"Where's Uncle Walter? Practicing Already?"

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
Wally Lindrum was an Australian professional player of billiards who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. He is generally regarded as the greatest player ever seen in billiards, with 57 world records to his credit, some of which still stand, so says Wikipedia.

Left motherless at birth, Dolly Lindrum became the child her legendary uncle, Walter, never had. Her devotion has not in the least dulled since his death, 50 years ago last month. She has always lived in the Lindrum home in Albert Park, worked in the original Lindrum's billiards parlour in Flinders Lane and ran a later revival in Flinders Street, now Hotel Lindrum. When her husband died, she resumed the Lindrum name.

Dolly vividly remembers how her uncle would practice from 6 a.m. every day, for up to 12 hours at a time. He was a stickler for it. ''You should practice until your back aches,'' he would say, ''and then start practicing.'' He would practice on the seats of trains...and shipboard when traveling overseas; he did not fly.

Lindrum's statistical domination of billiards is like light years: impossible to get your head around. He set 57 world records and still holds some. He played against ''blind'' handicaps of up to 7000, the exact figure kept from him so that he would play the games out. For much of his career, he deterred challengers and played exhibitions instead, 4000 of them during World War II. At least twice, the rules were changed in an effort to blunt him. He adapted.


The article about Dolly and her uncle warms my heart: The Lindrum Legacy. [Retrieved 19 August 2010.]

Though Lindrum was a true billiards player, his approach to his game was to practice, practice, practice.

I have heard this exact same straetgy from many pool champions as well as legendary players. You cannot excel unless you hit balls over and over and over again. How many times have you seen Earl Strickland, Shane Van Boening, and other pool greats hitting balls over and over and over again? Heck, I've seen Shannon Daulton do nothing else but break balls repeatedly over and over and over again to fine-tune his break.

Dolly is trying to get a museum for her Uncle Wally going and is racing against time. Here's Dolly by an image of her famous uncle.
 

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War put an end to Lindrum's competitive career. He devoted himself instead to charities, taking his own cushions with him on his travels to counter the idiosyncrasies of local tables, and playing his shots quickly, so as not to disrupt his rhythm and for entertainment's sake.

On July 30, 1960, Walter Lindrum at the age of 61 suddenly became ill while on holiday in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, and died.

Authorities tell Dolly that Walter Lindrum's is the most visited grave. She tends it still, and on the 50th anniversary of his death, she found $10.70 in small change left there towards a fund to establish a museum in his honor.

This is some grave marker! :grin:
 

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most great champions

Wally Lindrum was an Australian professional player of billiards who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. He is generally regarded as the greatest player ever seen in billiards, with 57 world records to his credit, some of which still stand, so says Wikipedia.

Left motherless at birth, Dolly Lindrum became the child her legendary uncle, Walter, never had. Her devotion has not in the least dulled since his death, 50 years ago last month. She has always lived in the Lindrum home in Albert Park, worked in the original Lindrum's billiards parlour in Flinders Lane and ran a later revival in Flinders Street, now Hotel Lindrum. When her husband died, she resumed the Lindrum name.

Dolly vividly remembers how her uncle would practice from 6 a.m. every day, for up to 12 hours at a time. He was a stickler for it. ''You should practice until your back aches,'' he would say, ''and then start practicing.'' He would practice on the seats of trains...and shipboard when traveling overseas; he did not fly.

Lindrum's statistical domination of billiards is like light years: impossible to get your head around. He set 57 world records and still holds some. He played against ''blind'' handicaps of up to 7000, the exact figure kept from him so that he would play the games out. For much of his career, he deterred challengers and played exhibitions instead, 4000 of them during World War II. At least twice, the rules were changed in an effort to blunt him. He adapted.


The article about Dolly and her uncle warms my heart: The Lindrum Legacy. [Retrieved 19 August 2010.]

Though Lindrum was a true billiards player, his approach to his game was to practice, practice, practice.

I have heard this exact same straetgy from many pool champions as well as legendary players. You cannot excel unless you hit balls over and over and over again. How many times have you seen Earl Strickland, Shane Van Boening, and other pool greats hitting balls over and over and over again? Heck, I've seen Shannon Daulton do nothing else but break balls repeatedly over and over and over again to fine-tune his break.

Dolly is trying to get a museum for her Uncle Wally going and is racing against time. Here's Dolly by an image of her famous uncle.



I have noticed that most great champions in any activity have a tremendous work ethic to go along with any other gifts. This willingness to single-mindedly pursue perfection may be the greatest gift of all.

Hu
 
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Here's a cute picture from Wikipedia of Walter Lindrum in his knickers, already a pro for two years at the young age of 15.

Wow! And players today complain of the shoes they have to wear at pro tournaments. LOL!
 

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I have noticed that most great champions in any activity have a tremendous work ethic to go along with any other gifts. This willingness to single-mindedly pursue perfection may be the greatest gift of all.

