Pool Coaching With Steve Daking

Steve Daking is the Head Coach of both the English Pool Association and the Universities Pool Council. Up until last year, neither organisation had an official coaching structure. Steve was tasked with creating the ‘textbook’ on British 8 Ball Pool, a project that took the best part of 12 months to complete, so that a coaching academy could be established for the first time.

During this process Steve came to realise just how different Pool is from Snooker, “The deeper I went into the theory behind the game, the more pronounced the differences. Ball size and table size are the obvious, but the quality of cloth, the table construction and the general conditions pool players have to compete in are a long way from snooker. It really is a like tennis and table tennis, you need another set of skills. “

Steve has been a full time pool professional for 15 years, played at the top level on the International Tour, and has been a member of pool’s professional body (the IPA) since 1994. He is noted as one of the UK’s most successful exhibition players, having performed nearly 2,000 trickshot shows all over the World. He currently holds the title of World 8 Ball Trickshot Champion (Sky Sports), and also has a comedy award for his one man stage show “The Pool Guy” which he first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006, before a run in Sydney in 2007. Today Steve spends most of his time on Corporate Entertainment.

For one-to-one coaching, Steve charges £400 for a course of 10 lessons at his base in Colchester, and can travel anywhere by arrangement. These lessons can be tailored for players of all standards, from beginner to fellow professionals. He is also available for seminars and group bookings. Steve is passionate about coaching and helping players realise their playing potential.