Have at me! :)

[justadub]

Small update and a couple more questions....

I feel that I have made a little progress in a couple areas, with an enormous amount still to accomplish. I have been trying to focus primarily on making my PSR, stance and stroke better.

I am stroking stronger, with better follow through, and fewer pokes/jabs. Again, baby steps, but i can see a small improvement. Quite small

As I don't have a lot of real "practice" time, I have found that I am in a bit of a quandry. I can find a good feel and rhythm when just shooting balls, from one position. Not the exact same shot, but standing on one side, setting up a ball and shooting it, properly (or closer than the way I was doing so before). I actually feel pretty good about it during this part of "practice", and I try to spend as much time as I can doing this, or similar. I think that until I can reliably get down into a basic shot, and do it properly, instinctively, I won't do much good working on other stuff. Here's where it starts giving me issues....

I'm feeling better about the basic shot process, with just the cue ball and the object ball on the table. I can set up my stance and my bridge well, and its good. Now then, how do I "practice" getting those things right when the table has all the balls on it? Drills are great, from a set, fixed, predictable position. But when I try to apply all this new goodness in an actual game, I struggle getting everything "right" when i have to reach, or put my bridge hand in a non standard position, over a ball, or around balls in between. Anything that isn't "standard".

Of course, this is the trick, I realize. It also doesn't help that my mind is still trying to process the steps to "doing it right", checking off stance, bridge, grip, follow through...my actual games have suffered recently. Which is to be expected, I realize...still, I'm trying to get the process down to be more instinctive, and less active in the thought process.

Suggestions? Perhaps setting up specific shots with a couple of traffic balls to work my bridge hand around, and do those shots repeatedly?

Thanks again for all the help, folks. I think about this a whole lot, and I go back this thread in my mind regularly. It's been great.

 

[Banks]

One thing that helped me quite a bit, was walking into the shot. Most people don't realize how quickly their time is at the table. Take your time, look at the angle(you did a few times), and then go ahead and approach the shot. That will help you get into a more comfortable stance. I noticed that many times you were simply at the table and then got down to shooting.

Don't be afraid to take a look at the angle.

Walk into the shot.

Good luck and hit 'em well, Dub. :thumbup:

 

[hang-the-9]

Dang, Bangor is far, figured I'd check to see how far you are from Ayer where I play often, it's over 4 hours! There is a good instructor that goes to Ayer often, Roy Pastor, he also runs the USAPL league there.

But you are a bit far unless you take trips to MA at times.

 

[PGHteacher]

I feel that I have made a little progress in a couple areas, with an enormous amount still to accomplish. I have been trying to focus primarily on making my PSR, stance and stroke better.

Outstanding

I am stroking stronger, with better follow through, and fewer pokes/jabs. Again, baby steps, but i can see a small improvement. Quite small

Any seeable progress is good, wait till you get to be good "seeable progress" will become illusive.

As I don't have a lot of real "practice" time,

That's too bad but any time you can spend you can make the most out of (more on that later)

I have found that I am in a bit of a quandry. I can find a good feel and rhythm when just shooting balls, from one position. Not the exact same shot, but standing on one side, setting up a ball and shooting it, properly (or closer than the way I was doing so before). I actually feel pretty good about it during this part of "practice", and I try to spend as much time as I can doing this, or similar. I think that until I can reliably get down into a basic shot, and do it properly, instinctively, I won't do much good working on other stuff.

True to an extent.

Here's where it starts giving me issues....
I'm feeling better about the basic shot process, with just the cue ball and the object ball on the table. I can set up my stance and my bridge well, and its good. Now then, how do I "practice" getting those things right when the table has all the balls on it?

Here is what I said in another post, it might help you also; I know you don't have a lot of practice time but you don't HAVE to do 10 racks of Fargo or Bowlliards, you can do 5 or even 3 for that matter; or heck you could even just try 1 of each and then play a game of 8ball against the ghost. It's up to you it is your practice session.

All of this is good advice books, videos, articles etc.. will speed you toward your goals. I suggest dividing your practice time into 3 segments.

1. Warm-up
2. Drill
3. Game

When you just “jump” into a practice session with no structure you don’t get the max out of it.

1) Warm-up: Take a few shots; don’t take this part too seriously, it is to get your arm loosened, wrist loosened, get your legs stretched out, back warmed up etc.. throw a ball down table, wait till it stops and shoot at it. I do a much more structured warm-up but let this develop over time; as time passes you will want to warm-up with harder and harder shots and you will end up setting up balls instead of throwing them down table.

