Why I never became any good at playing pool until...
I first began going into Fremont Family Billiards in my home town when I was 15. A high school buddy told me about it. I used to play the pinball machines at the bowling alley on the other side of the parking lot. He mentioned that he used to golf with Cole Dickson, who he said became a great pool player, and that I should check the poolhall out. So I did, and soon quit playing pinball. But I still miss that great Kings and Queens pinball machine.
Because I was so young and broke all the time, I never played much pool. I never ran a 9-ball rack, not even close, and I think once I actually ran 23 balls in straight pool. Wow! So I bought a mail order Palmer pool cue. I was so excited when it was delivered. It cost met about $40. My smile soon turned into frown when I put it together. The joint pin was offset by at least 3 sixteenths of an inch. I can still remember smashing that cue against a trash dumpster out back. It was well made. It took several powerful whacks to finally break it.
So I pretty much quit playing pool between 1971 and 1975. Then I began playing some, infrequently, over the next 3 years. My game only improved slightly. I then quit altogether.
I had moved to So. Cal. around 1986 but still hadn't even set foot into a poolhall.
I was searching YouTube just the other day and saw a video of Hard Times, Bellflower, of a big 10-ball tournament from 2013. I couldn't believe the names: Biado, Orcullo, Pagulayan, Soquet, Shaw, Kiamco, Hohmann, Morris, Archer, Dominguez, Van Boening, etc. Looking back, I still can't believe my bad luck to have missed it! That most certainly must have been the best tournament ever at Hard Times, Bellflower.
So because of this video, now I know when I started playing pool again. It was sometime after 2013. That's when I began going to Hard Times, Bellflower. I made a friendly impression relating the few firsthand stories I had about Cole Dickson with the regulars there. Over the years, I eventually ended up going in there at least 5 days a week for about 2 hours a day around noon just to play pool on table #1: a 9-foot Brunswick with 4 inch pockets. Most of the other players usually avoided this table. That's one reason I liked it. Even when the other 9 pro tables were taken, it was the one that usually was or became available. If you guessed it, my game only improved slightly from where I had last left off. But why?
The reason: I never thought of it like a sport or as a science. I just never thought at all. When I was a kid, I was told that if you hit the cue ball below center, that was a draw shot. And if you hit it above center, that was a follow shot. That was it. No one ever gave me any other help. And I never asked. I was always just so impressed with the other players who were all several years older. That was enough for me. Never gave it a thought. Never thought of challenging them. Maybe I was a little slow. Ya think? Bad habits are hard to break. Stupid is as stupid does.
Then COVID-19 closed Hard Times for good. No pool until recently. There is a 9-foot pool table at my apartment recreation center. It is usually available. My major complaint is the cloth. Seems like it was purchased from Fabrics R Us. But the table is pretty good for practicing shot-making.
I was reluctant to post this because you wouldn't have to dig too deep, in fact, only need to just scratch the surface, and you could find all you need, to assume, and reasonably so, that this guy has been full of it all along.
But I will prove otherwise in just a matter of a couple/few weeks at most. I have used a website where anonymous free time-limited video uploads are hosted. Seeing is believing. I will make a "really tough" 7-foot thin cut shot repeatedly. And just about anyone can be taught how to do this using a precise step by step approach that can also be used to aim and shoot any shot.
But I will not teach this. I will just demonstrate making such a shot repeatedly. Now, don't hold your breath. I am a recovering procrastinator. I can only devote about 2 hours per day and only about 2-3 days per week at most. This is the bottleneck.
I can already make this shot. It's all about intent, focus, judgement, and discipline: true desire expressed. I made it 3 times in a row and it wasn't luck. Because I use a step by step approach, it only requires carrying out this process with precision. It is the result that is automatic: not the implementation of carrying out each step meticulously. Once each step is mastered, each step will blend into the next until they all become a continuous flow. It's like going from digital to analog. Then from cerebral to feel.
But it's not easy, yet. I make this shot frequently. But frequently is not good enough. I'd say 9 times out of 10 is top pro level. Every time would be shark hustler level. I only manage to follow precisely the exact steps required some of the time. I think making the shot 6 times in a row would be proof enough. I just need a little more practice to get the process down for a video demonstration. I think anyone could acquire this ability certainly in about 50 hours of practice or so. This technique is not just to master a single "testy" shot. It is used on all shots.
I will post a video to show two different particular shots for demonstration purposes where I make each shot at least once. Give me a week to make the time. Then give me a couple/few more weeks to make each at least 6 times in a row.
Maybe you can already make each shot 6 times in a row? Then you are a top pro. Make each one every time? Then you have reached shark hustler level.
