You can't help most people get better at pool.

[lfigueroa]

Meh. I don't compete all that much, but if I get in practice ahead of time, I do just fine.

I think it's all about attention to detail when watching pro matches, and what's going on in your head when you are practicing.

When watching pro matches, you need to be looking for the common shots that come up, and know enough about your stroke/knowledge to know whether you have them down cold, or not. If not, practice them. Set up drills surrounding that specific shot. Write down/diagram them so you won't forget.

And when practicing, I feel you DO need to have a certain amount of aggression in your mindset whilst practicing. The practicing has to be PREPARATION for something. It has to be about what you are gonna do to the other guy when you finally face him. Depending on the game, this will take many forms. For example:

9-Ball - Practicing thousands of 9-ball breaks where you squat the CB perfectly and drive the 1 ball down table hard enough to bounce back off the end rail for an easy start. Playing safe off a 1 ball on the end rail over and over in case you come up slightly short on the proper break speed.

One Pocket... Practice getting EVERY possible ball you can, even going past 8. If you prove to yourself you can run 14 (my high run) or 15 balls in One Pocket, you're not so worried about giving up a ball or two to keep your opponent off a shot. Practice two railers at all distances back to your pocket... Practice thin cut behind-the-stack banks over to your hole when it's a definite sellout if you miss, but a definite win if you make. (You have to intentionally think of it as a sellout shot if you miss, even if you are practicing, to help you find the best "make" speed)

8-Ball... Practicing last pocket 8 ball as a means of pushing your performance in what is a relatively easy game if your break is on point. This additionally trains your thinking to really bear down on finding the right pattern and managing the 2-3 balls before the 8 correctly.

Then again, before playing any big tourney, I also do general focus exercises like picking a very small point on the wall 20-30 feet away and intently focusing on it for as long as possible, attempting to prevent my eyes from drifting. I have found that when at the table, if I focus as intently as possible on the most minute contact point I can imagine on the OB, and keep my focus there throughout the whole shot process, not only do I make the ball more often, but this prolonged intense focus has a zen-like effect that drops me into dead stroke at will.. It takes a LOT of focus exercise to be consistently usable, though.

So... I think the aggression/dick measuring to a certain extent must be there in practice, and if it is, then it can be almost as effective as competition. I think a lot of people practice just for the pure joy of hitting ball and pushing their capabilities, but they are missing the war-like nature of practice.

Practice, to be most effective, should be akin to a soldier practicing disemboweling their opponent with a bayonet. It has to be forceful, attempting to push the bayonet completely out the other side of the practice bag. That visual/mental imagery MUST be there to get the most out of the practice. If done with correct mental imagery, the real thing will just be a matter of muscle memory.

Short Bus Russ

Just think how much better you'd do if you competed more.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

Lou just doesn't know that he doesn't know. And for him to say that I must never have been in competition is just laughable. You, on the other hand, are very much on the right path. You are correct that practice is preparation for play. It is not just getting through a drill, it is about intense focus throughout the drill so as to learn and perfect what is necessary to be able to shoot any shot on demand.

You are also correct about practicing with focus. One must learn to never shoot any shot without proper focus. The more one practices intense focus, the longer one can do it. Eventually being able to attain what is called "in the zone" almost at will.

Where you start to veer down the wrong path is in how you go about achieving that intense focus. Wanting to destroy your opponent is one way. The problem with that though, is that it does so through an adrenaline rush. While it works for a short time, it is not sustainable in the long haul, and it will actually wear you out mentally quicker.

You used destruction and adrenaline for your "trigger". Which is great for fighting or arm wrestling. In the movie "Over the Top" Stallone would turn his hat backwards for his trigger for that adrenaline rush. It was great for arm wrestling. I don't know if he still does it, but Efren used to keep one hand touching the table as he walked around it. That mentally kept him in focus with just the table and his task at hand. No adrenaline required. Without the adrenaline, one is able to learn to focus for longer periods of time and feel like they are one with the table.

