I wonder if you all feel like me in that I find it extremely odd there isnt more specialization in pool. Many will say there is, but there really isn’t. The pattern we have in pool is the best shooters tend to refine themselves in other disciplines and be the best players in all games. The more you think about this in my opinion the more it doesn’t make sense. There should be specialists… let me give you an example to be clear… there should have been a player who could give efren a ball, a guy who only played one hole. That’s it. His entire existence that’s all he played… much like doctors going into brain surgery or a runner specializing in long distance.
So why is it not like that in pool? I thought about it and in my opinion it’s because pool is in its infancy somehow. I truly believe pool players have not reached anywhere near their maximum skill potential. I also think it has to do with money. If, for example, you could win a one hole tournament or a nine ball tournament and win a prize similar to golf prizes (millions of dollars), I think players would quickly specialize the way I am saying. They would devote all their efforts and time to the one game. And perhaps gifted player like efren may be able to do well in differing games… but what I am saying would happen is efren would gravitate toward the game he had the best % in (probably one pocket in my estimation), and he’d dig in and play only one pocket and his 9 ball and skills in other games would suffer. But see, our best players are forced into being Jacks of all trades because there is no money in pool, and what we get left with (without knowing it) is a lack of specialization which would theoretically result in a lower skill level (a generalist). And that’s exactly what I think happens.
Maybe I have no point. But maybe it’s a good point. I don’t know.
So why is it not like that in pool? I thought about it and in my opinion it’s because pool is in its infancy somehow. I truly believe pool players have not reached anywhere near their maximum skill potential. I also think it has to do with money. If, for example, you could win a one hole tournament or a nine ball tournament and win a prize similar to golf prizes (millions of dollars), I think players would quickly specialize the way I am saying. They would devote all their efforts and time to the one game. And perhaps gifted player like efren may be able to do well in differing games… but what I am saying would happen is efren would gravitate toward the game he had the best % in (probably one pocket in my estimation), and he’d dig in and play only one pocket and his 9 ball and skills in other games would suffer. But see, our best players are forced into being Jacks of all trades because there is no money in pool, and what we get left with (without knowing it) is a lack of specialization which would theoretically result in a lower skill level (a generalist). And that’s exactly what I think happens.
Maybe I have no point. But maybe it’s a good point. I don’t know.
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