Your pool knowledge

3

3RAILKICK

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How did you get most of it?

By paying for it? Cheap gambling?

By observation, instructional books and videos, viewing taped matches, viewing good players match up at the poolroom, attending and watching tournaments?

Do you share or trade shots with others in your home room? Will you come up after a match and in an appreciative fan mode, ask for advice from a player on a great shot you just witnessed?

Do you sometimes give info away-depending on....what? Because you were asked, and feel complimented, because you are getting old and are tutoring somebody?

At some point in your pool life-is it better to give than to receive?

I have been fortunate enough to learn from two generous elder statesmen in two different rooms. I think I would like to pass such things along as I get older, if I get asked, and if I can remember what I was taught. Hell, I don't play well enough for it to do me much good-maybe in the right hands, the information has a future.

What do you guys do, or think about the 'hand down/pay it forward' concept?


Just some new Year's Day rambling, I guess.

Take care
 
Generally playing against other players, watching other players, talking to other players and having those sessions where everyone is showing off the stroke shots and the like and everyone trys them.

I learned a very tiny amount of my total pool knowledge from formal instruction. Most is gained via experience and simply living at the pool hall and interacting with other players for alot of my mid teens-early 20's.

I also learned a ton from watching Accustats videos of the pros simply playing matches. Those are a way better learning resource then most instructional videos I have seen.
 
3RAILKICK said:
How did you get most of it?

By paying for it? Cheap gambling?

By observation, instructional books and videos, viewing taped matches, viewing good players match up at the poolroom, attending and watching tournaments?

Do you share or trade shots with others in your home room? Will you come up after a match and in an appreciative fan mode, ask for advice from a player on a great shot you just witnessed?

Do you sometimes give info away-depending on....what? Because you were asked, and feel complimented, because you are getting old and are tutoring somebody?

At some point in your pool life-is it better to give than to receive?

I have been fortunate enough to learn from two generous elder statesmen in two different rooms. I think I would like to pass such things along as I get older, if I get asked, and if I can remember what I was taught. Hell, I don't play well enough for it to do me much good-maybe in the right hands, the information has a future.

What do you guys do, or think about the 'hand down/pay it forward' concept?


Just some new Year's Day rambling, I guess.

Take care
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Mine came from all of the above, and I do share some things.
I also keep a lot to myself as most players think they know it all anyway.
 
Im very lucky to have one of the best players in our state (over the last 20 years) take me under his wing. You can practice on your own, you can watch dvds, read books and you can play matches, but you can't replace that transfer of knowledge man to man. He had been given his knowledge by one of the best players in Australia 20-25 years ago.

We would play games and he would give me constant feedback, tell me when i played the wrong shot, what he had done instead etc. Actually we still do it, though not as regularly.
 
How to learn different shot's & plays in billiards

3RAILKICK said:
How did you get most of it?

By paying for it? Cheap gambling?

By observation, instructional books and videos, viewing taped matches, viewing good players match up at the poolroom, attending and watching tournaments?

Do you share or trade shots with others in your home room? Will you come up after a match and in an appreciative fan mode, ask for advice from a player on a great shot you just witnessed?

Do you sometimes give info away-depending on....what? Because you were asked, and feel complimented, because you are getting old and are tutoring somebody?

At some point in your pool life-is it better to give than to receive?

I have been fortunate enough to learn from two generous elder statesmen in two different rooms. I think I would like to pass such things along as I get older, if I get asked, and if I can remember what I was taught. Hell, I don't play well enough for it to do me much good-maybe in the right hands, the information has a future.

What do you guys do, or think about the 'hand down/pay it forward' concept?


Just some new Year's Day rambling, I guess.

Take care
Click to expand...


All of the above are great for learning, the one's I like the most for learning is watching video's of ( Buddy Hall & Efren Reyes), or other great players, and as you stated " ask for advice from a player on a great shot you just witnessed", nothing like watching pool first hand, ..........


also there are alot of shots and plays you can learn from players that are not Champions, they too sometimes have mastered certain play situations or shots that they unknowingly or knowingly have become very proficient at.

Sometimes a cub can show a bear a shot or two in pool!


David Harcrow
 
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fortune cookies......i eat lots of chinese......probably cost me 375K$ worth of noodles to know what i know lmfao
 
Pool Knowledge

I read a lot of books, watch all the pro matches I can find, watch streamed events and instructional DVDs. I have also been to pool school and try to play with superior players and learn from them. At this point in my pool journey, I have a great deal of knowledge and a little bit of skill (probably C+ or B-). I know what I need to do in a given situation but quite frequently cannot pull the shot off. More knowledge than skill, I guess. lol
 
I was lucky enough (although I did not know it at the time)to start playing in NJ in the early 60's.At that time there were a lot of real good and great players around.And many who were not from the area were there quite often for tournaments.Players such as Johnny Ervilino ,Willie Mosconi,Joe Russo,Ernie Lager,Pat Fleming,Jack Colivita,Cisero Murphy,Lou Butera,Jersey Red,The Miz,Irving Crane,Pete Margo and lots that I've forgotten their names.
So as a 13 year old kid I got to watch and learn.
 
You got it right there!

peteypooldude said:
Mine came from all of the above, and I do share some things.
I also keep a lot to myself as most players think they know it all anyway.
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You said a mouthful for sure there Pete. You know sometimes I try to help some of the players in the rooms where I play and they don't even want to listen.

I think to myself: If they only knew what an impact this would make? How much nicer it would be to see the shot correctly.

You hit the nail right on the head.

Happy New Year and keep winning. Thanks again Geno.............
 