Done properly, there is only you and the table, and the task at hand. There is no crowd watching, no score, no opponent. You become one with the table. There no longer is any pressure to perform. As each shot is done the same way you practiced, with intense focus. You clearly see what will happen before you even shoot. The shot shoots itself.

oh yeah, more aiming forum stuff -- Lou doesn't know what he doesn't know, lol.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

Ahhhhhh... Very astute observation... I do find that channeling aggression does wear me out mentally over a full day of tournament play, and at the end of some days, I just run out of gas, and start making mistakes.

From one of my own experiences.... I was at Derby City Classic a few years ago, and like a moron, I went all obsessive compulsive and ended up playing/practicing all night, and had been up for about 20 hours when I drew John Morra first round of the One Pocket....

I.e... The first match he played after winning the Banks tournament.. Yeah.. THAT year.

I had seen his Finals the night before, and knew what a holy terror he was gonna be if I gave him ANY free banks, because he was hitting a lot of his banks at closer to One Pocket speed than Banks speed. He would just smooth them in.

So, as tired as I was, adrenaline just wasn't even in the cards. My body just didn't have any to give me, no matter what happened.

As luck would have it, I shot REAL straight in that match, and somehow got to be up on him 2-1. I was so tired that I had slowed my practice strokes way down, and was focusing hard on each decision, as I had a little brain fog... Aggression wasn't even a part of the equation.

Of course, at this point, Shane Van Boening and Brandon Shuff started sweating my match hard (they were 2nd and 3rd, respectively, to John Morra in the points), and the pressure overwhelmed me a little, and I ended up dropping the next two games, although he really played well and I didn't commit any obvious sellouts.

I was smart enough to know that Shane and Brandon were very much pulling for me to defeat John, as it would improve their chances at the All-Around title and money, and that kind of pressure was a little too much to bear. There was also the idea that I had unknowingly been practicing on a Red Label Diamond Pro/Am that banked EXTREMELY short. I did not adjust well, and banked all my cross corners long against Morra.

Those Red Labels were really awful to play on, and I didn't even realize how bad it was until realkingcobra showed me methodically how short they banked when he came to swap it out for a 7 footer a few years later. He literally said it was close to the worst playing Diamond he had ever played on.

I often think about how much better I would have done at Derby that year with a properly setup table to practice on that year. I did force a few cross corners out of Morra in the final two games of that match, but just couldn't put them down when I needed them. I was practicing a lot that year, and was shooting any open shot very well. I got out in one inning both the games I won against Morra. At least this year I have another chance.. I am practicing on properly setup Gold Crowns, which play loads closer to Diamonds as far as banks are concerned. My son is coming with, and I am training him for the next 7 weeks to prepare for Derby. I am also lifting weights at least 4X a week, plus strenuous cardio.. I am gonna make sure that I am in a lot better shape this time for Derby.

Short Bus Russ

If you competed more you'd have known how to adjust to the Red Label. Knowing how to adjust is a skill unto itself that you learn competing.

I recently played in a tournament where players were assigned Diamonds, or GCs, 4" pockets, 4.5" pockets, fast cloth slow rails, bouncy rails, slow cloth, Super Aramiths on one table, Centennials the next.

Oh, and I got to play Ronnie Alcano. Nothing to learn there... better to practice solo, I guess.

Lou Figueroa

 

[KRJ]

Neil, in the history of the game there are countless tales of players who could run hundreds playing alone but couldn’t run squadousch playing another human being. And anyone who has played at all knows there can be a significant disconnect between playing solo and playing competitively.

It’s the difference between masturbation and actual sex with another person. If that’s the guy you want to be, so be it.

