Who's your favorite pro to watch that helps your game?

ALEX P will always be my fav player . Because of his all-around knowledge , ability to play any Billiard game at it's highest level, always plays the right shot , and his personality/charisma is simply great for the game.

......but

When it comes down to who I could watch play for days on end and never get bored. That would have to be Dennis Orcollo.
IMO , he gets through the CB the purest .
The combination of his Shotmaking , CB control and patterns are some of the best I've ever seen (after following pro pool for the past 24 years).
Win or Lose , will watch any 8-ball, 9-ball,10-ball,14.1 Orcollo match.
For someone that doesn't really enjoy one-pocket, I still watched his first match with Chohan.
Dude just plays GREAT.

Wish I could take lesson from him.

If I could play half his speed(ability), I would be satisfied. LOL
 
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Jose Parica

What I love about watching him is how he draws a picture on the table so you
Can see what he is going to do .... then he does it.....

I have a lot of favorite players on this list... but Jose is right there at the top.

Td
 
In no particular order:

Justin Hall, Justin Bergman, Roberto Gomez, Shane, Alex P.
 
Chris Melling is definitely #1.
Then Gareth Potts and John Morra + Mark Selby if we include snooker players.

I admire smooth stroke and discipline, also creativity!

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
 
drv4 said:
SVB has always been my favorite player but his stroke is something I can't emulate. Lately I've been watching Roberto Gomez, particularly his break, and it helped my break a ton. For some reason watching him and John Morra play and throw in Ouschan, seem to help my stroke, particularly the pause at the end of the back stroke, and made my game more consistent.

Has watching any particular player ever really just clicked with your game and made it better, whether it's the stroke, pattern play, or even their demeanor?
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Personally, I love watching John Morra play - best pre-shot routine and composure on the circuit. Stroke Wise.

Alex Pagulayan - for 1P, SVB for Rotation, Efren for EVERYTHING.

Each pro has something to offer!!
 
If I find myself rushing my stroke or my tempo is off, I pull up a match of John Morra. His fundamentals are flawless and the tempo of his stroke is one that I try to emulate.
 
Zhero said:
It changed over time:
Early 2000s, when i first started playing, I watched Efren, Earl, Corey.
Late 2000s, I started watching SVB, Orcollo, Bustamante, Alex P.
Early 2010s, I watched a lot more european players, Ralf, Mika, Niels, etc. I found their stroke to be the most consistent and methodical.
Now, I am gravitating towards Carlo Biado and Warren kiamco, I tried shooting with their style, higher upper body with more wrist movement, and i found that to be very effective.

To pump myself up, I watch Ko Pinyi, he makes pool beautiful for some reason, every time i watch him I just want to go out and play pool and run out like him.

I do recommend incorporating different styles for different shots, the most obvious being breaking the balls like SVB, etc.
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For stroking tempo - Buddy Hall or Chris Melling
 
For textbook perfect stroke, Buddy Hall. But after 1/2 lifetime of being in pool, I can safely say I no longer believe in any kind of "proper" stroke as so many pros, literally have major stroke flaws according to to the teachings of hundreds, if not thousands of amateur instructors who go by the book.

There is only 1, just 1 flaw in existence. And that is whatever causes you to not hit the CB where you intended. That's it. Everything else is BS. So from a mechanical standpoint, no pro is really helpful to watch. Don't believe me? Thanks to these great modern days we live in, Youtube has tons of examples of even the old timer straight pool greats with their poke-strokes, choking up on the cue. Some would twist their wrists. Elbow drops.... Just awful to look at. Yet these dudes could go 150 and out.

Anyway,

For overall, I like shooters like McCready, Strickland, Reyes, Shane and others.

I can definitely say I dislike pretty much every European player style. They all play very sterile, robotic, conservative, slow, overly systematic, aka BORING. It's successful, I don't argue that. But it seems to lack passion. Ronnie is awesome, but he's a Snooker player.

I very much prefer watching Americans or Filipinos who shoot. Who are gutsy. Who also have the nerve to gamble. Who make magic happen on the table. Whether it is dazzling shots, or the rhythm and pace of man on a mission in the zone...I just never see with the Euros. You get one speed with them. Slow and boring. Americans and Filipinos tend to be more adaptive. They can adapt to situations better and deal with adversity. When the Euro-robots are not able to execute their cookie cutter style play, they fall apart. This is why they are terrible gamblers, but strong tourney players.

Big money games, that's what defines greatness in my opinion. Not tournament performance. The best are the guys that can play head to head for big money and survive and win.

Sure, everyone technically plays the table. But...it seems Americans and Filipinos play the player to some degree, Euros play the table. You can see this in the decisions made on the table. When players truly play the table, the decisions are 'unbiased' and reflect only what is happening on the table, the current layout of the balls. Some Americans and Filipinos break from that, and consider what their opponent can and cannot do. This is why you sometimes see a high risk shot made, rather than a safety. Euros play the percentages more and rely on long term strategies. That wins a higher percentage of tournament matches over the duration...but it doesn't necessarily defeat an opponent head to head in a big money game.

I know I spoke with a lot of generalities, and quite a bit of opinion, but that's my thoughts.

What helps my game? Watching players who are exciting, unique and who have character and heart. They are inspiring, because they are fun to watch. Makes me want to play and get better. You're not just watching pool, you're seeing a story happen. Robot pool pushes me into other sports and activities.
 
Grilled Cheese said:
... I can definitely say I dislike pretty much every European player style. They all play very sterile, robotic, conservative, slow, overly systematic, aka BORING. ...
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Shaw? Filler? Drago? Melling? Immonen? Chinakhov? Ortmann?
 
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I enjoy watching the girls, I love when they come in wearing Vogue fashions.
even the bad mannered ladies like jasmin oschuan.
 
Buddy Hall
Mike Sigel
Nick Varner
Earl Strickland
Steve Mizerak

Out of all of them, I loved watching Buddy when he was in dead punch. Talk about making the game look easy. :thumbup:
 
Positively Ralf said:
Mike Sigel and whatever video pops up of Mizerak. Also, Judd Trump.
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OH CHEEZE. I watched 3 shots of a Segal 8 Ball game. Couldn't take anymore. The little Mike in his head talks out loud...
and Mike talks back to him. :rotflmao1:

Talk about a LOOONG 1/2 inning. :mad:
 
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