Who became the best the fastest?

arsenius

arsenius

Nothing ever registers...
Silver Member
I was listening to the Buddy Hall interview on The Action Report today, and Buddy mentioned that he started playing when he was 15 and was a pro by the time he was 17. That is FAST!

So, it got me to thinking. What are some examples of other players who became good incredibly quickly? How long did it take Buddy to get from beginning player to world beater (assuming he wasn't already at 17).

What are examples of players going from non-serious player to winning a major tournament (US Open, WPC, etc...) in a short amount of time?

I know Archer won at age 22 or 23, but I don't know how long he had been playing. Corey Deuel would be another example of winning at a young age, but I know he was junior champion before that, so maybe he was playing for quite a long time. I'm not asking about who was a champion at a young age, but who became one in a very short amount of time. I don't know if Corey and Johnny are examples or not.

Who was the fastest and what is a typical amount of time to become world class speed?
 
Took the words right out of my mouth, Corey Deuel.

Prolly won that jr.Champ the minute he picked up a cue. I know of the fellow that took him in, and taught him the game. And 'that' guy was also a young prodigy. It all happened in a very short span.
 
Buddy Hall became a world-beater in two years?!... I've been playing a bit over two years and I'm not even sure I'm officially a rail-beater yet.

But two answer your question... Efren... he became 'the best' the fastest... doesn't even matter how long it took.... stipulations are great.
 
AZE said:
Buddy Hall became a world-beater in two years?!... I've been playing a bit over two years and I'm not even sure I'm officially a rail-beater yet.

But two answer your question... Efren... he became 'the best' the fastest... doesn't even matter how long it took.... stipulations are great.
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AZE, in his interview Buddy said he became a Pro in two years. I was wondering how long it took him after that to become world class speed.

Half Past Bankr, do you have any specifics to back that up? I'm sure he was great, but I don't think Junior National champion is quite world class speed. According to Wikipedia there were about 10 years in there between picking up a cue and winning the US Open.
 
Keith busted the payball game( I believe at Hardtimes) with some of the toughest players in the world two weeks in a row when he was around 13
 
bigskyjake said:
Keith busted the payball game( I believe at Hardtimes) with some of the toughest players in the world two weeks in a row when he was around 13
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And that was on a 6' X 12' super tight snooker table. One year later, at 14, Keith was thought to be the best bar table player on earth. This ? has only one answer, Keith McCready.............
 
hemicudas said:
And that was on a 6' X 12' super tight snooker table. One year later, at 14, Keith was thought to be the best bar table player on earth. This ? has only one answer, Keith McCready.............
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Ditto - Even if you compare Keith to other players that started out just as young, I don't think anyone else comes close.
 
Jeanette Lee began playing at age 18; turned pro in 2 years; number one in the world in less than 4 years. That's pretty strong.

Dick Lane began playing pool in his late teens; was very competitive by his college days (see Danny DiLiberto's account of their matchup in "The Road Player").

I began playing about 5 years ago; seriously about 3 years ago, and can now occasionally run 3 balls......is that good?????
 
bigskyjake said:
Keith busted the payball game( I believe at Hardtimes) with some of the toughest players in the world two weeks in a row when he was around 13
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I was going to say Keith also. He was playing with the big boys at 13 and 14.
 
bigskyjake said:
Keith busted the payball game( I believe at Hardtimes) with some of the toughest players in the world two weeks in a row when he was around 13
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Keith was hitting his stride around 15. Hardtime's didn't exist until Keith was much older. It may have happened around 15 or 16 at Bob's, the Palice or Varsity.

I do think from 13 or 14 Keith became a monster and would be the fasteat or at least one of them to become great.
 
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Jack Madden said:
Another young player - Cole Dickson was "touring" the country hustling at 15 or so.
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By age 17 or 18, Cole was hopping planes and flying all over the country to play people.
 
So was Shannon the Cannon. Was with his Dad and Lil' Davey Howard in Cali around 15, broke 9ball like a monster (cannon).
 
ginsu said:
Keith was hitting his stride around 15. Hardtime's didn't exist until Keith was much older. It may have happened around 15 or 16 at Bob's, the Palice or Varsity.

