What separates the pros from each other?
- Thread starter medallio
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Getting out when it's there. Every. Single. Time.
Taking the time to do what needs to be done to play perfect position.
Less cue ball movement.
Knowing when to play defense and playing it extremely tight.
Taking the time to do what needs to be done to play perfect position.
Less cue ball movement.
Knowing when to play defense and playing it extremely tight.
I think it's the commitment to the sport. The top players take the game as a sport and put in the effort of continuing to work on their game. I've watched Shane shoot the same shot for an hour, I'm guessing that he had just missed it recently. Other players may have put in the hours earlier in their career but it's hard to compete with the best that are presently working hard on their game.
there are a difference between pro and world class players that we the amateurs sometimes cannot recognize.
about consistency, world class players are capable of player several matches without committing any error, a pro can't or seldom able to do so.
about skill, YES SKILL, a world class pro, especially Dennis Orcullo, master all shots in all conditions, Orcullo can make a shot by slow roll, or with extreme draw, follow, left english, right english, when he's jacked up or frozen on the rail a.k.a any possibility you can think of. That marked a huge difference especially when the pressure kick in. A pro can have a godlike stroke etc, but he is not at the same level of shot mastery as those world class players. It's not about how far you can draw the CB, it's about draw it 1 foot back when you have to.
To this matter, Mika Immonen once said that it's unbelievable how Orcullo can hammer the ball in while putting english on the cb to get position when the cb is frozen to the rail, and then Mika admitted he should practice more those shots.
last but not least, mental toughness, some are born champion with forward and positive thinking, some are just can't win over himself.
about consistency, world class players are capable of player several matches without committing any error, a pro can't or seldom able to do so.
about skill, YES SKILL, a world class pro, especially Dennis Orcullo, master all shots in all conditions, Orcullo can make a shot by slow roll, or with extreme draw, follow, left english, right english, when he's jacked up or frozen on the rail a.k.a any possibility you can think of. That marked a huge difference especially when the pressure kick in. A pro can have a godlike stroke etc, but he is not at the same level of shot mastery as those world class players. It's not about how far you can draw the CB, it's about draw it 1 foot back when you have to.
To this matter, Mika Immonen once said that it's unbelievable how Orcullo can hammer the ball in while putting english on the cb to get position when the cb is frozen to the rail, and then Mika admitted he should practice more those shots.
last but not least, mental toughness, some are born champion with forward and positive thinking, some are just can't win over himself.
I agree also. Johnnyt
this is it for me. everyone mentioned can do everything mentioned. no one can say that X hasn't "come" with it at some time when needed but its consistency and drive that makes most of the difference. hustlers or gamblers view the game differently that those set out to become pro or as someone said world class pro.
"that" guy will seem great to us pawns but will not stand up to a true test. everyone has their day which is why you don't have the same champ (for the most part) take shane for example and fill in the blanks, and then you can take frost a top 1P player yet "TMK" he has not won or been in a finals in his last few entries, its been players who have learnt the game after him who have taken his place, world class pros who've done it.
Consistency mainly. Another big thing IMO is perfect (and consistent) speed, that can distinguish people even at the highest level. All pros are good enough that they can overrun shape and still recover and get out, but perfect speed means having easier runouts and in the long run means less misses.
This comes to mind with respect to Larry Nevel, who has an enormous stroke and can make the cue ball do anything, but really the ability to juice up the cue ball a lot is not as important as the ability just to get it to stop at exactly the right spot over and over again.
This comes to mind with respect to Larry Nevel, who has an enormous stroke and can make the cue ball do anything, but really the ability to juice up the cue ball a lot is not as important as the ability just to get it to stop at exactly the right spot over and over again.
Drive.
Last year at the expo, I was walking around the halls near the pro tournament tables. Day one had just concluded, and Jayson Shaw was palling around with Mika. They ran into Shane and Jayson started catcalling him and jesting with Mika "Look at Shane, he's going to go and practice for 8 hours now" - this is after a full day of tournament play.
Shane smiled at him and politely requested Shaw to kiss his "derriere." All jokes aside, he went on to win the tournament.
SVB's drive to practice and perfect his skills is well known, and it pays off.
Last year at the expo, I was walking around the halls near the pro tournament tables. Day one had just concluded, and Jayson Shaw was palling around with Mika. They ran into Shane and Jayson started catcalling him and jesting with Mika "Look at Shane, he's going to go and practice for 8 hours now" - this is after a full day of tournament play.
Shane smiled at him and politely requested Shaw to kiss his "derriere." All jokes aside, he went on to win the tournament.
SVB's drive to practice and perfect his skills is well known, and it pays off.
The best pros consistently give their opponents the least amount of opportunities (turns at the table), while also minimizing the potential of those opportunities.
Everything else mentioned in this thread is merely a factor that contributes to this end result. Those factors may vary between individuals, but produce the same end result.
If you want to know what separates Larry Nevel from SVB, watch several of their matches, and look at how many relatively easy opportunities they allow their opponents to have. Then you can look at what weaknesses in their game contribute to allowing these opportunities. Finally, you can speculate as to why they have these weaknesses.
Everything else mentioned in this thread is merely a factor that contributes to this end result. Those factors may vary between individuals, but produce the same end result.
If you want to know what separates Larry Nevel from SVB, watch several of their matches, and look at how many relatively easy opportunities they allow their opponents to have. Then you can look at what weaknesses in their game contribute to allowing these opportunities. Finally, you can speculate as to why they have these weaknesses.
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