Hu

That is EXACTLY the same feelings I took from the article. Great minds think alike! :grin:

You cannot achieve greatness without that tremendous work ethic. Talent can only be gained by pursuing your goal, and hitting balls repeatedly is the only way to get there. Nothing comes easy, especially in pool. :wink:
 
Firmly grounded and a solid foundation!

That is EXACTLY the same feelings I took from the article. Great minds think alike! :grin:

You cannot achieve greatness without that tremendous work ethic. Talent can only be gained by pursuing your goal, and hitting balls repeatedly is the only way to get there. Nothing comes easy, especially in pool. :wink:

After looking at the picture of Walter Lindrum's shoes and feet I'd say he was firmly grounded and working from a solid foundation! :grin: :grin: :grin:

Hu
 
People were really bound-up back in the day. Wrapped tight. Stiff and formal attire and behavior. When I was a kid in the 50's my mom wouldn't think of going to the grocery store without putting on a dress, hose and heels. It just wasn't done! She'd stop what she was doing, change clothes and then go get the loaf of bread.

Being raised thusly it was hard for me to adopt the attitude, behavior and dress of a hippy. But I got'r done! (but it took a bit of chemical help... Lysergic acid diethylamide :eek: to change attitudes that took decades of daily training to deeply ingrain in the psyche)
:groucho:
 
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"Wally"

Nice articles Jen but I'm sure Walter would turn over in his grave if you addressed him as Wally.

You are the first person that I have ever seen use anything other than WALTER Lindrum when discussing him.

In the UK the name Wally signifies a sort of idiot and if your surname was Pratt then you carried a double idiot tag. Of course not all Wallys and Pratts are less than intelligent but I am reminded of an old joke.

Man walks into a bar, orders a drink which he downs in one swallow then turns round to leave. On the way out he said: All you people over here are fools and all you over there are idiots.

He walks out.

Next evening he repeats the performance and again on the way out,,,,
All you....fools
All you....idiots

After he has gone one of the regular customer says to his buddy
I've been using this bar for 20 years and that guy is outrageous. If he comes in again tomorrow night I am going to tackle him about his rudeness.

Next evening ......same thing ....Drink...drink it down..turns to leave,,,All you....fools.....all you...idiots.

Suddenly the customer called out
This has been my bar for many years and I AM NOT A FOOL

Well get over there with the idiots then
 
Nice articles Jen but I'm sure Walter would turn over in his grave if you addressed him as Wally.

You are the first person that I have ever seen use anything other than WALTER Lindrum when discussing him.

In the UK the name Wally signifies a sort of idiot and if your surname was Pratt then you carried a double idiot tag. Of course not all Wallys and Pratts are less than intelligent but I am reminded of an old joke.

Man walks into a bar, orders a drink which he downs in one swallow then turns round to leave. On the way out he said: All you people over here are fools and all you over there are idiots.

He walks out.

Next evening he repeats the performance and again on the way out,,,,
All you....fools
All you....idiots

After he has gone one of the regular customer says to his buddy
I've been using this bar for 20 years and that guy is outrageous. If he comes in again tomorrow night I am going to tackle him about his rudeness.

Next evening ......same thing ....Drink...drink it down..turns to leave,,,All you....fools.....all you...idiots.

Suddenly the customer called out
This has been my bar for many years and I AM NOT A FOOL

Well get over there with the idiots then

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! :rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:

I actually got the "Wally" reference from the article above: Dolly remembers an eclectic roll of callers and visitors. In the morning, it might be Dame Elisabeth Murdoch: a less celebrated achievement of Lindrum was to raise more than £2 million for charity in his lifetime, a prodigious amount. ''Where's Uncle Walter?'' she would ask. ''Practising already?'' In the evening, it could be Prime Minister Bob Menzies.

With my bad eyes, I read "Walter" as "Wally." Yikes!

That's a funny name to be calling poor Walter, though, if it means "idiot." I didn't know that about the name "Pratt," either.

At the Super Billiards Expo in Valley Forge, PA, one year, they were putting the namecards on overhead table lights for the pro tournament, and somebody spelled Thorsten's last name name wrong. Apparently, what it spelled in German also meant something derogatory, like "idiot" or "stupid." I think they left out the "h" and had "Homann."

Thorsten and Markus Funk (also from Germany) of Eurowest Cues were allowing me to snap their picture and relayed the story to me of what the word meant. They quickly corrected the spelling of Thorsten's last name before the tournament started. I don't think anybody would have known about the misspelling to mean something bad unless they were German, of course. :grin-square:

Thorsten and Markus below.
 

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Here's a cute picture from Wikipedia of Walter Lindrum in his knickers, already a pro for two years at the young age of 15.

Wow! And players today complain of the shoes they have to wear at pro tournaments. LOL!

So this is where Billy Incardona developed the penchant for the long, "short pants" style from. :killingme:

I wish I had a picture of him from the recent Mobile, AL tournament so you could all know what I am referring to. :grin:

I noticed by the square and compass that Walter was a Mason as well. Interesting. There was a Masonic cemetery near where I lived as a child. Those masons know how to invest in a monument. :smile:
 
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