I'm 48 and feel like my game hasnt went down at all, if anything its improved. The only difference is that it's an hr drive to play, so I rarely go.
Jason
Exactly What are the Reasons Pool gets Tougher as you Age?
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
I'm 48 and feel like my game hasnt went down at all, if anything its improved. The only difference is that it's an hr drive to play, so I rarely go.
Jason
I agree with you. I think this is why old guys need to go to the pendulum stroke. The upper arm and shoulder used to stroke straight as a string when we are young, but those muscles get weak and untoned as we age. Straight is not in the cards after 60 or so for most of us.
As long as someone is in good health and reasonably fit, none of this is true. I'm 65 and still play pool and golf as well as I ever did. I hit the golf ball further and higher than ever. I lift weights and lift just as much as I ever did. The guys I play with are mostly in their 60's and walk the 7 mile hilly golf course too. My eyes have lasik bought 20/20. It's too hard to generalize and say these are the reasons. Pool is not boxing or marathon running.
#1 reason: mental energy. For me personally, I don't sleep as well as I used to, so at any time in the day I can get tired. Waiting 4 or 5 hours between tournament matches to win a few hundred dollars takes all the fun out of it.
#2 reason: attitude. I no longer have a burning desire to prove myself, or to make money, or live in a pool hall or practice the many hours top play requires. At my age, you've already made (or not made) the money and realize it's futile to prove yourself to anyone but yourself.
Maturing requires an adjustment in attitude. If somebody wants to call me an old man because they know I'm 65, that's up to them, but don't expect me to be weak or blind. Concerning that old saying "act your age", my advice is "let's not unless we have to".
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I am.64 and my personal experience is like some others have said.
Physical stamina...i believe I am.in pretty good health for my age...still weigh the same as I did when I was 30. Have never taken drugs except social toker in my teens . Do not drink now but at one time drank way more than I should have. ... Just woke up one day and decided to quit. Cant seem to quit smoking but every so often I slack up some for a few days. I still do hard physical work....jackhammers...shovels.....lifting heavy objects. Many contractors are amazed when they find out how old I am and and can do the things I do.
With my background out of the way here is how old age affects my pool.playing.
Mental fatigue and physical fatigue happens way more often than when I was younger.....especially if I had a rough day at work before I go to league..
Also it seems my competitive spirit is not as strong as it once was. It still rares up from time to time...especially if I lose a match I feel I should not have ...or lose badly.
Take last week for example.. I got blowed away by a 5 in 9 ball. Lost something like 38-23 in a 38-46 race. No excuse ...i just played bad ....seemed to not have the desire I guess. 45 minutes later I play 8 ball against their 7 and win 3-0 in a 3-5 race. It went 5 innings with two innings ending in a safe. My opponent ...who I have known for years and played against several times commented I played amazing. I said yea....its amazing how well you can play when you are pissed off. He asked if he had pissed me off and I said no I was just upset about losing 9 ball as bad as I did.
Now attitude.....competitive spirit...focus or whatever you want to call it will not make you better than you really are....what it does is allows you to play at your highest level ...in my opinion ..
Physical stamina...i believe I am.in pretty good health for my age...still weigh the same as I did when I was 30. Have never taken drugs except social toker in my teens . Do not drink now but at one time drank way more than I should have. ... Just woke up one day and decided to quit. Cant seem to quit smoking but every so often I slack up some for a few days. I still do hard physical work....jackhammers...shovels.....lifting heavy objects. Many contractors are amazed when they find out how old I am and and can do the things I do.
With my background out of the way here is how old age affects my pool.playing.
Mental fatigue and physical fatigue happens way more often than when I was younger.....especially if I had a rough day at work before I go to league..
Also it seems my competitive spirit is not as strong as it once was. It still rares up from time to time...especially if I lose a match I feel I should not have ...or lose badly.
