Who has taken a few lessons from a top pro and got one level better?
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
You can lead a horse to water but.......
Don't waste your money if you're not willing to do the work.
Don't take offense at this, but the question reminds me of people that bring their puppy to obedience class with the belief that after 6 weeks the pup will have learned everything. The lessons only teach the owner how to teach. After that it's a lifetime of work depending on your goals. Same with pool lessons.
My experience has usually been, my game instantly Drops Off. The reason is easy to understand. You'll be learning new stuff within the fundamentals which will throw something else out of sync. With diligent work you will advance. If your fundamentals are perfect and only need info on cue ball control, aiming, diamond systems... then I'd say yes you will see immediate improvement.
Choose a Professional Instructor. They've studied the reasons why things are done and the reasons why things happen as they do, and will be able to explain them.
I just saw this from another thread: http://www.poolstudent.com/ go to "Don't Waste Your Money on Lessons"
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I have.
Hi Johnny --
I've seen a huge jump in my game in the last year and that's with the handicap of not practicing as much as I would have liked b/c of my job. But personally I think people go into a lesson and think they are going to magically come out of it a new player. Two reasons this doesn't happen:
1. They don't go practice their new found knowledge over and over again until they can't do it wrong. Then it comes up in a match and they don't execute it properly and they wonder why.
2. Whenever you change anything about your game, there is small window of time that your game actually gets worse before it gets better b/c you're not a master of these new skills yet and it takes time to become comfortable with them. Some players see this drop in their game as a sign that this new knowledge is wrong and stop implementing the change all together.
Personally I think it's a combination of lessons, practice, tournament play (or any pressure competition) and watching people better than you.
Playing on a Pro-AM tour up here in NY, I play people ALOT better than me all the time and it exposes so many of my weaknesses that I wouldn't see if I were playing someone my own speed or lower. When I don't kick properly, or get out of a rack I should, or play the right safe, or hell, if I break and don't squat the cue ball in the center, these higher players punish me! I see shots I struggle with alot more clearly when I play in these tourneys b/c under the pressure, the shots I'm scared of don't fall in.
I then go to my coach and say, "hey, this shot came up or this was the layout, why didn't this work?" or "I'm struggling with kicking, or stop shots, or ....." You get the picture. Sometimes TR and I will just play racks and after the break, he gives me ball in hand and simply says, "what's your strategy?" Then he can see both visually and verbally what I'm comfortable with, what I'm not comfortable with and usually the stuff I'm not comfortable doing is stuff I just haven't practiced enough or don't know yet.
And the just watching better players ... wow -- so many shots I've learned simply watching the higher players play -- strategies I never would have seen -- safes that never occurred to me.
Sorry if this is more info than you asked for but I kinda don't see this as a simply question. A top pro can give you the tools to get better, but it's up to the player to give those tools the best chance to work for them.
Hi Johnny --
I've seen a huge jump in my game in the last year and that's with the handicap of not practicing as much as I would have liked b/c of my job. But personally I think people go into a lesson and think they are going to magically come out of it a new player. Two reasons this doesn't happen:
1. They don't go practice their new found knowledge over and over again until they can't do it wrong. Then it comes up in a match and they don't execute it properly and they wonder why.
2. Whenever you change anything about your game, there is small window of time that your game actually gets worse before it gets better b/c you're not a master of these new skills yet and it takes time to become comfortable with them. Some players see this drop in their game as a sign that this new knowledge is wrong and stop implementing the change all together.
Personally I think it's a combination of lessons, practice, tournament play (or any pressure competition) and watching people better than you.
Playing on a Pro-AM tour up here in NY, I play people ALOT better than me all the time and it exposes so many of my weaknesses that I wouldn't see if I were playing someone my own speed or lower. When I don't kick properly, or get out of a rack I should, or play the right safe, or hell, if I break and don't squat the cue ball in the center, these higher players punish me! I see shots I struggle with alot more clearly when I play in these tourneys b/c under the pressure, the shots I'm scared of don't fall in.
I then go to my coach and say, "hey, this shot came up or this was the layout, why didn't this work?" or "I'm struggling with kicking, or stop shots, or ....." You get the picture. Sometimes TR and I will just play racks and after the break, he gives me ball in hand and simply says, "what's your strategy?" Then he can see both visually and verbally what I'm comfortable with, what I'm not comfortable with and usually the stuff I'm not comfortable doing is stuff I just haven't practiced enough or don't know yet.
And the just watching better players ... wow -- so many shots I've learned simply watching the higher players play -- strategies I never would have seen -- safes that never occurred to me.
Sorry if this is more info than you asked for but I kinda don't see this as a simply question. A top pro can give you the tools to get better, but it's up to the player to give those tools the best chance to work for them.
...and I'm putting together a 3-day school in Tampa, in early August. 
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com