While I can almost buy the thought that ear plugs might not look professional, I think there are a lot of other things that need looking over beside ear plugs.
And for anyone saying that ear plugs cause communication problems in pool, I shout "poppycock". I've used them many times in practice and competition and they DO NOT cause communication problems. If anything, they improve communication because the wearing of them brings a certain amount of caution to the game. The wearer usually points to frozen balls and looks at their opponent to make sure they know acknowledge that the ball is frozen, which should be done when you aren't wearing ear plugs, so the wearer doesn't take it for granted that the opponent heard him call the ball frozen.
When you wear ear plugs, you actually pay more attention to what your opponent is saying than when you don't wear ear plugs and in essence there is less miscommunication between you and your opponent.
Like others have mentioned, ear plugs do not prevent you from hearing statements by your opponent. You can hear most words clearly. With the small amount of words that are needed to be exchanged between players, it's a small wonder that wearing ear plugs isn't the rule.
If you have never worn a custom fitted pair of ear plugs you should do yourself a favor and be fitted for them, just so that you can see the benefits associated with wearing them. If you can't justify the small expense in the cost of custom-fitted ear plugs, buy a pair of stock ones and try them out. The stock ones aren't as comfortable fitting but will do to demonstrate how the wearing of ear plugs can actually enhance the quality of the game.
This past year's Ultimate 10 Ball Championship took a major step toward professional attire. I thank Badi Nazhat for setting the standard and hope others will follow.
The bottom line is if they want the pros to look professional, in addition to dress pants and long sleeve shirt, require vests on everyone that plays.
Of course the electronic devices should be banned from competition. That doesn't even have to be discussed.
My question is, should the same standards be applied to amateur events? If so, why? If not, why?
JoeyA
And for anyone saying that ear plugs cause communication problems in pool, I shout "poppycock". I've used them many times in practice and competition and they DO NOT cause communication problems. If anything, they improve communication because the wearing of them brings a certain amount of caution to the game. The wearer usually points to frozen balls and looks at their opponent to make sure they know acknowledge that the ball is frozen, which should be done when you aren't wearing ear plugs, so the wearer doesn't take it for granted that the opponent heard him call the ball frozen.
When you wear ear plugs, you actually pay more attention to what your opponent is saying than when you don't wear ear plugs and in essence there is less miscommunication between you and your opponent.
Like others have mentioned, ear plugs do not prevent you from hearing statements by your opponent. You can hear most words clearly. With the small amount of words that are needed to be exchanged between players, it's a small wonder that wearing ear plugs isn't the rule.
If you have never worn a custom fitted pair of ear plugs you should do yourself a favor and be fitted for them, just so that you can see the benefits associated with wearing them. If you can't justify the small expense in the cost of custom-fitted ear plugs, buy a pair of stock ones and try them out. The stock ones aren't as comfortable fitting but will do to demonstrate how the wearing of ear plugs can actually enhance the quality of the game.
This past year's Ultimate 10 Ball Championship took a major step toward professional attire. I thank Badi Nazhat for setting the standard and hope others will follow.
The bottom line is if they want the pros to look professional, in addition to dress pants and long sleeve shirt, require vests on everyone that plays.
Of course the electronic devices should be banned from competition. That doesn't even have to be discussed.
My question is, should the same standards be applied to amateur events? If so, why? If not, why?
JoeyA
Still, I understand why they wear them and it too accomplishes a couple of things for them.