The Lesson by The MonkThe Lesson by The Monk takes a different approach then most books. Instead of instructing on how to hit the cue ball for different effects he instructs on the different types of stokes regardless of the type of English is used. The whole book is based on 4 strokes. The Punch stroke, Follow stroke, Draw stroke, and the Spin stroke. It sounds at first it is about high / low spin and english on the cue ball but it is not. The follow stroke is a follow through stroke as opposed to the punch stroke which is more like a pop. Draw is broke down to four sub categories, follow through draw (sometimes called follow draw, which sounds contradictory but is not), snap draw, snip draw and bounce back draw. All of these are a matter of stroke and not differences in tip position. He considers force follow and draw the same since the only difference is where the cue tip hits the cue ball but the strokes are the same. The book is about how to obtain position through stroke technique, not about how to pocket balls.
Likes
? This book works best if read by the pool table. This is good.
? Good display of stroke impact. (e.g., high right with a follow stoke vs. high right with a punch stroke). The punch stroke adds to the angle of rebound.
? Hilighted benefits of the punch stroke that I had not considered opening more options for position.
? Excellent description of the proper stance.
? I believe my position play has improved since reading The Lesson. I knew about the snap draw as opposed to the follow through draw but never really thought about it as a different option with different results, not just because the cue ball is close to the object ball. Draw on the cue ball behaves differently with a snap then a follow through stroke.
Dislikes
? In proper stroke he states to use the open bridge, not even mentioning closed bridge implying closed bridge is a fault. The Pros use both open and closed so to state to use open without mentioning closed as a viable option I believe is short sited.
? 1st 50 pages, though providing instruction are basically an advertisement for his other products including prices etc
? After a while I got tired of going on billiard journeys and traveling down the long and winding road to success, but that is me. I am not into all the ZEN type instruction. Fortunately it is not too obtrusive in The Lesson and can be ignored if so desired.
? In my opinion he has wrong psychological conclusions. One example is the reason we lose when we play an opponent with inferior ability is because we do not want to hurt their feelings so it’s a burden on our mind and we need to overcome that burden. The stated proof is that we often play worse in such situations. I believe the real reason is mostly because we tend to lose focus on the game, not because we don’t want the responsibility of hurting someone’s feelings. The problem gets worse when playing foursome and all are newbies. You get less time on the table, you lose interest because the shots are so bad there is nothing to learn. How many times do you forget which balls are yours in a game of 8 ball like this. It’s a problem of focus. Put $50 on each game and see if it is a focus problem or a fear of hurting feelings.
? The first part of the book promotes his click aiming system. I think it is fine for a newbie just as ghost ball but to imply pros can get benefit I feel is wrong. A click is setting up quadrants and you move one, two, three, etc clicks from straight on to make angle shot. If click number one is right for a shot, at which point does click two become the right shot and what about all the angles in-between, like an angle that is exactly between a one click and a two click. Clicks are fine getting started to get the feel but eventually one needs to move to point and shoot, just see the pinpoint object ball target spot, no invisible quadrants. If not, shot making will always be a mystery.
? Much of the detail on how to perform the desired stoke is left out, often times you have to determine how to stroke by its description (snap, punch, etc). I get the feeling this was done purposefully to encourage the purchase of other pubs / tapes to get a deeper understanding which he actually states to get an in depth understanding read my other book etc. This irritated me since this is why I purchased the book to begin with, not to enter into a spin loop of products. For the most part you can figure out the strokes and confirm it by your results. I feel this point is a failure for an instructional book.
? It can get repetitive, but don’t they all.
Summary:
I found The Lesson to be of value in my position play and was worth the purchase and read. It has helped me better understand stroke differences and not all strokes should have follow through, it depends on your desired result. I would recommend the book for an advance player who wants to improve at position play not just through english but also by stroke technique.
Added: October 27th 2003
Reviewer:
Related Link: The Monk's web site.
Hits: 5909
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Score:  (7/10)
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