2) Drill: Pick a drill or 2 and do it with as much focus, concentration, fervor and determination as you can but only do 1 or 2 a day this is essential and it sounds like you like drilling and that is great. Those who don’t will never be as good as their natural ability will allow given the time and resources they have to devote to it, you will.

3) Game: Fargo, Bowlyards, playing the ghost, Byrnes practice game, Target pool (if you score it) and the like is great practice. I specifically DO NOT recommend that you break an 8 ball rack and try to run the table. For 99% of the players out there (99% of them will not admit this or will think they are the 1%) this leads to reinforcement of bad habits, unfocused, careless, sloppy play. Do not attempt this form of practice until you get about 5-10 solid years of competitive play.

Finally if you want to improve it is not a good idea to say “I want to improve my 8ball game” for best results become a student of “the game” (pool) and of “your game” (how YOU play and how to fix YOUR problems) Good luck you seem to have a good handle on how to teach yourself feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Drills are great, from a set, fixed, predictable position. But when I try to apply all this new goodness in an actual game, I struggle getting everything "right" when i have to reach, or put my bridge hand in a non standard position, over a ball, or around balls in between. Anything that isn't "standard".

This is not unique to you; if I shot like I can drill you would see me on TV.

Of course, this is the trick, I realize. It also doesn't help that my mind is still trying to process the steps to "doing it right", checking off stance, bridge, grip, follow through...my actual games have suffered recently. Which is to be expected, I realize...still, I'm trying to get the process down to be more instinctive, and less active in the thought process.

There is a big difference in playing and practicing; just like in anything you are in a permanent state of learning, fixing and adjusting. A really good pool player once told me that he thinks of his game like and old car. Just as you get the last thing fixed the 1st thing you fixed is ready to be fixed or adjusted.

You practice, video yourself, compete, video yourself, make adjustments, see how that effects your competitive game and then go back to stage 1. You will be doing this forever if you are serious about the game.

Suggestions? Perhaps setting up specific shots with a couple of traffic balls to work my bridge hand around, and do those shots repeatedly?

Nah play single player games; the best are IMHO Bowlliards, Fargo and playing against the ghost.

Thanks again for all the help, folks. I think about this a whole lot, and I go back this thread in my mind regularly. It's been great.

You are very welcome.

 

[Scott Lee]

Bruce...Here's a suggestion made to me by Jerry Briesath almost 30 years ago, and it's still pertinent today. He told me the best way to practice was to throw out 3 balls...take BIH on the first shot, and then try to run out. The runout only counts if you get "easy" on the other two balls (that means a 30 degree cut or less...no steep cuts, even if you "can" make them). When you can successfully complete this drill 15 out of 20 tries, you move up to 4 balls, and do it the same way. This will help with your PSR and 'walking into the shot' as much as anything...plus give you the satisfaction of pocketing a few balls on purpose, with a plan.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

 

[michael4]

throw out 3 balls...take BIH on the first shot, and then try to run out.

Scott, are you saying 3 balls any order, or 3 balls in rotation?

Just wondering.

 

[justadub]

Dang, Bangor is far, figured I'd check to see how far you are from Ayer where I play often, it's over 4 hours! There is a good instructor that goes to Ayer often, Roy Pastor, he also runs the USAPL league there.

But you are a bit far unless you take trips to MA at times.

I don't think people realize just how far away we are from most everything

 

[justadub]

Thank you, Banks, PGHTeacher and Scott.

I appreciate it, and will try to incorporate your suggestions next chance I get.

 

[acousticsguru]

Let me share a video of my own with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rD4UON51Rw

The first thing I want to emphasize is, NO, I do not teach/instruct my students to make the same mistakes as I do. There's quite a few to see here. Let's concentrate on a handful of aspects that might help you.

What you see in the video are two long stop shots followed by two equally long draw shots (cue ball on the head spot, object ball a diamond away from the right foot corner pocket). All I tried to demonstrate to the student you hear me talking to in my native language there is that one can't see a difference between a stop shot stroke and a draw shot stroke except in the timing of the swing. A stroke is a stroke is a stroke, so to speak.