Lou Figueroa

I can't think of anyone I know, after 40 years playing pool and being around pool players in rooms across the state, that can run 50 - 100 balls, but falls apart in league, tourney, or even after betting a couple of bucks. Oh, I"m sure there has to be a few out there, but there are not many. Most guys that play strong, just play strong. And I"m not talking about the guys that say they run 50- 100 balls, and then tank at league, but talking about guys we've actually witnessed how well they play in their basement. I've just never personally met any of those guys, but appears you know a lot of them? And that's ok, just seems weird why they gravitate towards you lol

 

[simco]

If one truly wants to improve their pool game,I think tournament play is the best way to go.You know going in what your losses or gains can be at the onset.You will learn more in competition,as your decisions will have more importance and and any weaknesses will be exposed and you will know where you need work. I always thought the reason to improve was to be able to compete at a higher level.I mean we all want to win,Right?

 

[lfigueroa]

I can't think of anyone I know, after 40 years playing pool and being around pool players in rooms across the state, that can run 50 - 100 balls, but falls apart in league, tourney, or even after betting a couple of bucks. Oh, I"m sure there has to be a few out there, but there are not many. Most guys that play strong, just play strong. And I"m not talking about the guys that say they run 50- 100 balls, and then tank at league, but talking about guys we've actually witnessed how well they play in their basement. I've just never personally met any of those guys, but appears you know a lot of them? And that's ok, just seems weird why they gravitate towards you lol

As I said, I was speaking of players throughout the history of the game. And, I think most of us know at least a few guys like that, present company apparently excluded.

There have always been guys that played strong in practice but couldn’t do it in a competive situation, or for the cash. Even your homeboy, the late great George Fels, wrote of them.

Lou Figueroa

 

[BmoreMoney]

As I said, I was speaking of players throughout the history of the game. And, I think most of us know at least a few guys like that, present company apparently excluded.

There have always been guys that played strong in practice but couldn’t do it in a competive situation, or for the cash. Even your homeboy, the late great George Fels, wrote of them.

Lou Figueroa

Lou, I agree. I have seen PLENTY of practice champions and tournament Champs that CAN NOT HIT the end rail with as little as a c note up in the light. It's amazing, but not surprising since I've seen it so much. Anyone wonder why we make fun of those tournament champs? Well this is why. We know the cash is what counts and you either got it or ya dont, you can or you cant. Period.

 

[ShortBusRuss]

If you competed more you'd have known how to adjust to the Red Label. Knowing how to adjust is a skill unto itself that you learn competing.

Lou Figueroa

There was no adjusting after practicing on that table for a significant amount of time.. At least, not without just going to practice on a well set up table for a good day or two.

The banks were not only short, but EXTREMELY speed sensitive. If struck firmly, the bank would actually back up off of the second rail. And if you go more than 45 degrees on a cut shot where the ball was near a rail, it was almost impossible to control the speed precisely, as the ball comes off those rails MUCH faster than a normal-playing table.

I had unknowingly purchased one of the Red Labels that everyone was complaining about during the first few Derby City Classics, before they figured out the rail rubber was not set at the right height.

Playing on that table created a strong hitch in my stroke on cross corner banks, and any shot where the CB was going to hit the rail at a steep angle and I needed to control the speed. The same tournament, I put a 4 pack on Joey Gray and then missed a ball near a rail because in my mind, I just knew it was gonna come off super hot. Just leftover jumpiness because of the equipment I had been practicing on...

The point I am trying to make is this... If you have the right mindset during practice, you can drill in the muscle memory so much that it doesn't matter who you are playing... The funny thing is... For not competing that much, and never having played a pro before, and prolly not having played more than 50 games of One Pocket against another person in my life, I think I did quiet well.. To this day, I still believe that it was my practice equipment that was the only thing that stopped me from beating those two players.

Given bad practice equipment, I don't think "competing more" would have made much of a difference.

