Who plays the "right" way?

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you could package up a player or a few and say to a person "watch how he plays and copy him, and you will learn the right way to play" who would you pick? Or a few parts of several? And why?

I pick Buddy Hall, in the many years I have been watching him, I have very very rarely seen him pick a shot that had any chance of losing a game for him. The routes he picks to position, his speed control, are all dead on.


Close second for me would be Nick Varner. Both these guys have a great pre-shot routine, watching them is like watching a texbook on how to cue the ball.
 
hang-the-9 said:
If you could package up a player or a few and say to a person "watch how he plays and copy him, and you will learn the right way to play" who would you pick? Or a few parts of several? And why?

I pick Buddy Hall, in the many years I have been watching him, I have very very rarely seen him pick a shot that had any chance of losing a game for him. The routes he picks to position, his speed control, are all dead on.


Close second for me would be Nick Varner. Both these guys have a great pre-shot routine, watching them is like watching a texbook on how to cue the ball.
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Thorsten Hohmann.... 'nuff said. :cool:
 
Hard to argue with your choices of Buddy Hall and Nick Varner. Among the players who are still competing on a more regular basis, I might add Ralph Souquet to the list.
 
Emulate

Ralf Souquet, Buddy Hall, or Max Eberle. All have fantastic fundamentals.
 
Buddy Hall. Johnny. And on the explosive side--Hatch. Yeah, Dennis.

I am also gonna add that my friend "the Train" had great God given talent. Those of you who know who I'm talking about remember him at his best. I could write a book on our excursions when he was about sixteen.
 
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To me, for a player to qualify as the one you want to copy, he/she must a) have great fundamentals, b) be a great decision maker in both offense and defense, c) be a great executer of both offense and defense and d) be a first rate strategist.

To me, nobody measures up to Ralf Souquet, who is as complete a pool player as any I have ever watched.
 
sjm said:
To me, for a player to qualify as the one you want to copy, he/she must a) have great fundamentals, b) be a great decision maker in both offense and defense, c) be a great executer of both offense and defense and d) be a first rate strategist.

To me, nobody measures up to Ralf Souquet, who is as complete a pool player as any I have ever watched.
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not to mention, be a complete class act in and out of competition.
Ralf gets my vote as well.
 
Scottster said:
Danny Harriman
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I also think Harriman...he plays all games...with well thought out patterns. Buddy is the "Mayor" when it comes to that though. Earl even told me that one time.

Curly
 
From my area in North Carolina I would advise anyone able to watch BJ Ussery, he never shoots hard and makes the game look so easy. He looks like you were giving him ball in hand for every shot when in stroke and he stays in stroke most of time, nothing fancy just in line and close to the object ball.--Leonard
 
except for his break, I was and still am a huge fan of Steve Cook.
Ralf Souquet definitely is on this list imo.
 
For the mechanics side I like Cory Duel, Max Eberly and Jim Rempe....

For the pattern play / shot selection side Its pretty hard to pick anyone over Nick Varner & Buddy Hall...I guess Efren maybe.
 
Well, all I can say is NOT to copy me. I'm the "BEFORE" pictures in the billiard books.

Got a stroke like an unfolding lawnchair!

If I had to chose, I'd have to pick Buddy in his prime or, today, Ralf. Also, Shane for his work ethic.

Stones
 
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assuming we're talking standard nine ball, buddy hall is the man. his position play is so good he never had to shoot a hard shot. which is arguably pool at it's purest and perfect.

also mike sigel. he's not particularly spectacular, but i would put him in the same category as buddy. he rarely didn't get out, and that's because of his position play too.

also i would throw earl and hatch in the mix too. ideally you want to play the game with a nice rhythm and pace, not getting bogged down, and stroking free. which is as important a lesson as any.

and finally shane van boening too. just watching him i believe is a lesson on another great mentality around the table. completely relaxed and loose, yet confident and focused.

oh and bustamante for a text book stroke too.
 
Soquet's demeanor, Bustamante's flare and shot making ability, Efren's knowledge, and Buddy Hall's stroke.

I think this combo would be tough to beat
 
SlickRick_PCS said:
Thorsten Hohmann.... 'nuff said. :cool:
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First person who came to mind. I saw him at the World's Straight Pool Championships in New Jersey last year, and he is the entire package "in game" on and off the table.
 
I realized I had poor fundamentals when I looked at old pictures of myself at the table shooting. Horrible alignment and posture.. surprised I made anything back then. Now I have solid fundamentals, especially after attending the US Open in person and seeing the little things that are hard to notice on TV. The people I attempt to emulate the most are Jeanette and Thorsten. Their style of getting over the cue seems to fit with my style better than anyone else's.
 
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