Now, what I want you to look at is the back swing. It's relatively slow (it could be even slower, worth practicing!) and comes to a natural pause at the end. Only then comes the forward acceleration, the actual "stroke". There are no muscles pulling different ways.

Secondly, before any of that even happens, after the so-called practice strokes, I come to complete stop. Its purpose is to check and make sure I'm aligned properly. It's the point of no return. All that follows, the slow back swing, the pause, the actual stroke, all that I can do with my eyes closed. One of the most important things one needs to learn is not to shoot unless the alignment is perfect, so one is ready to go.

If I were off a fraction, I'd do another set of practice strokes (three to six will do - no use tiring oneself out, there's rarely any improvement after that), then stop and check again.

If I were off by much, so I'd have to twist my torso, or move my shoulder, or bend or stretch the elbow of my bridge arm, let alone move my bridge hand on the table, or my feet - back off, get up, walk out of the shot line, start all over.

Now, before any of this takes place, you want to learn to see the shot line standing up, heads and shoulders comfortably up like a ballet dancer. Walk into it so your chin gets locked to that line and your standing right in front of where your shooting position is going to be. Ideally, try and learn to perform a perfect lunge/sidestep that gets you down on the shot without shuffling your feet (one of the many mistakes one can see me doing on the video).

Something else: you're tall. You should be able to practice a perfect pendulum stroke without dropping your elbow (another of the many mistakes one can see me doing on the video), and generate enough power to do anything on a pool table you need to do. Why? Because a pendulum stroke, forearm only from a locked shoulder and elbow, is more economical, and ultimately guarantees that the cue tip is going to hit the cue ball exactly where one last looked at it doing the stop and check after the practice strokes.

Don't be overly impressed by the length of my follow-through - it's partly based on my dropping my elbow. A perfectly straight and natural follow through of four to six inches, depending upon a person's height, will do.

But it's a good habit to e.g. shoot through the head spot, note the quality (rather than the quantity) of one's follow-through, and keep one's head down (keep still) until nothing moves anymore on the table.

Finally, the grip hand. Note mine forms a cradle that looks throughout the stroke (not necessarily loosing up during the practice strokes that precede it) like I don't do anything with it. That's the point. A perfect grip provides sufficient grip for the cue not to flip through one's hand, no more, no less. What this means on a high level of play is, it may be different for different shots, i.e. lighter for delicate shots, or lighter for shots that demand great acceleration instead of force etc. Other than that, the basic concept is always the same: economy.

The most important aspect about gripping the cue is that the grip needs to be such there's no need to choke on the cue. It's useless to start out gripping the cue lightly, such as with only the tips of one's fingers, creating the need to grasp firmly onto the cue at the worst possible moment, the moment of impact when the cue tip contacts the cue ball.

We miss most shots not because we aim off target (long distance, i.e. the object ball) - we miss the majority of shots because the cue tip doesn't contact the cue ball where we intend to hit. Believe me, the scattering effects caused by not hitting the cue ball precisely where we mean to are such that it hardly matters if we aim right or wrong. Literally, without a straight, preferably smooth stroke, we're not going to hit that target no matter what. Let alone do that plus get perfect timing so we can make the cue ball go places.

Lengthy explanation, please excuse my rambling. Now enjoy yourself, and shoot straight!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

 

[TheThaiger]

We miss most shots not because we aim off target (long distance, i.e. the object ball) - we miss the majority of shots because the cue tip doesn't contact the cue ball where we intend to hit. Believe me, the scattering effects caused by not hitting the cue ball precisely where we mean to are such that it hardly matters if we aim right or wrong. Literally, without a straight, preferably smooth stroke, we're not going to hit that target no matter what. Let alone do that plus get perfect timing so we can make the cue ball go places.

This has become such a problem for me that I've quit American pool and taken up English 8 ball instead.

Your paragraph should be pinned in the Aiming Forum.

 

[FranCrimi]

Let me share a video of my own with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rD4UON51Rw

The first thing I want to emphasize is, NO, I do not teach/instruct my students to make the same mistakes as I do. There's quite a few to see here. Let's concentrate on a handful of aspects that might help you.

What you see in the video are two long stop shots followed by two equally long draw shots (cue ball on the head spot, object ball a diamond away from the right foot corner pocket). All I tried to demonstrate to the student you hear me talking to in my native language there is that one can't see a difference between a stop shot stroke and a draw shot stroke except in the timing of the swing. A stroke is a stroke is a stroke, so to speak.