That being said.. I agree with your general principle that competing more will provide some level of improvement over "practice performance". I also think that the degree that this makes a difference is highly dependent on the individual, and their practice methods. Rodney Morris rehearsed being hill-hill against Earl Strickland in his mind, with a tough, but makeable shot.... At the practice table.. And he took it seriously enough that he snapped a few cues when he missed.

Fast forward to his first U.S. Open? And he won it... After next to no experience competing with elite caliber players.

Short Bus Russ

 

[Kim Bye]

I know I've ranted about this before, but I swear I'm not really bitter or angry about it at all. Mostly I'm puzzled by it. I see tons of people doing the same things for YEARS on end. They only improve marginally, and some not at all. They keep making the same stupid mistakes, playing with the same shoddy technique. And when you finally crack from watching them do the same thing 5 times and blaming everything but the true cause, and try to give them a hint, they ignore it. Most of these people have been ignoring the same obvious flaws for years before that. Many of them even paid for instructors and then ignored them when they pointed out what would be obvious for even the most poorly trained observer. Then you have the guy who's constantly trying new things, and one small hint can improve his game greatly.

The point is not really to whine about this fact of life, but rather to give my theory about why this is so. I believe that you cannot get better at this game, unless you are willing to make changes, major ones at that. You have to be able to gamble once in a while on doing something that may set your game back for a short while, to get long term gains as long as it is based on sound technique. It's rare to see someone do this and not have it pay off in the long run. But you need discipline, self belief and a strong motivation to do so. That is what many people lack. It's strange to see people who are barely playing the game at a 1year level (after playing for 10 times that amount of time), being so afraid to do anything new for fear of ruining their game (lol). If you've played for 10 years and can't run a rack more than once a week, you truely have nothing to lose. Might as well go for it.

The lack of flexibility and discipline is holding so many people back and is a purely mental block. Nothing stops these people from getting better other than their minds. This game is played 90% in the mind, once you get past the C level, IMO.

Even good fundamentals are mostly mental. Once you learn how to do stuff, you need to remember the exact methods and apply it in a disciplined way. That has very little to do with strength, or hand to eye coordination (if it is anywhere near a reasonable, non-challenged level). Pool is an awesome game. You don't need power, speed or even great intelligence to be decent at it, yet extremely few people can even get to a respectable level where they run racks reliably. It's a mystery that is deeply fascinating.

Not much to argue with there.
The players who seems to not progress, usually just play 9 ball...
It`s hard to to give players advice, many don`t listen and really don`t want to change anything, they keep blaming the equipment and thinking that magical piece of equipment that`s gonna make them pro`s is just around the corner.

 

[Straightpool_99]

Lou, I agree. I have seen PLENTY of practice champions and tournament Champs that CAN NOT HIT the end rail with as little as a c note up in the light. It's amazing, but not surprising since I've seen it so much. Anyone wonder why we make fun of those tournament champs? Well this is why. We know the cash is what counts and you either got it or ya dont, you can or you cant. Period.

I disagree.

Why don't you tell us about these champs who can't hit the end rail for a C-note!? I'd love to know who they are, because personally I've never seen such a creature, and people on this forum go on and on about how common that is! If you're good, you're good. Maybe you'll miss an extreme pressure shot every now and then (as you may in a big tournament), but not hitting the end rail? Bah, humbug!

You know, I think there are more paper champions when it comes to money games! Playin only with the dead nuts, or against complete chumps for pathetic amounts of cash and then scoffing at true champions who beat a field of 200 for 20k in first price money...That to me is worthy of scorn and ridicule. Even more so when they are not really big winners in the first place, but merely trading the same 100 dollar bill back and forth. THAT I have seen!

 

[His Boy Elroy]

I agree with the OP, but I believe it goes much deeper than that. Most people are sheep, not shepherds. Which means, they are followers, not leaders. They want and need someone to tell them what to do all the time. (which is why the add industry pays so well).

