Who taught you the most important thing?

Until last year...I was completely self-taught, other than the players I observed and took note of, as I don't recall receiving a single tidbit of advice unless it was in the form of a challenge or bet. But I think that was mostly due to my associations, as I don't think I spread my pool wings enough when I was young. I had a very small talent pool to pull from.

Last year a former road player I know verbally explained contact point aiming, and I realized this was the description of what I did naturally. They put it in context geometrically, and physically...and my technical brain soaked this up. Guessing and imagining when aiming are forever gone. It's all mathematical, pin point precision...visually anyway.

Then I took Scott Lee's Pool School where he broke down the fundamental mechanics of the stroke, and helped me develop "the process", which again easily, and fully resonated in my mind.

"The Process", is without a doubt the most important thing I've learned in pool. Thanks, Scott.
 
fat fingers

when your hands and fingers feel puffy and your 13mm shaft feels
like it's 16mm drink some ginger ale. This is what Ben Hogan said he did
when his hands were puffy and his grip did not feel right on the club.
works for me.
jack
 
Bill Cress (RIP) AKA: Diamond Bill from Pleasant Hill

Road player who shared this wisdom with me while he bit me
for a twenty to allegedly buy food:

He said: " Pool was once my passion, then it was my job,
and now it is my sentence."



and then he told me to never go more than 6 balls in one pocket.


Both of those have proven to be worth a hell of a lot more than a twenty.
 
A lot of good stuff in this thread.

I believe Tom "Dr Cue" Rossman gave me the best piece of advice I ever had. He told me there is only one way to become a better pool player. And that way is to simply work at it.

r/DCP
 
The man who taught me how to play gave me SO much info from the 'Old' GREAT Masters of the first half of the 20th Century! And just as much from His own knowledge and experience!

The MOST important ONE thing that I've taken from Him is, "NEVER give up until the very last point is scored!" I've played and seen MANY 'Pro' just throw in the towel when being behind! The sign of a TRUE Champion is, "When you can call on ALL your knowledge, experience and resolve to WIN, when you know you're NOT playing your best!"


 
Dalton Leong.

He told me the most important thing is to wear comfortable shoes. I laughed before I realized he was serious. I do believe he was right.
 
I heard a lot of great stuff from many sources, but I guess the no.1 tip I cherish the most didn't come from any particular person, just something I picked up from a few friends and the internet:

"If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough."

EDIT: That, and another one particularly regarding 8-ball, from a friend as well:

"It's never over until the 8 is dropped." - it's quite obvious and silly today, but during my early learning period, when you normally think you already won after getting 4-5 balls ahead of the opponent, it prevented me from getting cocky and kept me fully focused until the very end.
 
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Back when I was a teenager just figuring out the game, I got the best advice that I really have never heard anyone else come up with or at least explain in the same way.

It was simply to "project to the object ball".

He was talking about how difficult it is to aim if you are trying to line up the cue ball with the object ball, especially when applying english, since even a slight error is magnified the farther the cue ball has to travel.

So, instead, if you "project to the object ball", you are focused solely on the object ball, as if there is no distance between the cue ball and object ball. It's like pretending the cue ball is already at the contact point, and any spin and force you are applying is being directly transferred to the object ball without any distance in the way.

This really sunk in, and even though we may do this naturally, just being aware of it and consciously applying it made a huge difference in my game. It not only makes shot making simpler and easier no matter how long the shot is or what spin I'm using, but also gives me better feel/judgement with cue ball control, which leads to more accurate position play.

This advice was given to me by a very strong, older local player who to this day still shoots like he's in his 20's, and still is known for his shot making ability in particular.

Shooter08 said:
Honor the one who taught you the most valuable thing in pool, or on a more important level something that also pertained to life in addition to pool. I'm curious if there is a six degree of separation factor here. How many of us know someone in common that directly influenced us.
Click to expand...
 
I joined a friends BCA 8-ball team last year. He taught me about sucker outs & selling out. Being patient and playing safeties.

If you can't run the rack, don't try. Better to play a safety and let them sell out.. most players are dumb and will take the bait. 8-ball is a chess game.

Now I can hang with more skilled players, because I know my limits and I rarely sell out. APA is now basically a joke, my win% has gone through the roof. Thanks Duby :)
 
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