Now, what I want you to look at is the back swing. It's relatively slow (it could be even slower, worth practicing!) and comes to a natural pause at the end. Only then comes the forward acceleration, the actual "stroke". There are no muscles pulling different ways.

Secondly, before any of that even happens, after the so-called practice strokes, I come to complete stop. Its purpose is to check and make sure I'm aligned properly. It's the point of no return. All that follows, the slow back swing, the pause, the actual stroke, all that I can do with my eyes closed. One of the most important things one needs to learn is not to shoot unless the alignment is perfect, so one is ready to go.

If I were off a fraction, I'd do another set of practice strokes (three to six will do - no use tiring oneself out, there's rarely any improvement after that), then stop and check again.

If I were off by much, so I'd have to twist my torso, or move my shoulder, or bend or stretch the elbow of my bridge arm, let alone move my bridge hand on the table, or my feet - back off, get up, walk out of the shot line, start all over.

Now, before any of this takes place, you want to learn to see the shot line standing up, heads and shoulders comfortably up like a ballet dancer. Walk into it so your chin gets locked to that line and your standing right in front of where your shooting position is going to be. Ideally, try and learn to perform a perfect lunge/sidestep that gets you down on the shot without shuffling your feet (one of the many mistakes one can see me doing on the video).

Something else: you're tall. You should be able to practice a perfect pendulum stroke without dropping your elbow (another of the many mistakes one can see me doing on the video), and generate enough power to do anything on a pool table you need to do. Why? Because a pendulum stroke, forearm only from a locked shoulder and elbow, is more economical, and ultimately guarantees that the cue tip is going to hit the cue ball exactly where one last looked at it doing the stop and check after the practice strokes.

Don't be overly impressed by the length of my follow-through - it's partly based on my dropping my elbow. A perfectly straight and natural follow through of four to six inches, depending upon a person's height, will do.

But it's a good habit to e.g. shoot through the head spot, note the quality (rather than the quantity) of one's follow-through, and keep one head down (keep still) until nothing moves anymore on the table.

Finally, the grip hand. Note mine forms a cradle that looks throughout the stroke (not necessarily loosing up during the practice strokes that precede it) like I don't do anything with it. That's the point. A perfect grip provides sufficient grip for the cue not to flip through one's hand, no more, no less. What this means on a high level of play is, it may be different for different shots, i.e. lighter for delicate shots, or lighter for shots that demand great acceleration instead of force etc. Other than that, the basic concept is always the same: economy.

The most important aspect about gripping the cue is that the grip needs to be such there's no need to choke on the cue. It's useless to start out gripping the cue lightly, such as with only the tips of one's fingers, creating the need to grasp firmly onto the cue at the worst possible moment, the moment of impact when the cue tip contacts the cue ball.

We miss most shots not because we aim off target (long distance, i.e. the object ball) - we miss the majority of shots because the cue tip doesn't contact the cue ball where we intend to hit. Believe me, the scattering effects caused by not hitting the cue ball precisely where we mean to are such that it hardly matters if we aim right or wrong. Literally, without a straight, preferably smooth stroke, we're not going to hit that target no matter what. Let alone do that plus get perfect timing so we can make the cue ball go places.

Lengthy explanation, please excuse my rambling. Now enjoy yourself, and shoot straight!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

David, I think your natural shoulder drop stroke is fine. Yes, it's fine to recommend to your students not to drop their shoulder if it is hindering their stroke, but I think it's wrong to just classify it as an error in general, especially since your stroke timing is great.

Also, I would like to recommend to you that you spend some time experimenting with your stance. I think you are off-balance and out of alignment with your arm, thus having to force your shooting arm in a way that is fighting the rest of your body. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you experience occasional shoulder pain after long periods of playing as well as overall fatigue.

I know if you do additional research on your stance, it will help you both as a player and as a teacher.

 

[Scott Lee]

Sorry...in rotation.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Scott, are you saying 3 balls any order, or 3 balls in rotation?

Just wondering.

 

[acousticsguru]

David, I think your natural shoulder drop stroke is fine. Yes, it's fine to recommend to your students not to drop their shoulder if it is hindering their stroke, but I think it's wrong to just classify it as an error in general, especially since your stroke timing is great.

