Pool Student Interviews Tony Crosby on How to Get Better at Pool
We did this interview on video but it was our first attempt and the result wasn’t good enough for prime time. We learned quite a lot though, from trying, and will get better in the future. For now you’ll just have to suffer through with a transcript.
John Biddle: Hi, this is John Biddle and I’m here at Stroker’s in Palm Harbor with Tony Crosby, and we’re going to talk about how to get better at pool. I have a few questions for you Tony in reference to this but maybe you could start out by telling us when you first started playing pool and how that worked out for you.
Tony Crosby: I started playing pool at a very early age back in England. My mom and dad owned a pub, so we used to live above the pub and downstairs I the pub there was a pool table, and pretty much that’s how I got started. Probably from about 10 or 11 years of age.
 |
| Tony Crosby |
John Biddle: So you played a lot as a kid.
Tony Crosby: Yes.
John Biddle: When did you first start to get good?
Tony Crosby: I knew I was getting good when I got banned from playing downstairs in my mom’s bar, and she put a pool table in my bedroom.
John Biddle: Wow.
Tony Crosby: So that’s when I knew I was getting good. The customers downstairs stopped coming in. I was taking control of the table, winner stays on, and I was upsetting a lot of customers, so my mom barred me from my own pub. I really had my own table.
John Biddle: So, did you do anything special do you think that rocketed you up from an ordinary beginner to being able to beat everybody that came in?
Tony Crosby: From an early age I had a lot of natural ability. So that carried me through. And then it wasn’t until I started taking it a little more serious and started going and finding a league, that’s what really gave be the bite for playing. I was playing in the league and seeing better players and spurred me on to be even better.
After my first year in the league I got better and better and by the second year in the league, I think I was about 14, 15, I was the best player in the league.
John Biddle: That’s amazing. A question about quantity or quality. Is it just time on the table, how many hours you put in as opposed to what you’re doing when you’re putting in those hours? Where do you come down on that question? Which is more important?
Tony Crosby: I think when you’re beginning, when you’re a beginner, and you’re just starting out playing, I think time on the table is more important than quality on the table. Enjoying yourself is the most important thing. The reason I still play today is because I enjoy myself playing. So I think if you’re spending time on the table enjoying what you’re doing is the most important thing. If you’re not enjoying it you’re not going to get any better.
John Biddle: So just put in the hours . . .
Tony Crosby: As you progress, then, you know the better you get the more quality time. But to begin with definitely time versus quality.
John Biddle: There’s so many different way for somebody to learn about pool now, you have videos and book, you can take lessons, you can gamble, you can get in leagues, there’s a whole slew of different ways. What would you say about how a person ought to divide their time up between some of these different things? Should they spend 10% of their time doing this and 90% doing that, or what?
Tony Crosby: Again, if you’re just starting off you should be enjoying playing. The more serious you get, then, if you’re looking to play competitively, you really need to take lessons. And everyone in the pool hall is a teacher. Everybody’s going to show you something, but you can be going to a professional, somebody who really knows their stuff. Your game will come up a lot quicker. Rather than just picking bits and pieces up off everybody, good habits, bad habits, if you know of one good teacher it’s worth your while.
John Biddle: Do you have a way to help people pick, for example, who would be a good teacher? What do you look out for?
Tony Crosby: It’s very hard to find a good teacher because every teacher calls themselves a good teacher. But that’s not true. You’ve really got to take advice off the good players that are around you. If two or three people recommend one person then chances are he’s a good teacher.
I knew I was getting good when I got banned from playing downstairs in my mom’s bar, and she put a pool table in my bedroom.
John Biddle: You teach, right?
Tony Crosby: Yeah, I do a little teaching. I’m the best
John Biddle: So what is it about what you do that sets you apart? What do you do that, we hope, other teachers are doing also?
Tony Crosby: Understanding of the game, playing at a high level. Starting as a beginner, I layed the first 10 years without any coaching, and then going to see a teacher, and him tearing me apart, all my bad habits, really had me thinking “do I want to play this game any more?” I think just knowing how to treat people and what to look for. That’s the difference in a good teacher, they’re not going to dishearten you at the table and break you down too much to where you’re going to quit. They’re going to bring you along gradually, and move you along faster as well.
John Biddle: Now, for me at least, it’s very difficult to unlearn bad habits. Do you think people should get into lessons a lot earlier so that they don’t have that 10 years of bad habit to break?
Tony Crosby: Yes, without a doubt. It’s like, a classic example, the first time a student comes to me, I arrange a time to meet them, and they turn up an hour early to practice. I tell them not to do that, because what they’ve just been practicing for an hour is just going to be whitewashed. They’re practicing the wrong things for an hour before our lesson. It’s not good. The earlier you start with lessons the better. Without a doubt.