See ya.
I first began going into Fremont Family Billiards in my home town when I was 15. A high school buddy told me about it. I used to play the pinball machines at the bowling alley on the other side of the parking lot. He mentioned that he used to golf with Cole Dickson, who he said became a great pool player, and that I should check the poolhall out. So I did, and soon quit playing pinball. But I still miss that great Kings and Queens pinball machine.
Because I was so young and broke all the time, I never played much pool. I never ran a 9-ball rack, not even close, and I think once I actually ran 23 balls in straight pool. Wow! So I bought a mail order Palmer pool cue. I was so excited when it was delivered. It cost met about $40. My smile soon turned into frown when I put it together. The joint pin was offset by at least 3 sixteenths of an inch. I can still remember smashing that cue against a trash dumpster out back. It was well made. It took several powerful whacks to finally break it.
So I pretty much quit playing pool between 1971 and 1975. Then I began playing some, infrequently, over the next 3 years. My game only improved slightly. I then quit altogether.
I had moved to So. Cal. around 1986 but still hadn't even set foot into a poolhall.
I was searching YouTube just the other day and saw a video of Hard Times, Bellflower, of a big 10-ball tournament from 2013. I couldn't believe the names: Biado, Orcullo, Pagulayan, Soquet, Shaw, Kiamco, Hohmann, Morris, Archer, Dominguez, Van Boening, etc. Looking back, I still can't believe my bad luck to have missed it! That most certainly must have been the best tournament ever at Hard Times, Bellflower.
So because of this video, now I know when I started playing pool again. It was sometime after 2013. That's when I began going to Hard Times, Bellflower. I made a friendly impression relating the few firsthand stories I had about Cole Dickson with the regulars there. Over the years, I eventually ended up going in there at least 5 days a week for about 2 hours a day around noon just to play pool on table #1: a 9-foot Brunswick with 4 inch pockets. Most of the other players usually avoided this table. That's one reason I liked it. Even when the other 9 pro tables were taken, it was the one that usually was or became available. If you guessed it, my game only improved slightly from where I had last left off. But why?
The reason: I never thought of it like a sport or as a science. I just never thought at all. When I was a kid, I was told that if you hit the cue ball below center, that was a draw shot. And if you hit it above center, that was a follow shot. That was it. No one ever gave me any other help. And I never asked. I was always just so impressed with the other players who were all several years older. That was enough for me. Never gave it a thought. Never thought of challenging them. Maybe I was a little slow. Ya think? Bad habits are hard to break. Stupid is as stupid does.
Then COVID-19 closed Hard Times for good. No pool until recently. There is a 9-foot pool table at my apartment recreation center. It is usually available. My major complaint is the cloth. Seems like it was purchased from Fabrics R Us. But the table is pretty good for practicing shot-making.
I was reluctant to post this because you wouldn't have to dig too deep, in fact, only need to just scratch the surface, and you could find all you need, to assume, and reasonably so, that this guy has been full of it all along.
But I will prove otherwise in just a matter of a couple/few weeks at most. I have used a website where anonymous free time-limited video uploads are hosted. Seeing is believing. I will make a "really tough" 7-foot thin cut shot repeatedly. And just about anyone can be taught how to do this using a precise step by step approach that can also be used to aim and shoot any shot.
But I will not teach this. I will just demonstrate making such a shot repeatedly. Now, don't hold your breath. I am a recovering procrastinator. I can only devote about 2 hours per day and only about 2-3 days per week at most. This is the bottleneck.
I can already make this shot. It's all about intent, focus, judgement, and discipline: true desire expressed. I made it 3 times in a row and it wasn't luck. Because I use a step by step approach, it only requires carrying out this process with precision. It is the result that is automatic: not the implementation of carrying out each step meticulously. Once each step is mastered, each step will blend into the next until they all become a continuous flow. It's like going from digital to analog. Then from cerebral to feel.
But it's not easy, yet. I make this shot frequently. But frequently is not good enough. I'd say 9 times out of 10 is top pro level. Every time would be shark hustler level. I only manage to follow precisely the exact steps required some of the time. I think making the shot 6 times in a row would be proof enough. I just need a little more practice to get the process down for a video demonstration. I think anyone could acquire this ability certainly in about 50 hours of practice or so. This technique is not just to master a single "testy" shot. It is used on all shots.
I will post a video to show two different particular shots for demonstration purposes where I make each shot at least once. Give me a week to make the time. Then give me a couple/few more weeks to make each at least 6 times in a row.
Maybe you can already make each shot 6 times in a row? Then you are a top pro. Make each one every time? Then you have reached shark hustler level.
See ya.