They are creatures of habit. As long as they get the same routine every day, they are content to go along with almost anything. (which is why it takes bombing cities to get people to move away from bad areas)

Once these people have to break their routine, they become very flustered and agitated. They fear facing the unknown much more than they fear whatever circumstance they are currently in. They would like things to be better, but greatly fear doing anything that would change their current comfort level.

About the only way I have seen to change people like this is to make things so bad for them that they fear it worse than change, or, which works quite well, is to have someone constantly telling them what to change and how to do it. They will follow if led, and feel comfortable doing so.

Which is why instructors fail to help some, they are only there for a short time, and can only really help those that are willing to help themselves when shown the right way to do things. The others need a coach, and there are very, very few of those around for pool. Plus, they then need the coach all the time to be comfortable. If that coach they had is no longer available, they will seek out another coach. Even accept one that actually hinders their game. I have seen this happen before.

Ugh....I'm kinda confused. You speak of players who are creatures of habit, who are stuck in their routine, and who are resistant to change. I've been reading you for 4 + years and it sure seems to me like you're describing yourself.

Do you happen to remember the thread when someone suggested that a piston stroke instead of a pendulum stroke is appropriate at times? Let's just say you didn't agree. OK.....let's say a little more....You vehemently didn't agree. OH BOY! ( This refers to the forcefulness of your vehemence!) How about your objection to T.O.I.?......OH BOY!

Really....Please enlighten me on what, if any, progressive thoughts you harbor concerning the proper execution of the pool stroke. Maybe I haven't read you enough; but, what I have read indicates (to me at least) that you object to ANYTHING which deviates from the strictest of orthodoxy......OH BOY!

 

[Neil]

Ugh....I'm kinda confused. You speak of players who are creatures of habit, who are stuck in their routine, and who are resistant to change. I've been reading you for 4 + years and it sure seems to me like you're describing yourself.

Do you happen to remember the thread when someone suggested that a piston stroke instead of a pendulum stroke is appropriate at times? Let's just say you didn't agree. OK.....let's say a little more....You vehemently didn't agree. OH BOY! ( This refers to the forcefulness of your vehemence!) How about your objection to T.O.I.?......OH BOY!

Really....Please enlighten me on what, if any, progressive thoughts you harbor concerning the proper execution of the pool stroke. Maybe I haven't read you enough; but, what I have read indicates (to me at least) that you object to ANYTHING which deviates from the strictest of orthodoxy......OH BOY!

How is it that you totally miss the point so often? How do you equate obtaining consistency with unwilling to change? When someone has been playing a long time, and doesn't improve, they have to change something. They need a better way of doing things. That is what I have offered here for many years. A way that has been proven over time to improve ones play. Which is why so many instructors teach it.

Yes, one wants to be a creature of habit, but of good habits, not bad ones. The bad ones need to be changed to improve. I just don't understand how you can find fault with that reasoning, or not see the point of it.

If you had bothered to read the stroke thread with the intent of actually learning something, you would have seen that the argument was about one side saying that a pendulum stroke could not do certain shots. That was all proved wrong by videos of Judd Trump, but they kept insisting they were right and attempting to discredit the stroke and anyone that uses it.

As far as TOI, if you had actually read that thread, you would have had to seen where I stated several times that TOI was a legitimate method of play. What I objected to was the nonsense describing what some say it does, and how to do it, and the details of how and why it works.

You want progressive thoughts on the pool stroke. Progressive comes from the word progress. Which means to move forward, to improve. hmmm...haven't seen anything yet that improves on what you want to call an orthodox stroke. Which also happens to be what most good and great players use. It's simple to do, is easily repeatable, and can do anything any other stroke can do. So, why would one wanting to improve even want to add anything to it that would make it more difficult to perform? That's not progress, that's retardation. The opposite of improvement.

Strange how your whole post had nothing to do with the actual topic at hand, but was only another attempt on your part to try and discredit what I have stated on here in the past.

