OK, today I’m gonna be a little blunt.
I want my students to have real results and have real improvement, so it’s time for a little tough love.
It seems like everybody these days wants to be a wizard on the pool table right away. They want to pull off crazy shots, learn advanced strategy, kicking, cool bank shots etc… and then when I watch them play a little, they can’t even hold the cue properly, they are jumping up on their shots, they are hitting their body with their cue on their stroke, or to avoid this they are steering their cue off line and delivering an ugly stroke. Yet they want advanced strategy, and they can’t even pull of a friggin stop shot when they need it, or draw the cue ball 6 feet for shape on the 9 ball.
When I have a new student, I know what their problems are before I even see them hit a ball. This might sound arrogant but it’s not. It’s just reality. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and I know what people are doing wrong. It’s always something from the previous paragraph… and usually combined with several other things like not aiming while standing, not knowing where the stroking line is, having no idea what they want to do with the cue ball until they are down (or changing their mind), changing the aiming line (stroking line) while down on the shot… the list goes on and on…
It seems like everyone wants to do insane Corey Deuel Shots before they can just consistently make easy looking run outs… Man oh man!
Let me tell you. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, and run before you can fly! Now I want you to be able to fly, just please do me a favor… take the time to go through the proper process of improvement so that you can one day fly.
Ok now when I say crossing the river I’m talking about the land of riches and super skill and strategy on the other side of the river from where you are standing. It’s wide and deep river filled with hungry piranhas and crocodiles, undertows and giant man eating catfish. If you try to swim across this river without first mastering the basics…surely you will be eaten alive.
There does exist however one sturdy and safe way to cross this perilous river. If you take this bridge what awaits you on the other side is a resort style life with all the amenities and possibilities your heart desires. You can run out in whatever way you choose, just because you feel like it. You can make long shots, short shots, bank shots, kick shots into the pocket, make the cue ball land on a dime at will, and win events on a regular basis. Sound good?
Well that bridge is the fundamentals. Be different than the slew of amateurs out there who just wing it, play kind of decent, and then when they get the river bank, simply stare at the other side dreaming and wishing they could cross to the land of bounty yet don’t have the bridge to get there so they just stay on this side or jump in only to get eaten by a rouge great white shark, or worse yet eaten by a big carp. Don’t let that be you. Find the bridge and walk across surely and safely to the other side to run out land.
Ok now go make that bridge more solid, straighten out that stroke, stay down and follow through on your shots, and mark up another bead on your side of the scoreboard!
Go kick some fundamental ass!
Max Eberle
One of the many cool looking mid-century modern homes in Las Vegas, NV.