I do think from 13 or 14 Keith became a monster and would be the fasteat or at least one of them to become great.
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The room in Bellflower was Verne Peterson's Billiard Palace and the pay ball game was on a 5 x 10. Hard Times in Bellfower is still open, and has some of the original equipment, including "Big Bertha', the tight pocket 6 x 12. Cole Dickson hit em pretty good when he was a kid too, and in my opinion it would have been hard to seperate their 9 ball game when they were around 17 or 18years old and they both bet high.
 
jay helfert said:
By age 17 or 18, Cole was hopping planes and flying all over the country to play people.
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Jay,
When he first showed up in Phoenix, I think he was around 15. And he is still hopping planes --- he was golfing last week --a little plane flight south of me maybe north of you;)
 
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If I'm not mistaken, I was watching a women's tournament on ESPN and the commentator stated that one of the two had turned pro after only playing 6 months. She was Asian, but I can't remember who it was. I'm not sure if this qualifies, but I was shocked to hear this.
 
for the sake of conversation and this thread Kim Davenport didnt start til he was 18(as I remember ) doing the math that sounds about right, and he was super strong in about 2 years I was told by Dave Ferroni(SP?). Kim just kept getting better and better every day Dave told me.

My point here is that when your born with talent it dosent take long to get good, I wasnt I had to fight and grind to become a A- player on a good day and that took years-now on the come back trail i'm a B player most of the time unless I catch a gear but I cant hold it long and slip back to the B class :( , I had a friend who started when I did and I needed the 5 ball in about 2 years later(over the next 10 years I closed the gap to probably the 7 ball). He had something I didnt. I was on the rail with some strong players watching my friend play one night on the top table and I'll never forget what they said "he cant play a lick now but he will be great someday" I asked how they could tell I was only playing 6 months at that time and couldnt see it-they explained it to me, and were right, he can beat all those guys who could see the talant with in about 2 years. I can see that in young players now that I have been around. My friend lacks self confidence and when he gets into the $$$ in a tournment he loses and cant gamble very good. If the $$ didnt rattle him he would be a pro. For $5 he can beat Parika, for $5000 he cant hold a cue. To be champion you must have it all. One last point you cant train in what God left out. God left a lot out of me in that area, but I do have other gifts in life.
 
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A very knowledgeable local in all areas of pool (I'm not giving his name - but he busted Cardone and Grady getting 8-6......probably the BEST "money" player around in the 70s/80s) said that a 16 year old Mike Sigel was coming down to D.C. getting spotted a ball from BUGS, playing races to 4 for $500 in one-pocket (something along those lines). How strong is that?

Buddy had natural talent, and strong desire to compete and win. He really studied 9 more than anyone - and had the talent to get to that level. I've talked to guys who saw him play back then and said he played such good shape on everything my four year old daughter could have made all of the shots. He never had a tough shot. From what it said in his book he hated losing so much - he would just keep trying til' fe figured out how to win. You really have to hate losing.

Steve Mizerak said he was 4 when his dad put him on a table. He banked the 8 ball cross-side and the rest is history. He said he was a prodigy at pool.

Allen Hopkins said the first time he played he ran 10 balls in straight pool.

The champion level players like that had the natural talent, desire to win, self-confidence, and practice/work ethic to take it to that level.
 
Can't Be Taught!

Buddy Hall, Keith McCready and all the other greats! They were born with phenomonal hand/eye coordination. They never had to figure out how a shot went in - it was second nature to them.

Also, most male pro's are borderline illiterate, the moajority are pool room bums who dropped out of high school so there's nothing "learned" about them.

As for the BCA instructors, keep up the good hustle if it's making you some dough. Great pool is born, good pool is acquired by solitary hours spent at a pool table.

At least when you pay a $1.50 for a hot dog, you have a hot dog. No BCA instructor can help you and you're paying much more than $1.50.

Short quick notes of the higher IQ variety

The Woim
 
The Woim said:
Buddy Hall, Keith McCready and all the other greats! They were born with phenomonal hand/eye coordination. They never had to figure out how a shot went in - it was second nature to them.

Also, most male pro's are borderline illiterate, the moajority are pool room bums who dropped out of high school so there's nothing "learned" about them.

As for the BCA instructors, keep up the good hustle if it's making you some dough. Great pool is born, good pool is acquired by solitary hours spent at a pool table.

At least when you pay a $1.50 for a hot dog, you have a hot dog. No BCA instructor can help you and you're paying much more than $1.50.

Short quick notes of the higher IQ variety

The Woim
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Larry, if you possessed even half of an IQ point, you'd stop coming back in here and insulting everybody. I can tell by your attitude and the insults that come with it that it's only a matter of time before "The Woim" hits the killfile with your other aliases.
 
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