Whats the word on this guy?

He seems to really know his stuff and is able to convey his thoughts in a very simple, instructive manner. I bought his Zero-X Kicking & Banking videos, and I have learned a lot from them. I also saw the video about hitting in 2-3000 balls for stroke fundamentals, (I was shooting without any warm up strokes, just a dead stop at the ball and fire) and did so over 2 days to make 3000 balls this way, then, an advanced player in my area strongly suggested that I take a few warm up strokes before firiing to smooth out my stroke, so the following weekend I shot another 3000 balls this way. I think that taking his advice & doing the stroke drill with it for 3000 shots has really had a noticeable effect on my game. I also would like to mention that after hitting every 150 balls in (10 racks), I would do 100 strokes into a long neck beer bottle for a total of about 2000. I refer to this as reconstructing my stroke and I think it has made a big difference in my game recently. I have no reservation in recommending Tor Lowry's intructional materials, just good, simple and well organized instruction...

Learn to bend your kicks and banks Bill :nono: I can promise you'll be kicking like a mule in short order.....

Chris
 
Light bulb just went off. :eek:

I was trying to figure out where you were putting the cue ball to shoot it into the object ball. I now see what you are talking about.

On the surface, that sort of seems like something a beginner would be doing, but maybe not....

If you remove the distraction that is caused by the collision of the two balls, it may be much easier to focus on JUST your fundamentals. However, without the feedback you get from seeing if you are pocketing a ball or not, how do you KNOW that your fundamentals are solid? I can see how it works, when you do the drill where you shoot the cue ball straight into the end rail and try to get it to return to your tip. Doing that drill you at least know whether or not you are hitting the cue ball dead center. But when you are just shooting balls into the pocket, how do you know you are cueing straight?

Seems like the only thing you are working on for sure is staying down.

Just thinking out loud here...

Good points, but what is actually going on is that you are going through a mental check list and making sure everything is as it should be. Hitting the ball is almost incidental.
Here is what i do.
1st line up the shot in a upward stance. Check
2nd get down on the shot while maintaining position. Check
3rd With tip close to the ball, check for proper grip hand placement. Check
4th Stroke and follow through. Check
5th Stay down on shot for 2-3 seconds.
Rinse and repeat.

Now once this has become muscle memory you start adding object balls into the mix and apply the same fundamentals.

It is just a simple way to focus on the process without everything else getting in the way. Now if you add a object ball to the mix and your still off you need to reevaluate your process and fundamentals. Making the shot is what tells you if what you are doing is right or wrong. All of this is just my practice and I am not trying to instruct anyone. Just explaining what it is that I do and coincidentally it's what this guy Tor is teaching.

I do this to keep my stroke in shape. It's my maintenance routine. It does seem like something for a beginner, but what better way to get to the basis of your problems. Your foundation has to be sound to apply advanced techniques. If your stoke is out of whack the everything else is subject to fail.
 
A lot of what I do goes back to something Scott Lee once said, Most peoples problems stem from the fact that they are not hitting the cue ball where they think they are most of the time.

I think Scott is right, how we address the cue ball and our fundamentals are essential.
 
Makes a lot of sense. Breaking things down to their fundamental components and working on them individually seems to make sense. I just never really thought about attacking it this way.

Thanks for sharing this. I might just work this in to my practice routine.
 
A lot of what I do goes back to something Scott Lee once said, Most peoples problems stem from the fact that they are not hitting the cue ball where they think they are most of the time.

I think Scott is right, how we address the cue ball and our fundamentals are essential.

I agree with this. It's no accident that the people with the best fundamentals work on them all the time.

No drill is too basic if you are practicing doing it *perfectly.* The gating issue is time -- if you only have one hour on the table, shooting a ball straight into the corner pocket over and over is not the best use of your hour.
 
I agree with this. It's no accident that the people with the best fundamentals work on them all the time.

No drill is too basic if you are practicing doing it *perfectly.* The gating issue is time -- if you only have one hour on the table, shooting a ball straight into the corner pocket over and over is not the best use of your hour.

