Which Great player taught themselves how to play?

[Fast Lenny]

Some of the coolest time I have ever spent in a pool room has been in Lucky's in Sioux Falls in this old ass rock wall basement with no one in it but Shane practicing by himself. I would just watch as he would break and run out. The only sound being the balls as they went in the pockets and the crash when he broke.

I know it makes me sound like a nut hanger but so be it. That was and still is a lot of fun for me. A unique dude and a unique atmosphere. I agree with you, he seems to love it and be enthralled with it a little more than most. I have a feeling many great players at his stage of development have been like that. The test is what happens when life catches up to him. (House, girfriend/wife,kids, all the other things)

Closest thing to heaven Justin?

 

[alstl]

No, that would mean that he was given an answer to a question. Like, "How do I get the cueball to reverse and break that out?" "AhA, thanks for that answer Mr. Player that I have just witnessed doing just that." Self taught would mean you figured it out yourself, not by watching another player. Then, can you do it under pressure in hostile surroundings? That has to be taught, also.

I don't care to argue semantics but you may enjoy the article:

Efren's bed was the pool table.

"When I slept on the table, I dreamt about pool," he said. "I learned about pool from my dreams."

No wonder, I thought, he is nearly unbeatable. He must have learned the incredible shots and the impossible angles that he is famous for from all the spirits of the old players who visited him while he slept on the table night after night.

Then at eight years old, he began living out the dreams.

"Just to be able to shoot," he said, "I stacked cases of Coke three high so I could play pool." After a shot, he would move the cases around the table so he could take another shot. Even though his uncle did not want him to play pool, Efren would play two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, when nobody was around. "I liked sleeping on the table because when I woke up I could play pool."

...

"I watched all the good players and the weak players, too," he said. He practiced every shot. He had no teacher. "I learned the simple shots from the good players. English, draw, follow, how to put the cue ball in position. But what about the other shots? The good players don't know the invisible shots. A lot of times the weak players make these impossible shots. I learned a lot of trick shots from watching bad players."

 

[Craig]

Jay Swanson?

I think Archer use to run around with him. Because Archer use to make jokes and call him big fat swannie

 

[JCIN]

Closest thing to heaven Justin?

No.

While it is great to watch, Eve Mendes and and that girl putting on the jeans in the funny pic/gif thread don't hang out there. That is my idea of heaven. Or being Tiger Woods.....that wouldn't suck either.