What Do You Want From Lessons?

Lately, several players have reached out to me for advice.  I am so honored they choose me to ask my thoughts.  And I so much enjoy talking about my experiences to help others.  Been wonderful!

One friend from another state may move to Dallas/Fort Worth and was asking me about lessons. Should he get lessons from a pro (and which one?) or go to a pool school-like place?

I gave my suggestion and then he had GREAT comments/questions and worded them so much better than I ever could about what he is looking for in a one-on-one couch, that I asked him if I could share.

Lucky for us, he said yes :)

He asked me:

"How is his demeanor?  Has he taught before?  The reason I ask is because I don't want to meet up to get lessons from someone who is an arrogant ass.  I won't have enough respect to give him my money.  I need constructive criticism from someone that wants to teach me something about this game.

For Example, when I do a side job at a customers house, adding lights, fans etc., I want them to be happy with the way I just made their home look and feel. The money is a benefit of me making them happy.   

I want a teacher that wants to make me a better player in their heart with the money being a benefit of that. They can honestly say to themselves I made him a better player!  With the money secondary.  It's a mind set good teaching has.  I think some one-on-one coaches don't feel that way; they just want money...bottom line.  And that's not what I'm looking for."

His comments show he isn't just looking for lessons for just anyone, he's looking for lessons from someone who will appreciate giving lessons and not just trying to make a buck or two.  While we may all think this already, I think it's more in the back of our minds.

Most importantly, the correlation to his job and making others happy (money being secondary) really drives home this great point.  I really loved this, and am so excited to share his perspective!

Father Son Duo

Met an 11-year old up-coming pool player over the weekend that played in the Omega Tour stop.

Alex.

Cool kid - played good.

He and his Dad were wearing similar shirts - with a cool story!

His son was "Omega" and Dad was "Alpha."  Alpha (Α or α) and omega (Ω or ω) are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  His Dad said his son, Alex, was the last one in the family who is playing pool, so he had these cool shirts made to share the story.

Pretty neat!

Figure Out Misses Right Away

The trials and tribulations of our pool journey are what makes us who we are at present day in that journey.

When I first started to play pool, I'd leave the tourney with no thought about my matches, really.

As time went on, I started to care more, and therefore reflect more.  And so naturally I'd leave the tourney thinking about my horrible finish (errr, outcome lol).

As more time and dedication to the game went on into my journey, I started to reflect at the end of each tourney day.

But then things started to progress and as more time was spent at tournaments, I would think about why I lost a match right afterwards.  What was I doing wrong?  How come I practiced so well, but dogged my brains out during the match?  Etc.

As our game matures, so does our reflections and learning.  Eventually, I wouldn't just think in general why I lost, after matches I would be more specific, "oh crap, I wasn't staying down."  Or, "dang it, I was too bothered by outside influences and it was distracting me."

This is all GREAT progress!

But let me share what took me years to figure out, so you don't have to go through the long process that I went through lol.

AS SOON AS YOU MISS, figure out why.  Start to think about it right then and there!  Don't wait til you're down 0-6 to realize you aren't following through.  Don't wait til the match is over to realize why you didn't play your best.  DO NOT WAIT.

As soon as you miss - think about it right away and try to figure out why, what is going on?

For me, it's pretty simple (well, after trial and error for all those years lol).  I either am not staying down, not looking at the object ball last, not looking at 3-ball-ahead shape, or thinking about future consequences.

For example, if I am missing tough shots, it's normally because I have left myself tough shots which means I am out of line because I'm not thinking 3-balls ahead.

My match winnings significantly went up when I started to be more aware of figuring out as soon as I missed what was going on and why, so I could resolve it.

The key is to pay attention early and figure out what is going on right away.  Don't wait!

One of the biggest pieces of advice I like to share.  :)