Yeah, sometime when i have the spare cash, (a rare commodity with 2 kids in college) I would love to get with Scott and go over my stroke from start to finish. I think I have a good stroke but I am sure he or randyG could make improvements to it.

I have heard nothing but good things about what they can do for your stroke. Mark Wilson is another one that comes to mind.
 
Tor

Tor not only does Tor explain things in a simple understandable way he loves to teach. He has given free much of his knowledge . But what standsout most is he also is very charitable . Tor donated a portrait worth a couple thousand to a fundraiser for a poolplayers son suffering terminal cancer. We are attempting to raffle it. HE is a stand up guy and a great human being. And his videos are pretty sweet.
 
Drill

I would do 14 racks a day that's 210 balls for 10 days straight.
although I would take the last ball of the rack spot the object ball and shoot it in A long straight shot. It reinforced my accuracy every 14 balls.
For me when I was done it was like a new stroke a bit more confidence at a the table.
MCP
 
Tor's video's, particularly the kicking and banking ones, and the secrets revealed are the best instruction videos out there in my IMHO. The secrets video is free and the kicking and banking vids are less than $10 bucks each. There's so much good information in them it's hard to quantify how much help they can be to any level player. If you practice what he preaches, from fundamentals right through to advanced kicking and banking, your game will improve, no question. How much improvement will be up to you and how much you absorb. But improve you will.

The quality of his vids are top notch in terms of production quality. He also has an easy-going manner, a calm voice, and conveys his ideas very well.

What more can you ask for?
 
Chris...I didn't read the whole thread before posting, but Buzzard II is correct...that is Mother Drill #1, and we've been teaching it for at least 25 years. It is one of the number one ways to really groove in your stroke. That said, thousands, or even hundreds of reps aren't necessary. In fact, it's been proven that short duration reps, made with high focus, and measurable results, produce more positive long-term gains, than simply doing something hundreds (or thousands) of times. When you're concerned with perfect fundamentals a few reps (20-30) will accomplish the task, generate the necessary feedback, measure the results, and allow you to move on to other drills. Now I'm not saying one cannot practice something thousands of times...just that it isn't necessary, nor necessarily productive for some people. The best drills/exercises do at least one of two things: help ingraine a good habit, or help correct an error. :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Head spot is where he puts it, but it really doesn't matter. all your doing is hitting the ball straight into the pocket and focusing on using good fundamentals, over and over and over and.....:smile:
 
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i've had almost every dvd out, while most of then are very informative, this is by far the best i,ve ever seen,and its free. lol thanks and great job. now back the the subject. some info on this guy would be nice.
 
Tor and today

Hi,

I spoke with Tor today and his 4th video is to be released soon. Tor and I are in talks about licensing and possible publishing of a supplemental Zero-X small colored booklet to be carried in your case or read as an eBook on Kindle, Nook, etc. so you don't have to watch his videos several times over. I'm also debtating the value of publishing posters for your pool room. The booket (and poster) contains actual graphics from the video(s), diagrams and rules as instructed in the video. Easy reference everyone should have.

Thanks,

Taemin
 
I don't know anything about Tor Lowry - after reading about him on this forum I went to his site and watched a video - then emailed him a question re material - pls note I did not order anything - I jus got an e-mail saying I am receiving an invoice and the dvds will be mailed out - When i order I use my credit card right on the spot online - I never did this with him - I don'tdo business with people like this if I want something I will ask for it and pay up on the spot - BTW if you check out links posted by Reid he has a system very similar system and there is no charge. I replied back to Lowry that I am not interested -
 
I don't know anything about Tor Lowry - after reading about him on this forum I went to his site and watched a video - then emailed him a question re material - pls note I did not order anything - I jus got an e-mail saying I am receiving an invoice and the dvds will be mailed out - When i order I use my credit card right on the spot online - I never did this with him - I don'tdo business with people like this if I want something I will ask for it and pay up on the spot - BTW if you check out links posted by Reid he has a system very similar system and there is no charge. I replied back to Lowry that I am not interested -

Interesting - just got a reply from them and they said it was done in error as there was an overwhelming response to their video they placed me on their list by mistake - apologies accepted I replyed back
 
A lot of what I do goes back to something Scott Lee once said, Most peoples problems stem from the fact that they are not hitting the cue ball where they think they are most of the time.
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This also seems to be (as I understand it) one of the key elements that CJ's TOI focuses on . . . training yourself to produce a precision hit on the CB on every delivery stroke; simplifying everything about alignment-aim-OB contact area down to just one focus: the small area of cue ball contact. This alone appears likely to elevate anyone's game immediately.