Also, I would like to recommend to you that you spend some time experimenting with your stance. I think you are off-balance and out of alignment with your arm, thus having to force your shooting arm in a way that is fighting the rest of your body. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you experience occasional shoulder pain after long periods of playing as well as overall fatigue.

I know if you do additional research on your stance, it will help you both as a player and as a teacher.

Fran

I agree, classifying an elbow drop as an error per se would be taking things too far. What I was trying to say is, for people who have the advantage of being tall (on a side note, I've always felt short people have advantages of their own playing pool), it's worth a serious try because it eliminates a lot of coordination problems (= it's a more economical type of movement altogether) that in turn can make life easier especially for those of us who are unable to put in so many practice hours as e.g. a pro. If one can do what needs to be done with an economical pendulum swing, more power to them, so to speak.

As to my (I'm assuming my right) shoulder, I never suffer from pain there. I used to suffer from occasional left (lateral) shoulder pain when I was young and regularly playing late into the night because of leaning on it to lock in my stance and keep still during my stroke. No longer since I won't even attempt to do this anymore.

What I can see on my clip (it is relatively recent) is that my right foot isn't where it used to be (= my feet and bridge hand almost form a straight line instead of a triangle, making it hard to tell where my center of gravity is).

The truth of the matter is that I've been suffering from tennis elbow since age eleven (sore nerve), that is, dating back to a time before I took up pool, but had to give up tennis because of it.

In addition, I've broken a vertebra in my back in such a way I've been regarding myself as blessed ever since I'm not paraplegic, plus have suffered two rear-end collisions (car accidents), i.e. whiplash injuries, one time patiently standing in line in a traffic jam, the other in front of a red light. I had to quit playing pool for many, many years because of my accidents.

I've since then been varying my stance day-to-day, so to speak. In fact, it's one of those things that have taught me there's always got to be alternative ways to go about things, because if there were only one, and all of a sudden it's failing us, what then…?

As to the occasional fatigue you're referring to, I'm suffering from (additional/other) medical conditions that cause exhaustion regardless of whether I'm shooting pool or doing anything else in life, so I'm literally unable to reply on that account. When it comes to fatigue, I'll try anything…

In a nutshell, because I've been suffering from chronic pain most of my life, I'm curious to hear what exactly you're referring to, as I'll make sure to include it to my repertory.

Thank you for your input, it's most appreciated!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

 

[FranCrimi]

Fran

I agree, classifying an elbow drop as an error per se would be taking things too far. What I was trying to say is, for people who have the advantage of being tall (on a side note, I've always felt short people have advantages of their own playing pool), it's worth a serious try because it eliminates a lot of coordination problems (= it's a more economical type of movement altogether) that in turn can make life easier especially for those of us who are unable to put in so many practice hours as e.g. a pro. If one can do what needs to be done with an economical pendulum swing, more power to them, so to speak.

As to my (I'm assuming my right) shoulder, I never suffer from pain there. I used to suffer from occasional left (lateral) shoulder pain when I was young and regularly playing late into the night because of leaning on it to lock in my stance and keep still during my stroke. No longer since I won't even attempt to do this anymore.

What I can see on my clip (it is relatively recent) is that my right foot isn't where it used to be (= my feet and bridge hand almost form a straight line instead of a triangle, making it hard to tell where my center of gravity is).

The truth of the matter is that I've been suffering from tennis elbow since age eleven (sore nerve), that is, dating back to a time before I took up pool, but had to give up tennis because of it.

In addition, I've broken a vertebra in my back in such a way I've been regarding myself as blessed ever since I'm not paraplegic, plus have suffered two rear-end collisions (car accidents), i.e. whiplash injuries, one time patiently standing in line in a traffic jam, the other in front of a red light. I had to quit playing pool for many, many years because of my accidents.

I've since then been varying my stance day-to-day, so to speak. In fact, it's one of those things that have taught me there's always got to be alternative ways to go about things, because if there were only one, and all of a sudden it's failing us, what then…?

As to the occasional fatigue you're referring to, I'm suffering from (additional/other) medical conditions that cause exhaustion regardless of whether I'm shooting pool or doing anything else in life, so I'm literally unable to reply on that account. When it comes to fatigue, I'll try anything…

In a nutshell, because I've been suffering from chronic pain most of my life, I'm curious to hear what exactly you're referring to, as I'll make sure to include it to my repertory.

Thank you for your input, it's most appreciated!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

I'm sorry to hear of all of your physical problems. What I was referring to was experimenting with not standing so sideways to the shot. Your torso is facing one direction while your arm is facing another.

