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When you are process oriented you enjoy the full journey. You are playing for the thrill of testing yourself against the adversity of the game. You see a bad roll and a difficult opportunity as an exciting challenge. You have a bring it on and let me do my best attitude. And you know that...

Island, I agree with this quoted post 100%. I've built my entire pool game around game management. Ducking on this three ball is exactly the kind of thing I would have done in the past playing amateur opposition, particularly on tough equipment or if I was feeling wobbly. Not only might this...

I went back and reviewed this shot now that the link was provided. 10/10 pro players shoot here. It is totally standard. Yes, it is awkward and difficult. That is why we don't play for a living and they do. Island, I swear I'm not spoiling for a fight. You are a man speaking my own heart...

I knew a motorcycle racer that told me if you never crashed you couldn't win because you weren't racing fast enough. In poker they say if you don't have some bluffs get called off you're not playing aggressively enough. Pool has evolved into a very offensive game. A great example is the 5...

I think it's a fair point to say they should strive to optimize the game conditions, but I think this is part of the game. What's funny is that a triangle rack brings it's own problems. There was a match where the 9 ball was flying towards the pocket almost every time and they had to delay the...

OK, this video really made me laugh. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Well done Karl.

He also said that he played the ghost with no ball in hand, gave up 10:1 odds on the money for $1,000 a game, and won $45,000. That means if he ran 10/11 racks he'd break even. With no ball in hand and no template rack. So he's saying he either ran 45 in a row, or 95/100 to get 45K ahead...

This is why. The reality is this guy does NOT know how to play high level pool. I can promise you he has massive leaks in his cue ball and patterns, his safety play, his speed control, his break, and his mental game. Not execution leaks. Knowledge and strategy leaks that come out in failed...

Bad players treat the game like it's easy and make it hard. Good players treat the game like it's hard and make it easy. Good players make the game look so easy it's super simple to say "Yeah, they're all open, just shoot them in, yeah, like that, that's what I would have done". Funny how...

Thank you Stu and Jay! When I talked about participation, I wasn't referring to the number of pool players in the US. I was referring to the number of pool players who consistently competed in international competition. Starting with Mike D, Oscar, and Bergman, down to Chip Compton, Anthony...

Jay/Stu, Not sure if either of you saw my post last week so I'm going to quote you and link it here. I agree with most of what you've written and am open minded in those minority differences. Thank you for the discussion...

Hey all! We had a fun podcast today in which we all shared our thoughts on the SVB win. I really enjoyed this episode so if you need something in the background for a car ride or a practice session feel free to check it out. https://fb.watch/ckKCBHtwUw/

I'll add the Shane W played extremely well to win these matches, he wasn't catching people sleeping. When I played him it was my best set of the tournament. I had him 3-0, he ran 3 racks. I had him 6-4, he ran 3 racks again. I missed safe and he ran two and out. Something like that. I...

To those who have blamed a deficit in instruction as to the status of US pool I have a few comments: 1) Not all instruction is designed to breed world champions. 99.999% of players who compete in pool are not trying to become world champions. The vast, vast majority are simply trying to...

Thank you tuffstuff! Josh and I are doing a follow up this Saturday. I am very excited as it will dig deeper into the cyclical nature of the game. I have some thoughts I've been waiting for years to share so if you enjoyed the last one then please tune in for this one. I diagrammed the shot...

Thank you for the enthusiastic reply! I agree with the process mindset. The biggest thing is to focus on what we can control, which in the end is almost nothing beyond our breathing and our attitude. That said, we don't want to start becoming controlling about our fundamentals. Focusing on...

If you have a good game and you just won a set, never ask "Go again?" They might say 'no'. Instead, just flip a coin and say "Call it!" This gives them no time to think. If they hadn't made up their mind firmly to quit and were even considering it they'll respond reflexively "Heads!" and...

Good conversation. Something that was on my mind today after reading this: When you are a beginner you don't get upset if you miss. You understand you aren't very good and will miss a lot. If you played your first game of 3 cushion you wouldn't get upset if you missed. If you played banks...

The road to success is paved with losses. Every champion has a string of chokes and fumbles and missed opportunities. But no one remembers all of the times that filler or Shaw or SVB dog it and lose. We just remember their wins. I believe the trick is to get more and more of these losses. I...

Kollege, tomato, thank you for the conversation. There have been some interesting discussions about this from some mental game greats in other sports. They were very clear about how we do our visualization. We are not to imagine ourselves missing key shots, but rather picture ourselves in a...