Take last week for example.. I got blowed away by a 5 in 9 ball. Lost something like 38-23 in a 38-46 race. No excuse ...i just played bad ....seemed to not have the desire I guess. 45 minutes later I play 8 ball against their 7 and win 3-0 in a 3-5 race. It went 5 innings with two innings ending in a safe. My opponent ...who I have known for years and played against several times commented I played amazing. I said yea....its amazing how well you can play when you are pissed off. He asked if he had pissed me off and I said no I was just upset about losing 9 ball as bad as I did.
Now attitude.....competitive spirit...focus or whatever you want to call it will not make you better than you really are....what it does is allows you to play at your highest level ...in my opinion ..
To be clear, I am not crying about it. I love pool now more than ever, and even after numerous total shoulder replacements, I'm still lucky enough to be playing at all, let alone somewhat close to how I played 40 years ago. Just curious what others of similar age have experienced? To me, I really don't feel it''s a focus issue, or at least for right now not a physical issue. I just seem make more mistakes and manage to screw up easy runouts way more than I used to - frustrating.
We're having a friendly conversation. The poster that made the comment will be starting the same thread someday.
If you age long enough, you're dead. Can't play well at all at that point. From 35? on each day your body is getting closer to that final day and your skills erode accordingly. You can overcome that for a while through gaining knowledge and technique inprovement but in the end, you can't hit a ball.
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I am 68. We aging males are literally not the same person we were when we were young. We are physiologically different and biochemically different. Perhaps the best example of the change can be understood by looking at the decline of testosterone with age. There are many, many other examples of physiological and biochemical change but testosterone alone is responsible for many factors, both mental and physical, that make the 20-35 year old male superior in competitive activities.
I am a better player today than ever in my life because I have the time and have made the effort to improve in recent years. But I am not even remotely comparable to my 20-30 year old self if I spent the same amount of time then as I do now.
I am a better player today than ever in my life because I have the time and have made the effort to improve in recent years. But I am not even remotely comparable to my 20-30 year old self if I spent the same amount of time then as I do now.
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I think it is a mistake to underestimate the physicality of pool. While it is not an aerobic activity, and can be accomplished by people with many body types, it still requires physical strength and stamina to play at a consistent high level. Much of the stamina is required of small muscles, but it is required nonetheless.
Simply holding the head in position is physically demanding. Holding the stick steady and establishing and maintaining a firm bridge are physically demanding. Don't believe me? Get into a pool shooting stance and try to hold it for 5 minutes. Then think about how long pool matches go on, and how many times you are getting into those positions, holding it for a few seconds, and then keeping your entire body still while completing a smooth, straight stroke without wavering a millimeter.
The deterioration of the game in golf is actually greater tee to green than in putting, as shown in the analysis of PGA tour players in the chart. Interestingly, there is a slight increase in scrambling ability among golfers. The speculation from the researcher who published the following chart is as follows: "Short game play involves a lot of technical skill – stance, position of hands, correct judgement of swing speed, club head position, etc. (in addition to strategy) – while not involving much of the physical strength that declines with age. "
I find this interesting when thinking about pool. Older players seem to be drawn to and compete better in "One Pocket", perhaps because of acquired technical understanding of the game and improved tactical skills.
I hate to bring up a can of worms but there are physiological and biochemical reasons that explain why very few professional woman golfers or pool players are able to compete against young men, and why very few men over 50 can compete against young men.
Simply holding the head in position is physically demanding. Holding the stick steady and establishing and maintaining a firm bridge are physically demanding. Don't believe me? Get into a pool shooting stance and try to hold it for 5 minutes. Then think about how long pool matches go on, and how many times you are getting into those positions, holding it for a few seconds, and then keeping your entire body still while completing a smooth, straight stroke without wavering a millimeter.
The deterioration of the game in golf is actually greater tee to green than in putting, as shown in the analysis of PGA tour players in the chart. Interestingly, there is a slight increase in scrambling ability among golfers. The speculation from the researcher who published the following chart is as follows: "Short game play involves a lot of technical skill – stance, position of hands, correct judgement of swing speed, club head position, etc. (in addition to strategy) – while not involving much of the physical strength that declines with age. "
I find this interesting when thinking about pool. Older players seem to be drawn to and compete better in "One Pocket", perhaps because of acquired technical understanding of the game and improved tactical skills.