John Biddle: Did you ever work with a training partner?
Tony Crosby: Yeah. As I was growing up in England I kind of quit playing pool and moved to the snooker side. I started playing snooker full-time and I would travel 100 miles, I would drive 100 miles just to practice with someone. If I thought I could learn something I would drive it. Not to gamble, just to practice. I’d play 20 or 30 games of snooker with this one guy. And if I picked up one thing, I might have got my butt whipped all day and sent home, but if I learned one thing from a top professional player, then it was well worth it.
John Biddle: You probably learn a lot more from the guys you get beat by than from . . .
Tony Crosby: Yes, and that’s why . . . you’ve got to have a happy medium of playing good players that are going to beat up on you, and then playing the bad players that you’re going to beat up on. You’ll get a little confidence and then play a guy at your level. You’re always looking to play three levels.
 |
| Tony Crosby |
John Biddle: You played pool, then you went to snooker then you came back to pool. Why the switch?
Tony Crosby: The switch. Well, I came over here on vacation. It was off-season. Snooker has a season in England and it was off-season, and I had like 4 months where I was going to be doing nothing.
So I came over here, spent 5-6 weeks over here and the first four weeks I just spent on the beach and then I got talked into playing in a pool tournament. I always enjoyed the atmosphere of play pool. It wasn’t as serious as snooker. You know in snooker you turn up in a waistcoat, a dickie, and a bow tie. I felt like I was going to a funeral every week.
I enjoyed myself, that’s what brought me to pool, and then sponsorship followed. That’s what brought me to Florida.
John Biddle: There’s a lot more money in snooker than pool.
Tony Crosby: Yes and no. There is and there isn’t. There’s only a lot more money if you’re at the very top. And to get to the very top is very tough. Very tough. There’s 500 players trying to get there. Playing in the same . . . Only a few events can get you there. There’s a set of different tiers. You can play in one tier one year, and if you get to the top of that you play in the next tier and then the next. It’s very, very difficult to make a living playing snooker.
John Biddle: In pool there are so many different games, and they really tax different parts of your ability, different abilities. Do you think a person, when they’re trying to get serious about their game, should they stick to one game until they reach a certain level of mastery before they move to another game, or should they play a lot of different games, back and forth, and learn all of them at the same time?
Tony Crosby: Oh, it’s definitely worth your while, if you’ve got access to playing other people who play the different games well, definitely, play as many different games as you can. Because the different disciplines will teach you different moves on the table; safeties, banks, combinations. Playing as many games as possible, definitely the best way.
John Biddle: When you got to the level you’re at today, when you reached pro status, how did your training regimen change, if at all?
Tony Crosby: I realized when I first started playing at a high level that I wasn’t good enough. So, I knew by then I would have to up my game. And by doing that, this is where the quality vs quantity comes in. Quality practice is very important. Have an hour or two hours of practice every day, on your own. Then you can play someone 2 or 3 sets, for an hour or two.
If you can put in an hour on your own it’s as good as 2 or three hours against someone else.
if you’re looking to play competitively, you really need to take lessons.
John Biddle: And what do you do during that hour that makes it so special?
Tony Crosby: Practice not missing
There were three things that when I started playing at a high level over here I couldn’t do. I spent one summer, three months where I just broke the balls for the whole three months. I didn’t run a rack of pool, I just broke the balls. When I came back to the US, I was in England practicing, I was breaking the balls as good as anybody.
John Biddle: I know you’re very busy now. You’ve got your tour, your Stroke-it Wear company, your kids, you’ve got a lot going on, so your practice time is probably even less than before. What are you doing now?
Tony Crosby: Yeah, I got the tour, the family, two kids, the wife, the clothing line, and I’ve also started a new cue line as well. I’ve got my hands in too many pies right now. Unfortunately, pool is one of the toughest games in the world but the rewards aren’t quite there yet. I’ve been in the top 16 in the last two years and I can’t make a living just playing so I’ve gone into the business side of it as well, which is definitely, I‘ve noticed in the last 6 months, affecting my game more so than it has the last two years.
I’ve had the clothing line for two years, my kids are 5 and three now, I’m adjusting to that, but the new adventures are definitely taking a toll on my game. The lack of time on the table is showing.
 |
| Tony Crosby |
John Biddle: Are you doing anything different or are you just putting in less time?
Tony Crosby: I’m just putting in less time.
John Biddle: You talked about working the shots that you have trouble with, do you do drills or do you just work a particular shot, like if you’re having trouble with thin cuts you just work 100 thin cuts.