Arnaldo
 
This is why most champion player won't try to explain what they're doing

---------------------------------------
This also seems to be (as I understand it) one of the key elements that CJ's TOI focuses on . . . training yourself to produce a precision hit on the CB on every delivery stroke; simplifying everything about alignment-aim-OB contact area down to just one focus: the small area of cue ball contact. This alone appears likely to elevate anyone's game immediately.

Arnaldo

Yes, having a precise hit on the cue ball is vitally important, however, to play pool at your absolute best you must have a connection between the game and your subconscious mind. This is why most champion player won't try to explain what they're doing.....it's done below the level of consciousness.

The TOI teaches these subconscious abilities in a way that I learned through the study of NLP*....I was one or Richard Bandler's students specializing in the study of how the subconscious connects to sports.


* In essence, all of NLP is founded on two fundamental presuppositions:

1. The Map is Not the Territory. As human beings, we can never know reality. We can only know our perceptions of reality. We experience and respond to the world around us primarily through our sensory representational systems. It is our 'neuro-linguistic' maps of reality that determine how we behave and that give those behaviors meaning, not reality itself. It is generally not reality that limits us or empowers us, but rather our map of reality.

2. Life and 'Mind' are Systemic Processes. The processes that take place within a human being and between human beings and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies, and our universe form an ecology of complex systems and sub-systems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other. It is not possible to completely isolate any part of the system from the rest of the system. Such systems are based on certain 'self-organizing' principles and naturally seek optimal states of balance or homeostasis.
WHAT IS NLP AND HOW WOULD IT APPLY TO POCKET BILLIARDS
 
Tor Lowry

I like his videos and think he is very talented. I haven't been able to find much about who he is.

He says he trained under Jerry Briesath at one time and I asked Jerry about that.
Tor does teach the compact stroke that Jerry also teaches. He did not know who Tor is and did not remember him but apologized thinking it has more to do with his memory than anything else.

When I Google Tor Lowry I get links to his current videos but nothing about his history. I think that is pretty typical. I couldn't find out much about Bert Kinister that way either except some more recent tournaments he competed in. Google gives you way too much information, hundreds if not thousands of pages, most of which have nothing to do with your search.
 
I am a B player who is mostly self taught as I mainly played with friends who started around the same time I did. I recently discovered tor's videos and they are fantastic.

I am planning on using them as a teaching tool to help get my niece started.

If you are in azbilliards land, thank you Tor!
 
value and originality comments

I searched on his name and 1986 and found he finished out of the money (33rd-48th in this tournament:
http://www.sfbilliards.com/accustats/V2_N04.pdf

(not that there's anything wrong with that)

He's also a cult movie maker:
http://obscurofilms.tumblr.com/post/98567996190/hawk-jones-1986


I think his free pool video is great. Thank you Mr. Lowry!

Thanks for the links. I assume there is more about his pool career in the 1980s but don't know that.

I like his series and think the package price is very reasonable. As for the source of the information (I am aware of the complaints of plagiarizing) there is nothing wrong or unique about packaging a series of concepts and explaining them your own way. Not much I have seen is totally unique or completely original. CJ Wiley is the most unique I have run across and he even mentions his system has its roots in things he learned "from old timer".
Many videos overlap and repeat known good information but present it a little differently. Tor does a very good job and I really like his information and the way he presents it. When you pick up a few things here and there and package them into a concept it is research. When you copy word for word someone else work it is plagiarism. I think what Tor does is research. Dr. Dave uses similar banking ideas but uses decimals like 2.3 where Tor uses a 100 based system that makes the aiming spot 23. It is a small difference but the concept is that 23 is easier to visualize than 2.3. I don't think either of them invented the concepts, they just present it so we can use it.
 
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