Playing fast is so popular to viewers. Is it still possible to play consistent, fast high level pool?

Poolmanis

Poolmanis

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been reading about slow play on pro tournaments how boring it is etc..
I myself like watch fast players. I just feel not many pros can do that though. They need to think and calm nerves to achieve higher level of play.
There is guys like Ronnie on Snooker or Filler, Shaw, Earl and back in 2000´s Mika had really high fast pace game.
I think they are exceptions.
I still think many pros hit themselves on leg on playing TOO slow though. They overthink and add more pressure for themselves for taking too long on lil tougher shots.

I myself like to play fast and can play good fast pace but I noticed I seem to always then make very easy mistake sooner or later if I try keep my tempo very high.
I think I play my best when I think little more and check angles but still make fast, determined decisions. It can be still quite fast pace game.

What pace player are you? Faster or slower? Do you play slower but still like watch faster players?

I have been thinking this a lot lately and made 2 videos from my practice where i self review my game and talk little bit this topic too..

Here me playing too fast and loose 15-ball ghost(3 racks)

And here me beating Nine-Ball-God on race to 7
 
Last edited:
At it's core, for most players it's a tradeoff between having more polished shot selections which leads to better position and easier shots, or having a more confident/relaxed execution which leads to higher success % on pots and leaves.

I find it useful to seperate shot time into two parts, thinking time and execution time. Thinking time is from the moment the balls stop to the moment you start your PSR, execution time is from the moment your PSR starts to when you shoot. There's some who have a slower PSR but decide on their shot relatively fast, and vice versa.

I am personally a relatively slow player, I like to maximize my odds by ensuring my shot selection is not only sufficient, but ideal. Often a few general options for position are obvious in 1 second, but thinking about the nuances of exact amount of spin, error margins and visualizing the relevant zones/lines, really improve my game. On an average shot where the right shot isn't super obvious, I think maybe 10-15 seconds, and the execution takes maybe another 10-15.
 
Poolmanis said:
I have been reading about slow play on pro tournaments how boring it is etc..
I myself like watch fast players. I just feel not many pros can do that though. They need to think and calm nerves to achieve higher level of play.
There is guys like Ronnie on Snooker or Filler, Shaw, Earl and back in 2000´s Mika had really high fast pace game.
I think they are exceptions.
I still think many pros hit themselves on leg on playing TOO slow though. They overthink and add more pressure for themselves for taking too long on lil tougher shots.

I myself like to play fast and can play good fast pace but I noticed I seem to always then make very easy mistake sooner or later if I try keep my tempo very high.
I think I play my best when I think little more and check angles but still make fast, determined decisions. It can be still quite fast pace game.

What pace player are you? Faster or slower? Do you play slower but still like watch faster players?

I have been thinking this a lot lately and made 2 videos from my practice where i self review my game and talk little bit this topic too..

Here me playing too fast and loose 15-ball ghost(3 racks)

And here me beating Nine-Ball-God on race to 7
Click to expand...
Nice job against the God, very impressive! Appreciated your commentary. Would love to see you beat Fedor’s score in a race to 21. My favorite shot was the 2 to the 3 in rack 6.

If you’re ever in the States, you have a place to crash in Austin with a nice table. :)
 
Rusty in Montana said:
Don't forget to add " Machine Gun Lou Butera" to the list of fast pace pool player's he was incredible .
I've seen others who played with a fast pace but their names escape me at the moment .
Click to expand...
From the past,...... Jimmy Reid, Mike Siegel, and a lil slower Johnny Archer. Didn't Kid Delicious play a sporty pace?
 
I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy situation when it comes to pace of play. Most players (myself included) would rather blame their mental approach when they make a mistake than their physical execution. It's much easier on the ego. If you take this approach -- playing slow, then slower, then at a snail's pace becomes a natural progression. One can't afford to make a mental mistake after all ;)

I think it takes a total mindset shift to play faster. I've basically forced myself to play faster EVEN when I'm nervous, instead of the other way around. Granted I'm not playing a ton and certainly not professional caliber events, but nerves are nerves and I think it may apply to all players. When players let their nerves dictate their pace it may become a the tail wagging the dog scenario. If instead, you train yourself to at least maintain your pace of play, eventually your subconscious gives up, and stops forcing all the nervous energy up to the surface. This is what I think the truly great fast players have done.
 
