Who became the best the fastest?
- Thread starter arsenius
- Start date
i agree with the statment above to the extent great pool is born, you cant train in what God left out, no matter how many hours a person plays they will hit a wall at some point. If it wasnt the case there would be hundreds or thousands of players running 300 balls ib 14.1 or 8 packs in 9B instead of 50 or so players in ther world and some champions havent put the effort into pool that some top A players have.
What instructors can do is get you to your potential faster and with out a doubt raise the level of your game higher than if you go at it alone, but they cant turn everyone into champions, champions are born with something the rest of us arnt born with. If anyone has a counter point to this I'd love to hear it. I support the efforts of all instructors weather they are certified or not dosent matter to me-they are a assett to the game. Instruction is the best route to take-I wish I had it in the begginning, I didnt and devloped some bad habits early on that I still struggle with today. Look at Hopkins he does everything wrong on paper but when he delivers the cue he is perfect and a great player, so it goes deeper than good fundmentals. Most solid B players look like they can beat Hopkins based on fundmentals and we all know that aint gonna happen.
What instructors can do is get you to your potential faster and with out a doubt raise the level of your game higher than if you go at it alone, but they cant turn everyone into champions, champions are born with something the rest of us arnt born with. If anyone has a counter point to this I'd love to hear it. I support the efforts of all instructors weather they are certified or not dosent matter to me-they are a assett to the game. Instruction is the best route to take-I wish I had it in the begginning, I didnt and devloped some bad habits early on that I still struggle with today. Look at Hopkins he does everything wrong on paper but when he delivers the cue he is perfect and a great player, so it goes deeper than good fundmentals. Most solid B players look like they can beat Hopkins based on fundmentals and we all know that aint gonna happen.
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Wu Chia-ching is the only player to be 9-ball and 8-ball world champion simultaneously, which he did at 16.arsenius said:
(edit: as pointed out, that should have been "first player" or "youngest player."
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> I knew a kid that lived in Jonesboro,Ark back about 12-13 years ago,that would be right up there with SVB if he hadn't got killed by an accidental gunshot stemming from an argument over Chinese food. He had been playing maybe a year when I first met him,and was probably an APA 7 already. In less than 2 years,he was making a living beating the 9-ball ghost,and was approaching the speed of players like Hennessee,Bartrum,and Rob Saez. Tommy D.
Some people have the talent to play pool. Others have to struggle for years to learn it.
I have a friend, who hasn't shot seriously in about 8 years, who could play for a week and be a strong b player. He isn't interested in the game though. Was playing as strong as anyone in our area as a 12 or 13 year old after playing for about 2 months total. At the time there was some strong players around.
Wish I had his natural ability.
I have a friend, who hasn't shot seriously in about 8 years, who could play for a week and be a strong b player. He isn't interested in the game though. Was playing as strong as anyone in our area as a 12 or 13 year old after playing for about 2 months total. At the time there was some strong players around.
Wish I had his natural ability.
I think Kim started playing at an earlier age than 18. My dad and Kim are pretty good friends, my dad was from Stockton and Kim from Modesto. They both were up and coming players as teenagers, my dad being 1 or 2 years older than Kim. Kim came to do a couple of exhibitions at my fathers pool room later on. I thought I remember Kim telling me he started playing when he was 13.Fatboy said: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.
The guy I always heard became a champion in the quickest time was Mark Tadd. As the story goes he had only been playing 5 years when he was a world beater.
Bob Jewett said:
Bob,
This would be my choice also. Wu was 9 Ball World Champion at 16 and World 8 Ball Champion at 17. NOBODY touches those credentials.
As far as gambling for top $ at a young age and WINNING, Shannon Daulton, Corey Deuel, Dennis Hatch, Alex Paguylayan, Earl Strickland, Mike Sigel and Keith McCready. You could throw a blanket over this group and pick one as to who was the best at any given age.
As far as older champions go, Ralph Greenleaf, Willie Mosconi and Jimmy Caras all showed uncanny ability at a very young (pre-teen) age. Jimmy Caras's father owned a poolroom and would put Jimmy in action almost daily after school. He would have his son play for $100.00 a game when there was only $40.00 in the cash register. Caras said that "steeled" his nerves.
Heres a clip courtesy of ProPoolVideo that has a cute Jimmy Caras story....
http://propoolvideo.com/old-school/from-a-lamb-to-a-lion.html
thebigdog said:
On page 30 of the April 1991 issue of Billiards Digest, Kim Davenport says he started at age 10. BUT, the story goes on to say, that Davenport took a "sabbatical" from the game and was "lured back in his early twenties."
Push.
Sadly, there's not a lot of oldtimers from the Philippines to attest to Efren's
exploits when he was young. At the tender age of 8, Efren was already earning
his own lunch money by taking on all comers from different schools. He was
already playing the shortstops even at the age of 10 and by 12, he was
already sending the 2nd tier and semi-1st tier pool hustlers crying for mama.
That's how strong he is...
exploits when he was young. At the tender age of 8, Efren was already earning
his own lunch money by taking on all comers from different schools. He was
already playing the shortstops even at the age of 10 and by 12, he was
already sending the 2nd tier and semi-1st tier pool hustlers crying for mama.
That's how strong he is...
stick8 said:Tap Tap-- i can rember dogboy at the age 14-15 at wagon wheel, bustting balls and i do mean BALLS!!!!!!
?
? ?"dogboy"???? DOG-boy???
Or did you mean "Doughboy"?
JoeW said:
Joe,
Mosconi started at 6 and gave his first exhibition at age 7. His opponant was Ralph Greenleaf!
this is very true, I grew up playing snooker but the same thing would happen. The guys with natural talent would improve real fast. Mark Allen won the World Amateur a few years after taking the game up. He is know in the top 20 in the world as a pro and still a kid. Kinda like Keith I guess just a complete natural