 

[lfigueroa]

Lou, I agree. I have seen PLENTY of practice champions and tournament Champs that CAN NOT HIT the end rail with as little as a c note up in the light. It's amazing, but not surprising since I've seen it so much. Anyone wonder why we make fun of those tournament champs? Well this is why. We know the cash is what counts and you either got it or ya dont, you can or you cant. Period.

Amen, Brother.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

There was no adjusting after practicing on that table for a significant amount of time.. At least, not without just going to practice on a well set up table for a good day or two.

The banks were not only short, but EXTREMELY speed sensitive. If struck firmly, the bank would actually back up off of the second rail. And if you go more than 45 degrees on a cut shot where the ball was near a rail, it was almost impossible to control the speed precisely, as the ball comes off those rails MUCH faster than a normal-playing table.

I had unknowingly purchased one of the Red Labels that everyone was complaining about during the first few Derby City Classics, before they figured out the rail rubber was not set at the right height.

Playing on that table created a strong hitch in my stroke on cross corner banks, and any shot where the CB was going to hit the rail at a steep angle and I needed to control the speed. The same tournament, I put a 4 pack on Joey Gray and then missed a ball near a rail because in my mind, I just knew it was gonna come off super hot. Just leftover jumpiness because of the equipment I had been practicing on...

The point I am trying to make is this... If you have the right mindset during practice, you can drill in the muscle memory so much that it doesn't matter who you are playing... The funny thing is... For not competing that much, and never having played a pro before, and prolly not having played more than 50 games of One Pocket against another person in my life, I think I did quiet well.. To this day, I still believe that it was my practice equipment that was the only thing that stopped me from beating those two players.

Given bad practice equipment, I don't think "competing more" would have made much of a difference.

That being said.. I agree with your general principle that competing more will provide some level of improvement over "practice performance". I also think that the degree that this makes a difference is highly dependent on the individual, and their practice methods. Rodney Morris rehearsed being hill-hill against Earl Strickland in his mind, with a tough, but makeable shot.... At the practice table.. And he took it seriously enough that he snapped a few cues when he missed.

Fast forward to his first U.S. Open? And he won it... After next to no experience competing with elite caliber players.

Short Bus Russ

Well, the thing is that there is limited practice time available at most tournaments. And I also think that some folks operate under the misconception that all the equipment out there is perfect, set up to U.S Open standards -- that's not even close to the case.

One of the other things about competing is that you learn from other players, particularly the better ones. There is no substitute for being put in a trap and thinking, "What he did was so simple... I don't like it here... I can't wait to practice this shot and put it on someone else." Or maybe it's just watching how they take the balls off the table.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

I disagree.

Why don't you tell us about these champs who can't hit the end rail for a C-note!? I'd love to know who they are, because personally I've never seen such a creature, and people on this forum go on and on about how common that is! If you're good, you're good. Maybe you'll miss an extreme pressure shot every now and then (as you may in a big tournament), but not hitting the end rail? Bah, humbug!

You know, I think there are more paper champions when it comes to money games! Playin only with the dead nuts, or against complete chumps for pathetic amounts of cash and then scoffing at true champions who beat a field of 200 for 20k in first price money...That to me is worthy of scorn and ridicule. Even more so when they are not really big winners in the first place, but merely trading the same 100 dollar bill back and forth. THAT I have seen!

These type of players have been part of pool room lore forever.

From McGoorty describing Game-ball Shorty who couldn't sink the money ball; to Thomas Fensch describing "the lambs" who "don't have the 'heart' or 'courage' to win when there is money on the game," in his book "The Lions and the Lambs;" to Fats incessantly deriding the "fun players;" to George Fels writing of poor, hapless denizens of Chicago pool rooms who could not sink a ball in the ocean playing for cash; to the countless threads here in which players lament choking on league night.

Put another way, what we are talking about is "dogging it" because of competitive heat. Certainly, no one who has been around the game, is going to deny the existence of this particular pool syndrome.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Bobkitty]

These type of players have been part of pool room lore forever.

