r/billiards • u/Dizzy_Dare9949 • Aug 20 '26
Drills Pool lessons
So I’ve been playing regularly around 2-3 times a week for about a year now and I still feel as if my play is inconsistent despite practicing fundamentals every session. I want to make a big improvement in my game and I’m considering investing in lessons. One of the local instructors around me is Dr.Dave. I know that lessons from the man himself would be money well spent however he charges around $250 for a 1 hour session which is quite steep. Does anybody know of any other good instructors in the Fort Collins Colorado area or should I bite the bullet on training with him?
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u/wlscwoj Aug 20 '26
I have recently upped my price to $50 an hour for lessons. At times I was just doing lessons for a little extra spending money while only charging $20 an hour. This year I have bought Camera, tripod, laser level, laptop, SD cards, training aids, backpack to carry it all and invested in being able to do better lessons. For $50 an hour I cover the table time, drive upwards to an hour to get to the student, do video analysis, and prepare a detailed lesson plan, as well as what to practice and work on for the student after lesson. Plus I am available much of the time to students that have questions regarding what we covered or how to do drills i've laid out for them.
This year I did a lesson with a local Master instructor (same level as Dr Dave) and he charged $75 an hour.
$250 an hour seems extremely high.
https://playbetterbilliards.com/instructors?state=Colorado&country=&active=1
Searching in Colorado there is a Recognized level instructor Michael Umphlett in your area.
I would look them up and see whats their reputation, how long teaching, how they structure lessons and what they charge.
The first lesson you would be looking for 2 hours, Video analysis and the rest of the lesson should be working through all the fundamentals. After the lesson you should put in 8+ hours of practice on what you covered before you schedule another lesson. I never pressure students to do another lesson until they are ready.
Do not look down on any of the fundamentals in lessons. These are the foundation for building your pool game. Get those right and consistent and your game will be more consistent in the long run.
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u/Shot-Pop-2421 Aug 20 '26
$250/hr??? Good lord, don't pay that. Go find someone else. That is just robbery.
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u/PoollShark Aug 20 '26
Do you play league? Tournaments?
If you play leagues what is your skill level?
I would never consider spending $250 an hour for pool lessons unless I was already at a very advanced level
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u/Dizzy_Dare9949 Aug 20 '26
I’ve played in a few tournaments but not in a league yet. Planning on joining one soon when my work and life schedule allows for it.
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u/KITTYONFYRE Aug 20 '26
you will always be inconsistent. it's the nature of the game. if you get better, you'll just have higher peaks, but continue to say "damn how did I miss that gimme?"
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u/HazardBringsAxe1 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Buy a book called, 'I came to win' by the Monk. He also wrote 'The lesson". If you practice that much fundamentally, it might just be mental prep and focus that you need. I would try to find 'I came to win' and meditate on that for a little bit.... Your right about the cost being high. I teach for about $30 a hour.
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u/EstablishmentNo7239 Aug 20 '26
Learning from better players is the quickest way. I'm not sure he's worth that rate though
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u/CtrlAltDunno Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
I think if you are a beginner to intermediate level, finding a much cheaper local coach is a much wiser choice as they will be able to work with you over a number of sessions to fix your fundamentals. Although I respect Dr Dave and his scientific insight into the game, I honestly don't think Dr Dave will be able to offer you any more than a local coach can who costs 5x less per hour. Dr Dave might be able to explain to you in-depth about the mechanics in the game, but that's probably not going to help you at this stage as a player.
In the UK, many ex-professional (top 50) snooker players and specialist coaches offer coaching at 45USD (and up) / per hour which is a reasonable price. You usually only start paying much higher hourly costs once you are at an advanced level and need very specialised / expert advice.
If you were an advanced player and you wanted to learn something very technical, like advanced banking systems and wanted to learn to adjust for different table conditions, then 250$ per hour with Dr Dave would be a reasonable choice although I would prefer to get coaching from someone like J. Baretta
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u/Wiley_Jack Aug 20 '26
That’s another way of Dr. Dave telling you that he’s quite comfortable and not really interested in giving lessons.
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u/Express-Cow190 Aug 21 '26
In fairness to Dr Dave, coaching isn’t his full time job and that price probably reflects him not wanting it to be one either (kind of like contractors giving a “go away” price).
It also probably filters out casual players and that’s probably intentional. I think you could learn a lot from him but if your stance, stroke, alignment aren’t already rock solid you would be better to save your money and learn that elsewhere first. And while he does a great job explaining those things, I would guess thats just not fun for him to coach.
I’d guess unless you’re at least approaching semi-pro levels having 1:1 coaching with Dr Dave is not great ROI.
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u/brian600rr Aug 20 '26
I’m sure he’s worth it’s, especially doing his boot camp series
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u/SuperiorDupe Aug 20 '26
You won’t know until you try.
$250 is pretty steep though ngl, but youve gotta remember, student loan debt’s aren’t gonna pay themselves.
Especially a med school tuition….sheeeeesh
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u/Brief_Recognition_96 Aug 20 '26
$250 per hour sounds crazy to me. I get lessons from a professional player on the WNT tour for £40 per hour.
