Billiards leaves few people indifferent. Just watching the balls move on the green table immediately awakens the desire to pick up the cue and show what you can do. Especially when you watch a professional at work – it all seems so easy – the balls seem to roll themselves into the holes. But when you try it yourself, you find out that it’s not like that…. Thus begins a long and not always easy learning process.
Categories of players
After some time, the player will have mastered the simplest techniques, the cue will be more obedient in his hands, and simple shots will be performed quite confidently. But then comes the understanding of how multifaceted the game is, how many complex problems to solve, how many techniques to master. After all, with each new achievement comes the next unfinished task (and not one!). After all, with each new achievement comes the next unfinished task (and not one!).
Mastering all the nuances of the game takes years and decades, and few people can confidently say that they have fully understood all the subtleties of billiards and mastered all the possible techniques.
However, a lot depends on the character and motivation of the player. Conventionally, we can distinguish four approaches to billiards and call their representatives as “amateur”, “student”, “sportsman” and ” pool scammer” (shark).
Amateur
An amateur plays more or less regularly. He likes to get together with friends to “shoot the balls” and simply sees it as a great way to spend time and have fun. The amateur likes the process itself. He may be able to master a few interesting technical and tactical techniques for his own pleasure. It is pointless to give advice here – if a person just wants to have fun, he knows best how to achieve that.
Student
A student is fundamentally different from an amateur. That is why self-improvement is important to him. He sets himself certain tasks, tries to improve his technique, develop certain skills. This process takes much time and can become quite fascinating, because mastering a new technique creates the desire to incorporate it into your game in a certain way, and this is a more difficult task. So, with the right motivation and a serious approach, the student can qualitatively improve his skills. However, he practices billiards “for himself”, often without any methodology, without taking part in competitions and without exchanging experience with other professional players. For this reason, the student’s potential is still limited – if he closes himself off in his own training, he runs the risk of remaining an “eternal student” who has never reached real mastery.
Sportsman
Sometimes, the amateur and the student grow up to the level of the sportsman, for whom billiards becomes a professional hobby. The sportsman pays enough attention to all aspects of preparation – both training and competition. He strives to play with the best masters, knowing that the player grows from his opponent. The sportsman is not only interested in winning, but also in developing his own skills.
Pool scammers
A special category are the so called “pool scammers”. They are very skilled players who do not try to show off their skills. Their only goal is to win. The best way to do this is to find a weak player and defeat him with a minimum of skill. A scammer needs to keep his skills at a high level, but regular encounters with newcomers are not the best way to get in good shape, so when he meets a good player, he will inevitably have problems.
As you can see, the main difference between the two approaches is the player’s motivation and goals.
Basic principles for the development of your skills
Billiards is a game of the mind. If a person can’t discipline the work of his brain and control his emotions, he will never become a great master. Problems in a particular game, where you can’t reach your potential, come from your head.
To improve the quality of your skills, it is not enough just to “hit the balls” from time to time. It is necessary to practise techniques, to analyse your own game and, if possible, to absorb the experience of more skilful colleagues.
Finally, it is important to play with skilled players, including in tournaments. This will allow you to learn something new and test your own strength. Often, one defeat against a master is more beneficial than several victories over a mediocre opponent. Difficult battles bring incomparable emotions that encourage further development.
Today, there are many opportunities for those who want to play billiards and improve their skills. The main thing is to understand what you want to achieve and what you need for this purpose.