Why Not Share Your Secrets?

[book collector]

I have always appreciated when someone tried to help me and I usually try to help anyone I can.
Have I gotten some bad advise , sure , not because they were trying to screw me , just because they thought they understood and really did not.
Even bad information is better than none, at least you have a chance to see whats possible!
I'm sure I have given some bad advice also, for the same reason.
Do I think any of it ruined someones chance of being a great player or held them up for a long period of time in their developement ?
What do you think?
I'm going to give the biggest "tip" I have ever given about pool.
Too many of us go to the poolroom to try to pick up a few bucks, anything from a few dollars to 50 or 100.
Think about how often you sit there all day or night and wait on that to happen?
Usually you are surrounded by 90% or more of the poolroom trying to do the same thing.
You never play each other because someone might be watching, and you almost never miss a day because that might be the day!
That was the first thing I noticed when I quit gambling, I was a pool room .......... {you can enter any word that you think fits here.}
{hustler is not correct.}
Now I can go and play anyone I like , I can play all out and not worry if anyone saw me make a nice shot.
I can try to be honest , instead of mixing truth with lies to get a game.
If I am not having fun , I can go home.
If my family is doing something I can take a day off and go with them!
Would I trade my peace of mind and enjoyment for a few bucks I might or might not win off someone?
Will you?
Gambling at pool is at best an illusion for most people, and as I have said before , it may not ruin you, but it can certainly be a destroyer of your children.

 

[tonyboy59]

It depends on the person. If the person is respectful of the game and has a desire to really want to learn the game I have no problem helping them. In fact I get allot out of seeing somebody improve from information I've shared with them.

But if they're a Ahole, forget it, I dont bother with them.

I remember one guy at a pool hall that was woofing all over the place, setting his beer on the rail of the table, shooting while having a cigarette hanging from his mouth and dropping his ashes on the table. This guy comes over and starts watching me play. I was studying a difficult kick shot and after a little bit of looking it over I shot it and made it. The guy then walks up to me while I'm shooting the next shot and asks me how I did that. I looked at him with a straight face and said, "well, the first thing you got to do is block out all distractions". Then I went back to shooting my game while he stood there dumbfounded!

The guy I was playing started laughing so hard he had tears coming out of his eyes.

Good Story! I smiled after the word "distractions"...well played.

 

[Mr. Bond]

Would I trade my peace of mind and enjoyment for a few bucks I might or might not win off someone?
Will you?
Gambling at pool is at best an illusion for most people...

This is perhaps one of the most intelligent statements I have ever read on this forum.

 

[scottjen26]

Personally I'll share anything I know with anyone as long as they ask and they are a relatively normal person. I've had some weird experiences trying to help people unsolicited, even when everyone in the room I regularly play in knows I'm one of the better players that doesn't mean they will believe you, or remember what you said, or practice what you told them.

I share info freely because when I was learning, there was no internet and very few resources to learn things about pool. It was very difficult to get information out of most of the better players in the room. I learned from some of the standard books (Martin, Byrne, later Capelle) and by watching other better players and matches on TV or from Accustats. And tons of practice and experimentation. With all of the information and matches/commentary available on the internet, I think many of the "secrets" that used to exist are public knowledge if you know where to look.
Scott

 

[kybill9]

If I see a newbie in the poolroom practicing long hours and showing some devotion, I may give them some pointers on their mechanics. If they listen to that, another pointer and then more. Those who really want to learn will. There are some pretty good players around our joint, if I see one of them in a bad habit, like jerking up or playing too fast, I give them a cue to what they are doing.
Everyone gets into a bad slump occasionally and usually its just mechanics. Sometimes its mental.

 

[Scott Lee]

Scott...I KNOW you learned at least a couple of things from taking lessons...if nothing else, than about youself! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I learned from some of the standard books (Martin, Byrne, later Capelle) and by watching other better players and matches on TV or from Accustats. And tons of practice and experimentation. With all of the information and matches/commentary available on the internet, I think many of the "secrets" that used to exist are public knowledge if you know where to look.

Scott

 

[Mikjary]

Nope. Just change your lure. HulaPopper today, JitterBug tomorrow.

-Sean

My two favorite lures of all time. :grin:

Best,
Mike

 

[book collector]

This is perhaps one of the most intelligent statements I have ever read on this forum.

Thank you sir.

 

[irock]

Of course there are secrets out there. How do you know they are secrets? Because no one is talking about them, or showing them.
If you knew a slot machine in a casino would pay off big time, every night at midnight, would you tell the casino, of course not, you would be there every night at midnight, until they figured it out and fixed it. When I believe someone has told me something that has helped me, I try to return the favor. But honestly, when someone gives something away, it is usually because they want to help others, but also because they have probably found something better. I have bought a lot of instructional videos, and some were very helpful, but some were a waste of time, and just sit on my shelf, am I sorry I bought them, not really, that is just the nature of the beast, all of us have been there and done that. I am also convinced, I know what some of the Pros do to help them play at such a high caliber, but will I ever play like Shane or Johnny, or Earl, no, because there is so much more to it than just knowing something. Do I wish I had known this years ago, you bet your a**. It has improved my game as much or more than any videos have, and is not sitting on a shelf gathering dust.

 

[irock]

When I lived in Hickory Hills in Chicago, many years ago, A friend of mine and I took a full day lesson from Preacher Feeney, at his home in Naperville. At lunch time, we all walked to his favorite hot dog place for lunch, which he paid for. It was so much fun spending a whole day, just learning and asking questions, and listening to an unending supply of pool stories from one of the game's great players and teachers.

 

[Woof Biscuit]

This reminded me of a story. I was in a room a couple weeks back. There was this guy that looked familiar but I just couldn't quite remember him. I watched him break and I saw the cue ball go flying off the table and right then I remembered him. I said to the guy sitting next to me, "that guy has been flying the cue ball off the table on his break for 10 years!". His response was "Nope. It's more like 20.".

Some people just never learn.

That guy would have gone broke playing in the room I grew up in. If you knocked a ball off the table you had to put two dollars in the juke box. In high school that was tough action.