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u/BOBBYK1952 Aug 20 '26
Well a good while back I took a lesson from a guy that won some smaller pro tournaments..20 bucks an hour..after 5 minutes I said let’s go 2 hours. After we finished he said what time next week? I said I have enough to work on so I’ll let you know. What I’m saying is you probably can learn a lot for next to nothing just by asking politely. If I learned anything over the years about pool players is they LOVE to give advice..only second to bowlers. Oh the pro lessons? Never went back but I remember the lesson to this day
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u/Fiskla-Tesker Aug 20 '26
A good certified instructor will run you about $50/hr. You can find them on the BCA website. I wish I had invested in one when I was younger as my learning curve would have been shortened dramatically.
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u/FreeFour420 Aug 20 '26
Just my opinion: Save and invest in a home pool table. Practicing everyday has done wonders for me!
Fundamentals for 45 minutes a day keeps you consistent and improving. Even on a busy day I can get some rotational drills in and learn.
Any time I go out in public I am ready to learn the table and be confident and consistent with my play.
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u/Expensive_Ad4319 Aug 20 '26
Nix the idealistic beliefs that practice and lessons will teach you more than just throwing out some balls.
The #1 cause for our lack of improvement is our own perception. I didn’t learn by watching and practicing endless drills. I had to objectively ask myself what was I doing. Was I goal or process oriented.
I made the choice to learn how to bridge, and shoot center ball. I found my center vision, and aligned myself the right way.
I learned shot patterns, playing to the correct side of the line, and when to play to get (safety) back to the table.
It starts with this:
The only drill that I’ll reco
mmend would be Burt Kinister’s Mighty X drill. While you’re looking up, check out his style of training too.
Place an object ball on the headstring. Place the cue ball anywhere within the bordered area. The objective is to pocket the object ball, and return the cue ball back into the bordered area.
This is not a drill. You’ll need to pocket and control the cue ball, using varying speed and tip position. This will also enable you to keep the cue ball in play.
The next step is to throw out a few numbered balls randomly, and with ball in hand, pocket each of the balls consecutively. If you cannot run out the balls, use distance and angles to find safety.
This alone will not win you games. You have to be ready when your turn comes.
- Best of Success!
Note: The illustration is not exactly correct. You can place the cue ball anywhere within the bordered area.
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u/Reasonable_Shine_841 Aug 20 '26
I would say it’s overpriced. Based on how often you plant and what you mention probably right now you need a qualified instructor or high skill level player to analyze your game.
I took lessons from a retired pro tour player. First lesson was around 50 and mainly involved watching me play a track or two, break, ball in hand, run out. If I miss take ball in hand again and continue until done.
From that an analysis was made of what to work on and homework assigned along with coaching on stance grip stroke body position. We then ramped up from there.
I think maybe what Dave will teach you will be valuable but not anytime soon. Money would be better spent elsewhere where it’s broken into smaller chunks with time for you to learn each part instead of trying to get it all in one long session for a too high price
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u/efreeme Aug 20 '26
I got 2, 4 hour sessions with Randy G (one of the top instructors in the world) and he charged me $350 for everything including his 2 dvds.. but that was pre-covid.
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u/GumbyJo Aug 21 '26
The best lesson for competing is to expose yourself to the compelling attraction of playing for money. The $20 dollar game will give you an idea of your skill level. Set a limit on how much you'll lose in a day. Watch and learn.
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u/caddis20 Aug 21 '26
Samm Diep works with Dr. Dave. She used to offer video lesson through PoolDawg. You purchased the package via the PoolDawg site. She would send you a package detailing shots and the angle to video each one. You filmed the shots she wanted then uploaded to her site. She would review, then schedule a video call with you and take you through it shot by shot. She would also provide a written critique with pointers to improve.
Best money I ever spent
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u/mehhmmk Aug 21 '26
I would look up Tanner Pruess. If i was serious about lessons in that area. Mostly because alot of his posts on the mental side of the game. I just never really see Dave touch on it much. He's a nerd with the physics side. But the physics of the game are the easiest to learn. I also don't know how much history Dave has with just competing in general. When I see Dave I really don't think he'd be that good of an instructor.
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u/BOOMxSTICK Aug 21 '26
IDK what he could teach you in 1 hour to where you could walk away a better player.
250 probably gets you a technique improvement/correction and some drills to practice.
When practicing...do your drills...then practice 1 shot or 1 situation at a time.
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u/act_to_accept68910 Aug 21 '26
That's an absurd rate. Pick someone with a higher Fargo who has had actual struggles with the game. Science won't fix what feelings induce.
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u/No-Flounder-6564 Aug 20 '26
$250/hour sounds crazy to me even if it is Dr Dave. I didn't spend that much on an airplane and instructor when I was getting my pilot license.
Given your current motivation is that you "feel" like your game is "inconsistent", maybe look for someone cheaper in Denver and make a long day of it... see a ballgame, shoot some pool, etc.
You don't provide enough information for suggesting alternatives (which you're not asking for anyway) but maybe try some practice games that you can track the results of (Fargo, Equal Offense, Bowlliards) or use an app like Bullseye Bililards (which I think is nice but too expensive to pay for) to practice shots and track results. Everyone has their Best, Average, and Worst games. Maybe you're just bouncing between the three and view it as inconsistent?