Natural ability or hard work?

[pwd72s]

Gotta be both, in my opinion. A pool matchup from years ago..a juniors championship.
One player, Joshua Filler, 13 then, is now 21 and ranked in the top 3 world wide. My thinking is that he had to have had phenomenal hand-eye skills and an enjoyment of the game from the beginning. Then the coaching and the hours of practice began. The 15 year old Russian kid won the match, but deep down he had to know who the better player was.

Filler today? Arrogant & cocky...but guess it ain't bragging when you can do it.

No need to watch the entire match....just a few racks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5xoQfTaaSU

[DWBOX2000]

Both, but is it bragging whether you can do it or not.

[wildthing]

Both. This has been scientifically studied, I believe.

Bragging is a behavior. Either you talk about how great you are or let the results speak for themselves.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by DWBOX2000

Both, but is it bragging whether you can do it or not.

Arrogant and cocky (to me) are more about "attitude", not words. Bragging is "just words", and if ya can't back it up.... errrr lying

As far as the thread title goes.... it's both.

[GH85Carrera]

For sure, at almost anything in life it takes both to be a top level game player. No matter what type of ball, puck, birdie, deck of cards, or chess pieces, all games take both skill and natural ability to be at the top level.

Maybe a chess player or poker player can at the top level since the physical abilities have less to do with it winning.

[Seahawk]

Everybody practices, works, strives to get better in every sport.

At the apex of all sports, ability and hard work collide: Everybody is good, has ability and has worked hard.

Crunch time pasteurizes talent and effort.

Pool seems no different. I have seem, in my youth, a $50 dollar lag cause the shakes.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

The "Cream" rises to the top in all sports.

Flawless, smooth & fast execution of the skill fundamentals with a high degree of repetitiveness and accuracy.

My wife works @ a swim school with the children of past swimming Olympians, They are all naturals with recognizable talent at 4 yrs old.

[pwd72s]

Genetics definitely play a role. Remember well, 3rd or 4th grade, a kid names Chuck Miller showing me his heels in a foot race. No way I could have caught him. He went on to be a 4 star college recruit, got a full ride at Oregon. But there? Had to compete against Mel Renfro...whoops. Younger guys here can google Mel Renfro...

The evolution of the game of pool is now in coaching & workshops. Especially in Europe, where the game is taught as if it were an olympics sport. At the top levels, it's become very much a young man's game. Before, it took a lot of time to learn the tricks of cue ball control, how cue speed makes a difference, stun and draw shots, etc. Things the hustlers didn't want to teach for obvious reasons. One of the most difficult games there is, when you consider it involves hitting one sphere with a stick, then it hitting another sphere into a small pocket. Geometry, physics, all the sciences combined. There is a mechanical engineering prof. in Colorado who uses the properties of pool as part of his course. "Dr. Dave" instructional videos can be found on youtube...

(edit) It just amazed me how good Filler was at 13...even at that skill level, I know of only 2 or 3 players in Oregon who could beat him.