Does playing Pool with Families or Friends mess up your real game??

Well certain aspects of this thread reminds me of the C player coaching the D player. 🤷‍♂️ Kinda fun and funny at times.
Ah the memories, when I was 5 and my little sister 3, I tried to teach her to say Grandma. Her version was Bong Gong. So I tried breaking it down with, "say Grand" which she did. Then, "say Ma" which she did. Then "say Grand Ma." Which was always followed with, "Bong Gong." We did that performance for every member of our family and friends.
 
Finding my balance....
Good morning Vietnam 🇻🇳
The recent fire alert has a Vietnam con neck shun.
HUGE CANDLE like flame in the distance directly upwind of 25 to 40 mph gusts. In August in Arizona is an explosion possible alert. With garden hose and shovel in hand.
The fire department had it in control. A huge stack of packing crates for solar panels origination was Vietnam. A huge fire that left a black scar that left marginal evidence. 🤔 hmmm.
 
Stay Down! Is the Vietnam Era training.
Shaun Murphy is a favorite example of the motionless as the ball travels it's course.
 
Haven't read any responses but the answer is yes. Pool should be fun and not a chore. That's not to say you can't play pool with friends and just have fun, but reality is it's not going to help your game at all. Just sitting watching bad players play can hurt you I believe.

In the same respect watching good players is inspiring you almost feel like once you see them do it you can step to the table and do it also. Can't be anything good about watching people hit balls into the rails with poor fundamentals.
 
ShootingArts said:
I just use it as practice time. Hitting points, accidental safeties on myself, if not shooting a rotation game; choose the hardest pattern and take the hardest possible path from ball to ball. When playing somebody far worse, I really do play the table to stay interested. Gambling for more than a beer gets interesting but I don't gamble with friends or family for more.

Playing bangers is a fine time to practice missing too. When I made very tough shots I was quiet as a mouse. When I "missed shots" I tossed out the kind of theatrics I had learned from people trying to persuade themselves and others that they were better than they were playing at the moment.

Hu
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Friends and fam has always been a problem for me. I never gamble with either, and I want them to enjoy themselves and have a good time. They're all familiar with how I play, so no surprises there, allowing me to enjoy myself as best I can, so I'll practice cheating the pockets and hairline misses and shots that I otherwise wouldn't work on.
Close, but no Cigar, ya know??
There's an art to that. You either can or can't.
 
Bavafongoul said:
To make it more interesting and enjoyable, I shoot every other shot opposite handed.

First my normal right hand stroke, then left handed, back to right, then left, etc. It does
2 things. It makes the game more even than if I just played right handed and at the same
time, I get to practice my left handed shots since I really hate bridges. I have a Tony Ryan
18” cue extension but bridges are still necessary on a 9’ table when you are only 5’8” tall.

Being able to shoot ambidextrously for some shots helps me obtain better position and
pocket balls better than if I used a bridge. God help me if I played snooker on a 12’ table.
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I tried playing left handed - once.
Looked like a developmentally disabled blind gorilla with Parkinson's.
 
Mensabum said:
I tried playing left handed - once.
Looked like a developmentally disabled blind gorilla with Parkinson's.
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Never forgot a pistol match. The stage was six shots strong hand unsupported, reload, six shots weak hand supported. Both groups were fired at the head area of B-27 targets. I think the range was ten yards. I let a shot trickle out the side of the strong hand unsupported target! Annoyed, I hit a reload and came up with the weak hand supported. Sounded like full auto fire, dead center of the "head" and a tiny hole, tiny for a forty-five rapid fire anyway, I could squeeze two fingers through it. Another Master shooter was watching from behind me, "You are better when you shoot fast!"

I have found that most left handed pool shots can be covered by a standard bridge and moving my grip hand across in front of my body. The stick is in the left hand position but I am shooting with my right hand. Saw a pro use the same technique many years after I started just from the left hand being too stupid to handle shots.

I often wonder why we use the less coordinated hand for bridging and the more coordinated hand for just holding a loose grip. Doesn't seem right.

Hu
 
gregcantrall said:
OH! HELL NO!!!
Efren would watch the bad players to find strange and unusual and unexpected results. He then went to his practice table and perfected the shot. 🤷‍♂️
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Well maybe Efren discovered some sort of research method, but in general sitting around watching bad players with bad strokes bad fundamentals hitting everything into the rails can't have a positive effect.
 
CAN'T means WON'T.

Those that know the .....oh nevermind.
How long did the World's Greatest Billiards player, Willie Hoppe practice with just 1 ball?
 
Finding the Life's lessons is a skill. It can pay dividends
Why? Is a favorite Game with the children.
"Because I said so." Is not an acceptable answer. 😉
 
Trying to be happy for the weaker player that defeated me was a real challenge. The $5 tournament first round. I expected to cash and the youngster was aware of my reputation. I kept a stiff upper lip at the handshake as I had missed a simple shot. Grrrr...He stepped inside my extended hand and....HUGGED ME! eek. It brought me out of my deepest funk and forced a Smile ☺.
 
gregcantrall said:
Trying to be happy for the weaker player that defeated me was a real challenge. The $5 tournament first round. I expected to cash and the youngster was aware of my reputation. I kept a stiff upper lip at the handshake as I had missed a simple shot. Grrrr...He stepped inside my extended hand and....HUGGED ME! eek. It brought me out of my deepest funk and forced a Smile ☺.
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We need a YIKES! emoticon. I used to work in a group of huggers, fortunately women! They would give big hugs every morning like they were worried everyone might have died since five o'clock yesterday.

Hu
 
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