From McGoorty describing Game-ball Shorty who couldn't sink the money ball; to Thomas Fensch describing "the lambs" who "don't have the 'heart' or 'courage' to win when there is money on the game," in his book "The Lions and the Lambs;" to Fats incessantly deriding the "fun players;" to George Fels writing of poor, hapless denizens of Chicago pool rooms who could not sink a ball in the ocean playing for cash; to the countless threads here in which players lament choking on league night.

Put another way, what we are talking about is "dogging it" because of competitive heat. Certainly, no one who has been around the game, is going to deny the existence of this particular pool syndrome.

Lou Figueroa

It just happens in all sports. The old golf saying was that the range is full of guys that shoot 65 with their club buddies, can hit it 300 yards, hit the yardage signs with their irons, etc. but they can't break 80 on tournament day. Great golfers get better with the extreme pressure, others don't.

 

[simco]

Dirty Harry said it best:"a man's got to know his limitations"

 

[ShortBusRuss]

One of the other things about competing is that you learn from other players, particularly the better ones. There is no substitute for being put in a trap and thinking, "What he did was so simple... I don't like it here... I can't wait to practice this shot and put it on someone else." Or maybe it's just watching how they take the balls off the table.

Lou Figueroa

I agree that for most people, getting into competition, they get put in situations they have never seen before.

I spent two years in Iraq though, and watched no less than 2 Accu-Stats matches a day before I went to sleep after my shift. I bought pretty much the entire catalog that Accu-Stats put out those years, and watched all the matches multiple times. Plus my extensive library I had purchased before I went there. There was literally nothing else to do after I got off work.

I just say that to illustrate that I feel that I've pretty much seen it all, so I pretty much know what's coming on any particular shot, and know the basics of winning play. That doesn't mean I have all the skills needed, because as you said... I don't compete enough. I know that I need to put more practice into kicking, and three-cushion type ball paths, which is where Efren gets a lot of his safety/kicking "magic" from.

And the two things I know I need to practice? Need to be practiced because of the damaging time spent on that Red Label Diamond. I am headed to Derby this year for all three events and hope to have a lot of the kinks ironed out. Seven weeks to go!

Short Bus Russ

 

[KRJ]

As I said, I was speaking of players throughout the history of the game. And, I think most of us know at least a few guys like that, present company apparently excluded.

There have always been guys that played strong in practice but couldn’t do it in a competive situation, or for the cash. Even your homeboy, the late great George Fels, wrote of them.

Lou Figueroa

I know more guys that gamble that get the jitters when they gamble more than they are use to, even ones with stake horses That's all I will say on that matter. lol

 

[lfigueroa]

I agree that for most people, getting into competition, they get put in situations they have never seen before.

I spent two years in Iraq though, and watched no less than 2 Accu-Stats matches a day before I went to sleep after my shift. I bought pretty much the entire catalog that Accu-Stats put out those years, and watched all the matches multiple times. Plus my extensive library I had purchased before I went there. There was literally nothing else to do after I got off work.

I just say that to illustrate that I feel that I've pretty much seen it all, so I pretty much know what's coming on any particular shot, and know the basics of winning play. That doesn't mean I have all the skills needed, because as you said... I don't compete enough. I know that I need to put more practice into kicking, and three-cushion type ball paths, which is where Efren gets a lot of his safety/kicking "magic" from.

And the two things I know I need to practice? Need to be practiced because of the damaging time spent on that Red Label Diamond. I am headed to Derby this year for all three events and hope to have a lot of the kinks ironed out. Seven weeks to go!

Short Bus Russ

I also have an extensive Accu-Stats library and trust me, it’s not the same when you’re on the table playing Efren, Jose, Warren, Francisco, Ronnie, Larry, Scott, Chris, Darren, Danny, and lots of others in person in real life. Not the same at all.

See you at the Derby.

Lou Figueroa