As far as fundamentals, lessons from my friend Len Jaszewski (BCA Master Certified instructor). I learned more about how to play the game from videos that I purchased from Accu- Stats.
 
i don't know much

what i dp know i got from a gzillion hrs of practice and a lot of video.
 
I found a top instructor, who taught me to only listen to him, and to shut off everyone else trying to give me free advice and teachings.

Too many cooks, spoil the broth.
 
genomachino said:
You said a mouthful for sure there Pete. You know sometimes I try to help some of the players in the rooms where I play and they don't even want to listen.

I think to myself: If they only knew what an impact this would make? How much nicer it would be to see the shot correctly.

You hit the nail right on the head.

Happy New Year and keep winning. Thanks again Geno.............
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I am certainly glad I had a chance to learn from you. I see people missing
balls all the time because they don't see the shot correctly.
THANKS GENE
 
My ability to teach is a byproduct of being taught how to watch listen and learn correctly - from everybody and all situations.

You can learn something from anybody.

From some people you can learn how to do things that will help you become a better player - and from some people you will learn what things will keep you from getting there.

Watch both sides of that coin like a hawk and take good notes.

Show me someone with a closed mind that swears to only learn from one source, or from ultra selective sources, and I'll show you someone with limited potential.

I won't go in to how I learned what I know, I'll just pass along some of the most important things that I was taught early on.

This is the short list...

Hit a lot of balls. When you have done that to the point of exhaustion, stay at the table and hit some more. The more you play, and the more you challenge yourself with tough competition and high pressure situations, the more confident you will become. There is no better teacher than playing and staying in the thick of the action. The people that dispute that have never had the balls to go there, so you'd be wise to ignore their input altogether.

I write books and I make videos. However, no matter what you find out there in the marketplace, you can't buy greatness. You won't find the magical secret to success by reading a book or watching a DVD either. Greatness is achieved by those that understood that they needed to work harder than everybody else - so they did just that. Work your ass off day in and day out. If you get drilled today - boldly walk back in there tomorrow ready to go at it again - no matter how bad you feel - or how humiliating it was the day before. Come back undaunted and ready to play. People will respect that.

Nobody respects a crybaby or a complainer.

Show respect to the better players and to people that know more than you do. Keep your ears open and your mouth shut. By doing so, you will have won half the battle between yourself and what you perceive to be your inabilities.

Seek out the champions, and ask a lot of questions. The dumbest thing you could ever do is to be too proud or too stupid to ask for help. If you need proof of that... at your next tournament, find 3 or four guys that went two and out. Take them all out to lunch - listen closely to what they say and how they say it - and then watch who gets stuck with the check. Don't ever say that I didn't warn you.

The best teachers understand that it is an honor to pass their experience and knowledge to others. It is an honor to have people listen and pay attention to what you have to say. With that honor comes the responsibility of knowing what the hell you are talking about. If you lack expertise or knowledge on a certain topic - or if you don't have the correct answer - find someone that does. You'll provide a great disservice to your students by giving them inadequate or inaccurate information.

Finally, be the guy that shows up to win. Many players show up to donate money to the prize fund. Many players show up to BS and socialize. Many players show up to cry and whine about their misfortunes to anyone that'll listen to them. Be the guy that everybody expects to show up and win. When you step into that role, you'll win half of your matches before you ever hit a ball. Really... you will!

I'm not sure if all of that applies to this topic, but hopefully somebody out there will get some use out of it.
 
I learned my pool foundation from the late Don Rose...(RIP).

He showed me how to align myself so that my cue is straight and I am seeing the shots correctly....as he put it...how to aim vs. look at a shot.

He also showed me various tricks and shots....He would hang out at a local pool room every Wednesday night...I would always make it a point to go over and say hi....it would always turn into a shot, technique, or something about pool that was always beneficial to my game.

He also liked Golf....He would always ask me questions about his Golf game.

I have watched all of the Mike Paige videos online...and read and watched much of Dr Daves web site.

Everything else has just been learned through a few books, picking up on tips from here and there. I have spoke with Scott Lee at BCA...I have watched and spoke with Dr Cue at BCA....(and one time when he showed up to play Golf at the Golf course I was working at)....I have learned from reading this forum........and a lot of experimentation.:wink:
 
Many things...............

growing up it was all just learning from watching my pops. After a certain point it was from reading books ( Dr Dave's book is a must! Learn the science and you begin to understand the magic of how, why and where ), watching matches on tv, vhs, dvd, internet with the changing times, top players helping me out ( thanks father and son duo! ) and of course my own trials and errors.....
 
3RAILKICK said:
How did you get most of it?

By paying for it? Cheap gambling? Both

By observation, instructional books and videos, viewing taped matches, viewing good players match up at the poolroom, attending and watching tournaments? Yes

Do you share or trade shots with others in your home room? Will you come up after a match and in an appreciative fan mode, ask for advice from a player on a great shot you just witnessed? Yes

Do you sometimes give info away-depending on....what? Because you were asked, and feel complimented, because you are getting old and are tutoring somebody? I only share that info with young women that want to excel because most young men are thankless prix

At some point in your pool life-is it better to give than to receive?

I have been fortunate enough to learn from two generous elder statesmen in two different rooms. I think I would like to pass such things along as I get older, if I get asked, and if I can remember what I was taught. Hell, I don't play well enough for it to do me much good-maybe in the right hands, the information has a future.

What do you guys do, or think about the 'hand down/pay it forward' concept?


Just some new Year's Day rambling, I guess.

Take care
Click to expand...

I was fortunate to hang with some good players, old school guys that normally never release the goods because they never wanted it to come back to haunt them. Always thanking them for any help they were willing to give and never forgetting to put them on the jelly list when a score was made...
 
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