Sorry to hear your health is in bad shape.....
Gene, your threads have always sounded more like an ad for perfect aim and a poor me, and my health blog.
There aren’t many that were “A” players and above that can play at that same level at 60 and over as they did when youger. That’s just the way life is.
I played “A” pool on a BB just into my 60’s and then had two strokes and a heart attack. I’ve had a bad back for over 40 years and now have arthritis in every joint in my body. The balls in my hips could give out at any time as x-rays show they are eaten away and just about to pop. I can only move my neck 30% in each direction. I have a condition in my feet that amounts to me walking on the bones. There is more but I’m sure you get the idea…I’m a wreck.
After the 2nd stroke I lost all memory of how to play pool. That’s why I started coming on AZB to ask a lot of questions that I had known before the stroke. I bought a Valley BB and kept changing the ridgeback rails smaller and smaller until they were 4” for all 6 pockets. I read and re read books on pool, bought a bunch of DVD’s, and watched hundreds of videos and streams to get back to where I was at one time. For the last 2 years just to keep playing I had to take pain pills, ice, heat, Doctors, and Chiropractors just to see my game slowly falling backwards.
When you have health issues over 50 you can kiss playing pool at a high level goodbye no matter how many fingers you put in the dike. But one thing that can’t be taken away is all the memories of the nights you took it off with a crowd cheering around the table. Johnnyt
Hi there Johnny and i feel your pain,
I'm still trying and I share my setbacks with everyone because i try to keep it real. I'm not making excuses for playing bad but just explaining why it's so hard to play sometimes.
Rhea's afraid i'm going to quit playing anytime and then our trip will be over. But in all reality I'm pretty stubborn and love pool. My body is already a wreck and I'm still traveling, teaching and trying to even play.
I even win a tournament here and there though that car accident really slowed me down because it slowed down my thinking. I had a mini stroke back in 2008 and my memory after the concussion was worse then back then but then again I don't know because how do you know what you don't remember if you can't remember.
I feel I can still squeeze out a few more years but only if I can kick this diabetes thing in the ass and get rid of it. That way my body will heal up. I'm not blowing smoke by thinking I can get rid of being diabetic because right now I've been off meds for about 4 months and my blood sugar only goes up a little bit.
If the blood sugar gets too high the body takes forever to heal up so any little ache or pain takes forever to feel better.
When I play for 8 hours one day I feel terrible the next. Everything hurts because my body won't recover.
Right now I'm down to 182. When I get down to 170 to 175 my blood sugar will stay stable because the cells will all be smaller and will not be insulin resistent any more. This is where I'm trying to go.
When I played Chris Bartram I was on this journey to get this weight down and see what I can do with my game. Not an excuse but wasn't where I wanted to be to play well.
The second day I played I had a hard time getting out of bed. I had one week to get ready to play and I wrecked my shoulder the first day of practicing 6 hours so the getting ready was out the window. Not an excuse but a reality. But that's where I'm at right now, I just can't play good enough or can't even practice enough to get there. I know that you entirely understand this with all the health issues that you have faced.
I'm going to keep going until i hit 170 and see if what the doctors say is for real. If so my body will recover and I might even be able to work out again and see what I can do again.
I'm just a pool players that is at the tail end of the road trying to squeeze out a few more good years and having fun trying it along with all the aches and pains.
My lower back today, all of a sudden, just quit hurting. Pinched nerve for sure. Feels great now. I even went looking for a game after my pool lesson didn't show up. In fact i felt so bad before the lesson time was that I was kind of hoping it would be a no show. That's how bad I was feeling.
Anyway Johnny, this is part of the story. Many of us are going through the same things getting older and being banged up. I think by sharing this with many players they can really relate to the what is happening out here on the road.
Many players can't even believe I'm still out here.
When I went on my first road trip when I was 19 years old I loved it. being on the road.
41 years later I still enjoy it immensely. So here I am.
One of the last real road players in the world. Been there most of the last 4 years except when I was healing up from one of my mishaps.
This is not a week or 2 trip like some players might do. I'm in for the long haul and dread the day i will have to stop.
Fortunately I feel that is a long ways off.
One man a van and still on the road and lovin it for sure...........
) applies to Rhea too:
