Skin's B Level One-Pocket Player Manifesto

[Skin]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

As prone as you are to deleting posts and threads I just have to quote this one.

Dennis

 

[Skin]

As prone as you are to deleting posts and threads I just have to quote this one.

Dennis

A thread you started can't be deleted, Dennis. All you can do is delete or modify text. Learned that one the hard way.

Skin

 

[lfigueroa]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

You might want to consider naming this "A Loser's 1Pocket Manifesto."

Oh, wait. You did.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Skin]

You might want to consider naming this "A Loser's 1Pocket Manifesto."

Oh, wait. You did.

Lou Figueroa

In case no one has been prevailed upon to bring you the news, allow me Lou. Reality trumps fantasy every time over the long haul. This, I believe, is why you...oh, never mind. LOL

Skin

 

[NH Steve]

I must be a 'B' player too, Skin, lol.

 

[lll]

You might want to consider naming this "A Loser's 1Pocket Manifesto."

Oh, wait. You did.

Lou Figueroa

lou maybe you could give a real answer why you think this is a "losers" manifesto???

 

[lll]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

reality check
if you dont think you are better than you are you wont get into bad games as often
shots and moves
master some moves and let the other guy make the mistake first
whats wrong with that???
strategy
dont do anything stupid
keep the pressure on
sounds like "mistake free" 1p at a lower level

this wont work against efren or those we watch on accu stats
but the majority of pool players arent at that level

so lou
whats wrong with this manifesto for the "B" players


myself im striving to be an "A" player and try to play by the "A" (ghost)manifesto
but these concepts are used by them also
they just do it better and then take it to the next level
but you have to crawl before you walk

my 2 cents
but what do i know
i thought rafael martinez played the wrong strategy /shots against scott:

 

[One Pocket Ghost]

I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy"

Skin

AttaGirl.

- Ghst

 

[Scrzbill]

Skin game

Skin game

Skin, As a striving D-C player I believe your methods are worthy of bringing home many a winner.:lol:heh If there is a weak one pocket player around that shoots lights out nine ball, I would rather play him, than a very good one pocket player who can't play nine ball. I will wait out the nine ball player with one and duck until he can't shoot a ball into the rail. You can't out wait a one pocket player who is playing for you to make a mistake, always putting you in a trap or leaving a ball by his hole.:frus There is another way to say it; an old friend of mine used to say, "stay within your limits". For players, using that term in its loosest sense, like me, just understanding my limits would be worth half a letter grade. From C- to C+.:sorry

 

[Billy Jackets]

Attaboy Skin.
I would add that each and every B player should be thankful every day that they never got any better.

 

[SJDinPHX]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

...............................................................................> "ATTABOY" <.......................................................................

 

[stevelomako]

Ghost got a lot of mileage out of his manifesto, mostly self-propelled by the way , so I thought I'd post something for aspiring B players by an admitted one. Who knows, somebody great may post something like "AttaBoy" and make me look better, boost my ego.

Reality check

1. You're not that good. Your skills might be passable every now and then, but they are not consistent enough for you to try anything based on your best day unless you are having your best day, which hardly ever happens.

2. Just because you played somebody who is famously good, that does not mean you are any better than you actually are. You just have a name to drop, something like Mickey Mantle ate fried chicken with you at his joint. That's all.

Shots and Moves

1. Learn all of the shots and moves that are executable at your personal skill level and master them. Use them! While that will tend to make you a known qauntity to your competition, it also will make you an actual known quantity to yourself. This tips the balance towards you in a game.

2. Don't do anything stupid. If you are playing a guy at your level, remember that he is as prone to stupidity as you are. Let him be stupid first...and second, and third...

Strategy

1. Don't do anything stupid.

2. Pressure, pressure, pressure at all times. Pressure kills over the life of a game especially when you have control of the table against a B player. Pressure is keeping balls by your hole, keeping them away from his, executing the shots and moves you have mastered, and locking him down when you get the chance with nothing else available.

Memory

Forget about it! You win or lose and that is why you play. You'll get him for more tomorrow than he got from you today...if you ain't broke.

Skin

I believe you actually found a missing page from the great "Hayden Lingo papers".

Artie also found the same page, took it to heart and added a couple more.


This is great advice.