 

[FranCrimi]

Oops....duplicate post.

 

[acousticsguru]

I'm sorry to hear of all of your physical problems. What I was referring to was experimenting with not standing so sideways to the shot. Your torso is facing one direction while your arm is facing another.

Guess we're talking about the same thing then - what my stance is like when I move my right foot to the right towards or under my bridge hand, or like here, don't. It's usually a matter of which part of my back hurts most on any given day. I've practiced using a Snooker stance until I could shoot just as well with that, too, for the same purpose, as well as being able to shoot with both legs straight, bending one or the other, or both. Lazily leaning against the table works well for a variety of shots, too, so there's no weight on the front leg whatsoever. Standing higher up so I give myself more space (including when my torso is facing the shot line) is another of those things I try to practice, but ironically, it's among the hardest for me to do.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

 

[9ball_in_MN]

No. That's where you come in. My role is to help revolutionise his play - something that is sorely needed.

But it is his choice: fiddle at the margins with you or become a player with me. I couldn't care less which he does but will tell you straight, he's going nowhere unless he gains some confidence at the table and learns some aggression.

His fear of the table is palpable.

this is complete crap he is not affraid of the tableor ball.. its called being a beginner in pool and trying to learn the game we all love here.. the gray ghost vids are done very well and you will lean alot but like everything goes you just need a ton of practice and befor you knock this post i have been playing for 15 years and took plenty of shot from asses like you and now after hard work I play way above them and I also have vision problems infact lets see a video on you thaiger

my advise work on the fundimentals in the two vids and just have fun with this great and chalanging game.

 

[TheThaiger]

this is complete crap he is not affraid of the tableor ball.. its called being a beginner in pool and trying to learn the game we all love here.. the gray ghost vids are done very well and you will lean alot but like everything goes you just need a ton of practice and befor you knock this post i have been playing for 15 years and took plenty of shot from asses like you and now after hard work I play way above them and I also have vision problems infact lets see a video on you thaiger

my advise work on the fundimentals in the two vids and just have fun with this great and chalanging game.

IIRC he's been playing for three years - hardly a beginner.

 

[justadub]

IIRC he's been playing for three years - hardly a beginner.

To be fair, most of the people that play in my neck of the woods have been playing far longer than 3 years. I work a 6 day a week job and have 2 kids, and no table at home. 3 years is not a lot of time to try and compress 10-plus years of experience in.

Add to that the fact that I'm beginning an activity that requires a great deal of hand-eye coordination at nearly 50 years old. Most people that really get "good" at anything that requires physical coordination will have begun far earlier.

All of this sounds like a series of excuses, which I refuse to make. It does give background on where I am in this process. Many of the better players that I run into around here give me props for being where I am in just 3 years. I'm not satisfied with that, but it gives encouragement. I am currently beating many, many folks here that have played far longer than I have. I'm still not satisfied with that, either.

I get you, Tim. You do need someone to play with occasionally, here online, and I can help with that, upon occasion

 

[FranCrimi]

To be fair, most of the people that play in my neck of the woods have been playing far longer than 3 years. I work a 6 day a week job and have 2 kids, and no table at home. 3 years is not a lot of time to try and compress 10-plus years of experience in.

Add to that the fact that I'm beginning an activity that requires a great deal of hand-eye coordination at nearly 50 years old. Most people that really get "good" at anything that requires physical coordination will have begun far earlier.

All of this sounds like a series of excuses, which I refuse to make. It does give background on where I am in this process. Many of the better players that I run into around here give me props for being where I am in just 3 years. I'm not satisfied with that, but it gives encouragement. I am currently beating many, many folks here that have played far longer than I have. I'm still not satisfied with that, either.

I get you, Tim. You do need someone to play with occasionally, here online, and I can help with that, upon occasion

Your level of play is based on how you perform at the table, which is based primarily on how much time you devote to playing and practicing. It is not based on the date of the first time you picked up a cue stick.

You don't owe anybody any explanations about your life. We all have priorities. Pool is a selfish sport in that you must play it often in order to excel. The best pool players have sacrificed a lot, including careers and relationships.

Anyone who wants to get really good at it in a short span of time has to make it a priority. Otherwise, they'll improve at a slower pace; and what's wrong with improving at a slower pace? Nothing!