and that just ain't so. When dollars are on the line gambling or playing a tournament I don't give anything to anybody unless I do it a few times to then make them shoot a shot at a strategic time. It's a shark, puts them off balance and even if they make the shot they are often wondering why you made them shoot during the next game.

The pro's are damned good, they are human too. It pays to remember both things! Speaking of pro's I recommend you grin or laugh and scratch the back of your head when you miss an easy shot. Admit that was stupid, then forget about it. Seems to work for some furriner or another.

Hu

 

[LAlouie]

That's a really bad rationale and let me give you an example.

You're practicing your free throws in basketball because you're a 55% shooter from the line. So you decide to watch how the good pros shoot.....you watch Steve Nash who shoots 90%, but he misses 10% of the time. "Wow" you say "That's a lot of misses! Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself".

:wink::wink: When they miss, it's an anomaly. They may get pissed and practice the shot 1000x, but they don't really have to. That's their way of punishing themselves as a reminder to never do it again, and they can literally will themselves to never do it again...that is the control they have over their game. When you miss, it's not an anomaly, it's a problem and problems have to be corrected. So you practice to correct a problem.

 

[Mowem down]

NO THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE..........everyone handles pressure diff.

there are some pros who can't handle gambling and some that are the best gamblers and can't do squat in the big tourneys......

to the 5 speed league player getting down on a difficult case ball to go to vegas I'd say is no diff than a top player doing the same thing for a win in a major.......

the feeling the first time I played for $50 a game was just like the first time I played 500 a game......

nerves are nerves.........doesn't matter the level of excellence the player has
achieved

How you think a 4 feels playing a 9 trying to go for a league championship.....the 4 is probably crapping their pants.....same pressure.......just as you progress your pressure tolerance for "X" situation becomes greater......but when you feel pressure it is the same feeling it just may take more of it for you to start trembling.


pressure is pressure, skill level is arbitrary to it
-Grey Ghost-

Hats off to you this is one of the best post ever made..... great insight... great info...

 

[LAMas]

Keep watching those tapes and you will begin to see something else. They know HOW to win! The correct safety at just the right time, the professional miss, the tough leave for their opponent, the great shot under pressure and much, much more. The very best players know a few things about game winning strategy that the rest of us don't, and that's what makes them winners and champions.

It is true that EVERYONE misses, some just handle it better than others. A great player turns a miss into an opportunity to play even better on his next turn(s). Watch how often they shoot the "correct" shot for the situation, and it turns into another game won. Sometimes this is shot that looks very simple, but another player might not recognize the best option and the correct shot. Keep watching and keep learning.

A winning player knows how to put games on the wire! It isn't as easy as it looks sometimes.

Jay,
Another astute post.
The better players study the lay of the balls and know if they can run out. If they don't like the lay, why not miss and give the impossible to your opponent who might not and fall into a trap.

In contrast to that, I have seen Keith and others while gambling, rake the balls and rack after a miss for they presuppose that they sold out the rack.
They aren't allowed to do that in tournament play.

On the otherhand, I have seen brain farts happen on the case shot.

Pool is an intricate game that requires complete concentration and execution. The best way to win is to run rack after rack and to keep your opponent in his seat chillin.

What do I, a nobody, know?:thumbup::wink:

 

[Island Drive]

As some of you know i have been watching all of my old tapes and dvds of the pro matches that i have. And logging some of the shots and practicing them later. These matches include the World Championships, US Open, Challenge of the Champions, Mosconi Cup, some European tournaments, etc, etc.

And there's one thing i have noticed - THESE PLAYERS MISS! and sometimes they miss somewhat easy shots!

I am talking about players like Pagulayan, Hohman, Souquet, Strickland, Archer, Reyes, Bustamante, Fong Pang Chao, etc, etc. It makes me shake my head sometimes. I see them miss with ball in hand. And i see them miss shots that Helen Keller could make easily.

Maybe i shouldnt be too hard on myself when i miss a shot and hose up a runout....:thumbup:

Mike

Yes they do miss, but what you don't know is why.
What I've seen and pool parallels life itself, people make up a reason they did this or that, the answer they give themselves often is pure fictio and not wanting to know the truth keeps them from evolving. Allot of people don't like the truth, and since whitey never lies it's often obvious who's at fault. There's one for sure with pool, there's never an easy shot and take no shot for granted. This statement I'm sure has a familiar ring but the implications of what I just said are at the root. Once one sets in motion this ''way of thinking'' they are dismanteling the foundation of their game.