I hate to bring up a can of worms but there are physiological and biochemical reasons that explain why very few professional woman golfers or pool players are able to compete against young men, and why very few men over 50 can compete against young men.
Mickey Mantle: "If I had known I'd live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself".
I think it is a mistake to underestimate the physicality of pool. While it is not an aerobic activity, and can be accomplished by people with many body types, it still requires physical strength and stamina to play at a consistent high level. Much of the stamina is required of small muscles, but it is required nonetheless.
Simply holding the head in position is physically demanding. Holding the stick steady and establishing and maintaining a firm bridge are physically demanding. Don't believe me? Get into a pool shooting stance and try to hold it for 5 minutes. Then think about how long pool matches go on, and how many times you are getting into those positions, holding it for a few seconds, and then keeping your entire body still while completing a smooth, straight stroke without wavering a millimeter.
The deterioration of the game in golf is actually greater tee to green than in putting, as shown in the analysis of PGA tour players in the chart. Interestingly, there is a slight increase in scrambling ability among golfers. The speculation from the researcher who published the following chart is as follows: "Short game play involves a lot of technical skill – stance, position of hands, correct judgement of swing speed, club head position, etc. (in addition to strategy) – while not involving much of the physical strength that declines with age. "
I find this interesting when thinking about pool. Older players seem to be drawn to and compete better in "One Pocket", perhaps because of acquired technical understanding of the game and improved tactical skills.
I hate to bring up a can of worms but there are physiological and biochemical reasons that explain why very few professional woman golfers or pool players are able to compete against young men, and why very few men over 50 can compete against young men.
Physicality is one thing, but being enthusiastic about putting a little ball into a little hole changes as a person goes through life and gains perspective.
Women tend to get that perspective much earlier than men do. Some women have that perspective so early on that they don't feel enthusiastic about putting in the time and energy towards it that men often do from the onset.
Yeah and he only made it to 64-He got old early.
I met Mickey and Steve Owens(OU Heisman winner) once while playing golf. This was about '91 and Mick was still pretty healthy but JEEZ, did that guy like to drink. Had a 1/2gallon of bourbon in the cart and drank ALL the away around the course. What a guy, so normal and down-to-earth. Gone WAY too early, only 63 when he passed.
I am.
I hate the thought of getting older. I remember drinking until all hours and the going
home and catching an hour or two of sleep if I was lucky then getting up on time and
gong to work to start it all over again.
Something interesting was said in a previous post that I hadn't thought about before,
I shudder to agree, but I think it's right. A lot depends on how you took care of yourself
when you were younger. In our teens and early on in our 20's we all thought we were
invincible, even bullet proof, immune to disease, or whatever. As a younger guy I was
a full contact, high impact person, I never considered the future beyond tomorrow. Now,
I'm paying for it. I started playing pool because I broke knees, ankles, elbows, hands,
feet and just about everything else, pool seemed safe, and now my shoulders are
shot. All the football, baseball and volleyball as a younger person was fun, but it hurts now.
Pool after 40 or 50 I think pool is alot like sex - it's still a favorite activity, lots of fun, something
I'll always enjoy and I'm still pretty good at. It's always good to know you can still hit one out or run
a table, maybe get an 8 on the break, and great to talk about or tell stories about, but there are times
it's really much better to get a drink and a comfortable place to sit and just watch someone younger and better
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For what it's worth, I was a damn good player in my late teens through my 20's. I didn't play much in my 30's (life happened, ya know)....and now being in my 40's with a 9' GC2 in my really cool pool room, my game is horrendous.....but I still love it inspite of being not much competition for the weakest player....
Yes, I've played with him in Las Vegas in the 1980's.
Regarding your shoulders, have you checked with your orthapedist as to whether you may be a candidate for shoulder replacement? Successfully done and with dedicated physical therapy and excersizing, it can completely eliminate your shoulder pain while playing pool!