 

[lfigueroa]

so lou
whats wrong with this manifesto for the "B" players

Playing players who are “famously good” does not just give you “a name to drop.” It imbues you with knowledge and experience, otherwise known as seasoning. Playing the champions you get the opportunity to see and feel what the the table positions they create are like and make them your own. I have taken at least a little something from every match I’ve played with a champion -- Efren, Buddy, Scott, Larry Nevel, Alex, Steve Cook, Keith McCready, Francisco, Rafael, Leil Gay, Dallas West, Richie Richardson, Panama Richie, Cecil Tugwell, Ike, Piggy, Mark Jarvis, and on and on -- that I would not have in my personal arsenal otherwise. And guess what? Things I learned in some of those matches (and merely having been in the situation of playing players of that caliber before), I was able to deploy to beat some of the aforementioned guys. Just think what that does for you back against the guys in your local pool room.

Playing champions you get to see everything they know up close right in front of your little peepers: stance, grip, bridges, head position, alignment, rhythm, eye movement, cue tip placement, stroking, position play, strategy -- it's all out there waiting for you to soak up. Here's what I think is one of the biggest mistakes many B players make: thinking that champions are just that: great players with more talent than B players. Yes, talent is involved, but also a huge amount of knowledge that anyone with enough discipline can observe, learn, and incorporate into their game. Playing champions is when you pick up all kinds of knowledge with an intensity and perspective no Accu-Stats DVD can ever provide.

In some ways pool is like a series of magic tricks. It all happens so fast, the champions make it look effortless. And, if you don't know what to watch for, it looks absolutely amazing -- something you could never do. But when you're playing a champion, you're getting a chance to see the magic tricks over and over again, way up close. It’s your opportunity to study and learn how the tricks are done instead of staring in amazement like some rube at the fair.

You cannot just learn the shots and moves at your level, particularly if you are telling yourself that “you are not that good.” You must practice and learn the shots outside your comfort zone because that's what you’re going to face during an actual game. The B players that remain B players are those that, when they practice, set up: all these little baby banks to shoot; balls spread wide open to run; and elementary safeties to practice. And then they wonder why an opponent of any competence is leaving them off-angle banks, balls tied up, and no obvious paths to safety.

Don’t do anything stupid. Duh. But that is a loser’s mentality. A winner is also doing smart things to win. They’re not just trying to out wait their opponent for the first mistake -- they are actively strategizing and developing positions that will force mistakes.

Honestly, his comments about pressure are incompatible with the rest of his manifesto: tell yourself you’re not that good; forget you’ve played (and perhaps beaten) a few champions; shoot shots at your skill level (don’t forget you suck); don’t do anything stupid (duh); but for God’s sake KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, lol.

And then there is the sage advice about memory and loses: “Forget about it!”

No, you don’t forget about it. The loses are telling you something if you’ll just listen. What you might hear is the game telling you that don't know certain shots as well as you thought you did, and/or, that you have a flaw in your mechanics that just manifested itself. You can use the loses as signposts the game has laid out for you. The loses are the game's way of quietly telling you what you need to work on. When I lose, the last thing I do is forget about it. I try and do an autopsy and figure out why I lost. If I’m in any game I should be in in the first place, then it is unlikely I can ascribe it to just being out shot. So, was I out strategized? What were the opportunities, offensively and defensively, I missed? And so I practice the specific shots I blew so they won’t hurt me the next time. And just as importantly, I also practice things my opponent did to put me in the pickle jar so I can return the favor in the future. The loses are the game's way of helping you -- you just have to quiet down long enough to hear the advice, instead of howling at the sky.

So, IMO, take Skin’s Manifesto to heart and remain a B player. Or... go play some champions, get outside your comfort zone, and remember and study your loses instead. You might be surprised to learn you don't have to stay a B player for life. ;-)

Lou Figueroa

 

[tylerdurden]

If I may somehow do this without getting directly involved.... playing champions is important, sort of. I feel it needs to be done at the right time. One of the smartest things i've heard is the only way to get better (after a certain point), is to beat a guy that plays "better than you" even for the cash. I totally believe that. After a certain level, pool is all about confidence. If this is all done intelligently, you can see a beautiful rise from strong shortstop into seasoned champ. But if you just play champs everyday, that is actually detrimental to your confidence. I'd bet my bottom dollar a lot of the current champs picked their opponents very wisely on the way up, and a lot of the the guys you never hear about anymore didn't.

 

[lll]

Playing players who are “famously good” does not just give you “a name to drop.” It imbues you with knowledge and experience, otherwise known as seasoning. Playing the champions you get the opportunity to see and feel what the the table positions they create are like and make them your own. I have taken at least a little something from every match I’ve played with a champion -- Efren, Buddy, Scott, Larry Nevel, Alex, Steve Cook, Keith McCready, Francisco, Rafael, Leil Gay, Dallas West, Richie Richardson, Panama Richie, Cecil Tugwell, Ike, Piggy, Mark Jarvis, and on and on -- that I would not have in my personal arsenal otherwise. And guess what? Things I learned in some of those matches (and merely having been in the situation of playing players of that caliber before), I was able to deploy to beat some of the aforementioned guys. Just think what that does for you back against the guys in your local pool room.