Tony Crosby: Just keep playing the same shot until you own that shot. Just keep playing it over and over. It’s frustrating. There’s nothing worse than lining the shot up and then going back and doing it again and again. It’s disappointing but that’s what’s going to get you the wins on tours.
If you’re disciplined enough to practice the shots you’re going to be disciplined enough to play them in a match and get them right.
John Biddle: You mentioned that it’s tough to do that shot over and over again. It’s boring, and that’s where a lot of people crap out on this. They might try a drill or two, or they might try doing the same shot multiple times but they just give up. They wind up only banging balls, as you said, or they just play. They’ll play anybody instead of practice. Do you have any tips or suggestions for people as to how to get past that boredom?
Tony Crosby: People don’t see pros go in the pool hall for seven hours. I don’t practice for seven hours. When I spend seven hours in a pool hall I probably only practice for 2 ½ or 3 hours.
Break it up the same way you would in a match.. If you’re playing someone, every time you miss you’re going to sit down.. So practice the same way, practice for ten minutes and then sit down. Take a drink and then go back to the table. Break it up. Think about what you’re doing. Don’t just constantly hit the balls for an hour on the same shot, just break it up and do 10 minutes of one and then maybe 10 minutes of another, and then go back.
You don’t have to keep at it nonstop. You don’t want to be putting your cue on a bonfire on the way home because you missed that shot all day. Break it up.
John Biddle: There are quite a lot of training aids out there, to straighten out your stroke or to learn how to cue properly, etc. Have you found any of those to be useful, either for yourself or for your students?
Tony Crosby: Yeah, there’s definitely aids out there, without a doubt. Joe Tucker, that guy’s a genius. He’s got so many good… I don’t know how he comes up with them, the guy probably doesn’t sleep at night, but he’s got so many good items that you can use, and he probably more so than the rest, he’s probably the best that I’ve seen or would even think about using with my students.
I try not to get into too many gimmicky things when I’m teaching people, but if I was to recommend anyone’s stuff, it would be his.
Break it up. Think about what you’re doing. Don’t just constantly hit the balls for an hour on the same shot.
John Biddle: I’ve noticed that as a group the Europeans seem to be more disciplined about practice regimens and doing drills as opposed to playing than the Americans. I wanted to hear, first of all if you agree with that, and second, if you do, do you think that’s responsible for why they seem to be doing better on the tour than the Americans are?
Tony Crosby: There’s a mixture. I think the American pool scene has grown up on gambling and hustling. That’s slowly being weeded out, but it’s still a pretty big culture. In Europe, gambling is kind of free. You can go into a shop and place a bet on pretty much any corner in England. On anything. So the gambling’s not that major a thing. Whereas over here, gambling is illegal and it’s they’re only way to so I think that has a big part of the difference to it.
They can practice a lot more and they’ll play each other for free a lot more. Like I said to you, I’d go 100 miles to play the right opponent. I wouldn’t dream of doing that over here. And nobody would dream of playing me over here either. For free, anyway. I think that has a lot to do with it.
John Biddle: Are there any questions that you think I should have asked you in terms of bringing out good information about how to get better at pool?
Tony Crosby: No, I think the main thing is enjoying yourself. When you’re not enjoying it, you’re not going to improve. When you’re enjoying the game, no matter how old, how young, you’re going to improve. If you’re playing enough and you’re enjoying it, you’re going to improve. The thing is, if you miss or if you make the shot, keep smiling.
John Biddle: Right.
Tony Crosby: If you can.
John Biddle: Before we wrap up, why don’t you take a few minutes and talk about the things going on in your life. You’ve got you company, you’ve got your tour, tell us how they’re going.
Tony Crosby: The tour is going very well. KFCueTour.com. That’s going very well. We have $1,700 added events, a $1,000 added open event and a $700 added amateur event. And we’ve been averaging about 100 players, so that’s been going good. The clothing line, Stroke-It has been going well and we’re just about to came out with a new cue line next month at Valley Forge called Contact Cues. Corey Deuel’s part of it. A lot of the pros are already using the Sniper jump break cue which is the one I designed. Corey Deuel, Dennis Hatch, a bunch a good players are using it already. So that’s been taking up a lot of my time for the last couple of months.
John Biddle: And you’ve got a blog, too. What’s your blog address?
Tony Crosby: Yes, I have my own blog at TonyCrosby.com, or PoolSniper.com, same site, and the MySpace and the Facebook, it’s like . . . Ten years ago I didn’t know how switch a computer on, now I’ve got websites coming out of my ears. I’ve got Stroke it Wear.com, KFCuetour.com, Tony Crosby.com.
John Biddle: You’re a new media superstar. Thanks a lot Tony, I really appreciate your time. This has been great.
Loading ...
Leave a Reply