Bca instructors, please tell me what you teach, how you teach, what it takes to become a certified instructor?

Question

Bca instructors, please tell me what you teach, how you teach, what it takes to become a certified instructor?

Answer 1

Hey Bones The BCA Website has all the info on becoming a instructor as for as what and how ,Ill turn that over to Straight ,Im a ref thats as far as I went  no patience to teach-But worth a star thanks

                                   Later Johnny

Answer 2

I don't have the space here to describe all that a BCA Instructor teaches, but I can try to give you a good idea of what material is covered.  First of all, I can tell you that there is no single text or uniform method that all BCA Instructors are working from, with the exception of the Official Rules & Records Book.  There are certain points of contention even within the BCA, but these are usually minor differences of opinion.  There are many common threads that you will find in nearly every BCA Instructor.  One thing that is very important is to have a corellation of learning.  Everything I teach, builds upon what was taught before.  We don't want to be putting the cart before the horse and teaching out of sequence.  Far too often, I see instructors breeze over the fundamentals and jump right into compound English, multi-cushion kicks and other fairly advanced topics.  I'm going to list some of the main points that we teach, perhaps not in the particular order that they would be taught, so bear with me.  At Cue-U: The College of Pool and Billiards, we have two BCA Master Instructors and several other BCA Certified Instructors for each class.  We often have at least one instructor per student, often more.  At Cue-U, we ask a lot of questions of the students to get an idea of their pool background and to help customize a specific plan for their pool game.  We realize that everybody is unique and the concepts that we teach are flexible enough to accomodate nearly anybody's natural inclinations.  The mechanics of pool are usually covered first: the grip, the bridge, the stance, etc.  Then stroke mechanics are covered usually using the "set, pause, finish" template.  Incidentally, the "90 degree rule" that you referenced before is actually that the forearm is at a 90 degree angle to the cue, not the table or the floor.  This is because the shot doesn't always allow for a perfectly level cue.  For certain shots, the butt of the cue needs to be raised, while still maintaining the 90 degree relationship between the forearm and cue stick.  I'll use an example to illustrate a point about one part of the stroke, the "pause".  We explain why we want to have a pause at the limit of our backswing, to allow for muscle transfer from triceps to biceps.  When you don't allow for muscle transfer, your triceps will still be contracted while your arm begins the forward motion, pulling in two directions and causing an unnecessary, jerky motion.  There's no steadfast rule about how long the pause needs to be for.  It can be a millisecond or a full two-count.  It's basic physics that for an object in motion to reverse direction, it needs to at some point come to a complete stop.  Don't worry, though, you don't need a physics or anatomy degree to understand the concepts that we teach.  Or take the grip for example, there are many different grips that meet the definition.  So you see there's a lot of leeway within each concept that we teach.  The students are usually videotaped (often secretly) and the tapes are examined to find areas of improvement.  Some of us cover eye patterns (also videotaped).  We discuss pre-shot routines, ball address, and aiming methods using visualization techniques.  We work on speed control, effective breaking techniques, etc.  We talk about equipment specifications and game strategy.  We discuss position play, safety play, the effects of spin, cue ball control, etc.  There's so much to list that I know I'm ommitting a lot.  It may seem mechanical to some, but the idea is to limit excess movement and other variables that can cause mistakes.  Of course, as pool players we don't worry about all of the mechanics while we are playing.  Playing is not the same as practicing.  Practicing is about deliberate, exaggerated, measured repetition, intended to internalize the mechanics so that they will be there automatically when they are needed.  Look at Alison Fisher.  She is the poster girl for good mechanics and she's always on top.  This is why we strive for consistency on every shot.  We have a pre-shot routine that we follow on every shot.  We make modifications for each shot for reasons such as tip position, speed, bridge length, our stance, etc., but it's all from a common point of reference.  It's like trying to explain a draw shot to someone who can't consistently perform a center-ball hit.  If there's no point of reference, there's complete chaos.  I'm all for seeing (actually visualizing) the shot, as you put it.  However, there needs to be balance in your pool game.  You need to be careful not to make things too cerebral.  We aren't like Chevy Chase in Caddyshack using the force or whatever, to "be the ball".  Just "seeing the shot" is oversimplifying matters.  That is part of the equation, yes, but not everything.  There's is a definite physical component to the game that can't be ignored.  I'll agree that pool is a very simple game, but it is by no means easy.  If that were the case, everybody would be a world-beater.  Nobody would ever miss a ball.

To become a BCA Certified Instructor, you need to attend a BCA Instructor Course at one of the Certified BCA Training Academies.  Very often, prospective teachers are also students of BCA Training Academies.  The course itself is usually at least a three day affair, culminating in the students helping to teach a class themselves working closely with and under the supervision of Avanced and Master level instructors, using the techniques they've observed as students before.  With time and experience, instructors can upgrade their status with further training courses.  So, no, it's not a just simple matter of sending in your dues like the ACS does.  There are actual proficiency requirements.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.