Playing champions you get to see everything they know up close right in of your little peepers: stance, grip, bridges, head position, alignment, rhythm, eye movement, cue tip placement, stroking, position play, strategy -- it's all out there waiting for you to soak up. Here's what I think is one of the biggest mistakes many B players make: thinking that champions are just that: great players with more talent than B players. Yes, talent involved, but also a huge amount of knowledge that anyone with enough discipline can observe, learn, and incorporate into their game. Playing champions is when you pick up all kinds of knowledge with an intensity and perspective no Accu-Stats DVD can ever provide.

In some ways pool is like a series of magic tricks. It all happens so fast, the champions make it look effortless. And, if you don't know what to watch for, it looks absolutely amazing -- something you could never do. But when you're playing a champion, you're getting a chance to see the magic tricks over and over again, way up close. It’s your opportunity to study and learn how the tricks are done instead of staring in amazement like some rube at the fair.

You cannot just learn the shots and moves at your level, particularly if you are telling yourself that “you are not that good.” You must practice and learn the shots outside your comfort zone because that's what you’re going to face during an actual game. The B players that remain B players are those that, when they practice, set up: all these little baby banks to shoot; balls spread wide open to run; and elementary safeties to practice. And then they wonder why an opponent of any competence is leaving them off-angle banks, balls tied up, and no obvious paths to safety.

Don’t do anything stupid. Duh. But that is a loser’s mentality. A winner is also doing smart things to win. They’re not just trying to out wait their opponent for the first mistake -- they are actively strategizing and developing positions that will force mistakes.

Honestly, his comments about pressure are incompatible with the rest of his manifesto: tell yourself you’re not that good; forget you’ve played (and perhaps beaten) a few champions; shoot shots at your skill level (don’t forget you suck); don’t do anything stupid (duh); but for God’s sake KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, lol.

And then there is the sage advice about memory and loses: “Forget about it!”

No, you don’t forget about it. The loses are telling you something if you’ll just listen. What you might hear is the game telling you that don't know certain shots as well as you thought you did, and/or, that you have a flaw in your mechanics that just manifested itself. You can use the loses as signposts the game has laid out for you. The loses are the game's way of quietly telling you what you need to work on. When I lose, the last thing I do is forget about it. I try and do an autopsy and figure out why I lost. If I’m in any game I should be in in the first place, then it is unlikely I can ascribe it to just being out shot. So, was I out strategized? What were the opportunities, offensively and defensively, I missed? And so I practice the specific shots I blew so they won’t hurt me the next time. And just as importantly, I also practice things my opponent did to put me in the pickle jar so I can return the favor in the future. The loses are the game's way of helping you -- you just have to quiet down long enough to hear the advice, instead of howling at the sky.

So, IMO, take Skin’s Manifesto to heart and remain a B player. Or... go play some champions and get outside your comfort zone instead. You might be surprised to learn you don't have to stay a B player for life. ;-)

Lou Figueroa

Lou
thanks you for a well thought out ,in depth responce.
ive learned from it

onwards to being an A

 

[TheClamp]

Ditto. Lous response pretty much sums it up. As a B player (maybe B+ with enough bourbon in me) I would much rather lose to a better player than beat a player who is obviously lacking the knowledge and experience it would take to win over me. Playing novice players just because you can beat them is like running backwards in a very momentum driven learning curve :frus

As far as forgetting losses....... HELL NO !! the instant I make an error (weather it cost me the game or not) I immediately start analyzing the f*** out it. Doing this keeps me from straying off course and possibly repeating the mistake later in the game or match.

 

[Skin]

blah, blah, blah <--here is what Skin wrote
|
|
|
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| three miles
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|
. <--here is Lou's head



Hey, Lou. Have you ever coached Little League? If so, how long did you last before one of the parents put you down with a tranquilizer dart? Just askin'.

Skin

 

[lfigueroa]

Lou
thanks you for a well thought out ,in depth responce.
ive learned from it

onwards to being an A

You be welcome, lll

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

blah, blah, blah <--here is what Skin wrote
|
|
|
|
| three miles
|
|
|
|
. <--here is Lou's head



Hey, Lou. Have you ever coached Little League? If so, how long did you last before one of the parents put you down with a tranquilizer dart? Just askin'.

Skin

No, I've never coached Little League.

But I have done extensive volunteer work with Special Olympics kids -- which given your case -- obviously continues to this day.

Lou Figueroa