BasementDweller said:
I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy situation when it comes to pace of play. Most players (myself included) would rather blame their mental approach when they make a mistake than their physical execution. It's much easier on the ego. If you take this approach -- playing slow, then slower, then at a snail's pace becomes a natural progression. One can't afford to make a mental mistake after all ;)

I think it takes a total mindset shift to play faster. I've basically forced myself to play faster EVEN when I'm nervous, instead of the other way around. Granted I'm not playing a ton and certainly not professional caliber events, but nerves are nerves and I think it may apply to all players. When players let their nerves dictate their pace it may become a the tail wagging the dog scenario. If instead, you train yourself to at least maintain your pace of play, eventually your subconscious gives up, and stops forcing all the nervous energy up to the surface. This is what I think the truly great fast players have done.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I think about same. I noticed this especially on 3-cushion where we use always 40-sec shot clock. Often you end up very difficult place where you can´t even think anything reasonable shot. I still try shoot all my shots under 30 sec and I noticed it works better than anything else :)
Of course some shots need more time and you got extensions for that but mostly it is just best to try keep going :)
 
Pool needs pace, too slow or too fast is no good. There have been players over the yrs i'd call 'leisurely' but in general the quicker ones fare better. Buddy was on the slower side but even then i wouldn't have called him slow, maybe 'measured' would be a good term. We all have an internal clock so deal with it.
 
Poolmanis said:
I have been reading about slow play on pro tournaments how boring it is etc..
I myself like watch fast players. I just feel not many pros can do that though. They need to think and calm nerves to achieve higher level of play.
There is guys like Ronnie on Snooker or Filler, Shaw, Earl and back in 2000´s Mika had really high fast pace game.
I think they are exceptions.
I still think many pros hit themselves on leg on playing TOO slow though. They overthink and add more pressure for themselves for taking too long on lil tougher shots.

I myself like to play fast and can play good fast pace but I noticed I seem to always then make very easy mistake sooner or later if I try keep my tempo very high.
I think I play my best when I think little more and check angles but still make fast, determined decisions. It can be still quite fast pace game.

What pace player are you? Faster or slower? Do you play slower but still like watch faster players?

I have been thinking this a lot lately and made 2 videos from my practice where i self review my game and talk little bit this topic too..

Here me playing too fast and loose 15-ball ghost(3 racks)

And here me beating Nine-Ball-God on race to 7
Click to expand...
Naturally gifted pool players seem to be able to play quite fast and play well. For most of us it’s more of a grind.
 
BRKNRUN said:
Some guy named Keith played a pretty quick pace....
Click to expand...
pwd72s said:
Think it was Rodney Morris who said that he thinks fast, so he plays fast...
Click to expand...
Yeah. They too were very strong fast pace players.
I think Efren was fast too when he was under 40. Then he kinda slowed down a bit and never was slow but he was thinking little bit more. I think he found perfect pace for him just before 2000. Maybe learning one pocket slowed him down a notch and taught him to importance of thinking :)
Efren says he played best when he was young and i bet he was fast :)
 
Poolmanis said:
Efren says he played best when he was young and i bet he was fast :)
Click to expand...
Name me a pro player who doesn’t say they played their best when they were young? SVB may be the only player I can think of offhand who played better in his 30s than he did in his 20s, and even that is debatable.
 
Last edited:
3kushn said:
IMO Rhythm, Personal Rhythm, is one of the keys to playing well.

I don't know how really slow players find their rhythm. There isn't anything repeatable. There's no beat. 1 2 3 4 ....

I was told years ago not to watch my opponent. They'll draw you into their rhythm and you'll lose yours.
Click to expand...
I believe in that last part because it has happened to me several times

Most often the guy that buzzed around the table is the one I’ll adopt and realize later
 
if you gamble you learn to play fast if you are a winner. losers can play slower as long as they keep donating.

playing slow makes your opponent want to quit or even if he doesnt you cant win as much as you play less games.

in tournaments its an advantage as you dont miss seeing some shots and it throws off most players having to wait all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top