Hey everyone,
It's been a while since I've posted here. I thought some of you might appreciate an update. Those that don't, just move along.
I stopped playing altogether about 2 months ago. I burnt myself out from playing way too much. Well, it's not only that, there are other reasons, but it's the main one.
I still love pool. It fits everything I'm looking for in a sport / game and I enjoy it thoroughly. I just don't feel like playing lately.
Now, I'm not discouraged or anything, but I reassessed my goals. I initially thought it would be a great achievement to play pro speed within 5 years. I still think it would be. I honestly thought I loved pool enough to forgo other hobbies to concentrate on it for a while and achieve that goal.
It seems that this isn't the case. I was still improving at a steady rate, everything going along well, but it reached a point where I felt like I was playing just to improve. I wasn't really having fun anymore.
Sure, improving is fun, but eventually it stops being as fun (you don't improve as fast and such just by running racks), and then drills become necessary, etc.
For those wanting a concrete answer, I do not feel like reaching pro speed in 5 years is the right target anymore. Do I still believe I could have done it if I could have kept the same early motivation for 5 years straight? Yep, that won't change and naysayers will be naysayers.
I might restart playing seriously in a not-so-distant future, think next few months, but I won't be aiming for pro speed in 5 years if I do so. It would be mostly to try to improve at a decent pace while keeping it fun, so no more 40 hours per week.
Off-topic: I caught a bit from a thread while lurking earlier today that said that I said in the 5 years pro speed thread that I never excelled at anything because I never took anything seriously enough. Not sure why I said that since it's not true, I must've forgot about some things when I wrote that.
It's been a while since I've posted here. I thought some of you might appreciate an update. Those that don't, just move along.
I stopped playing altogether about 2 months ago. I burnt myself out from playing way too much. Well, it's not only that, there are other reasons, but it's the main one.
I still love pool. It fits everything I'm looking for in a sport / game and I enjoy it thoroughly. I just don't feel like playing lately.
Now, I'm not discouraged or anything, but I reassessed my goals. I initially thought it would be a great achievement to play pro speed within 5 years. I still think it would be. I honestly thought I loved pool enough to forgo other hobbies to concentrate on it for a while and achieve that goal.
It seems that this isn't the case. I was still improving at a steady rate, everything going along well, but it reached a point where I felt like I was playing just to improve. I wasn't really having fun anymore.
Sure, improving is fun, but eventually it stops being as fun (you don't improve as fast and such just by running racks), and then drills become necessary, etc.
For those wanting a concrete answer, I do not feel like reaching pro speed in 5 years is the right target anymore. Do I still believe I could have done it if I could have kept the same early motivation for 5 years straight? Yep, that won't change and naysayers will be naysayers.
I might restart playing seriously in a not-so-distant future, think next few months, but I won't be aiming for pro speed in 5 years if I do so. It would be mostly to try to improve at a decent pace while keeping it fun, so no more 40 hours per week.
Off-topic: I caught a bit from a thread while lurking earlier today that said that I said in the 5 years pro speed thread that I never excelled at anything because I never took anything seriously enough. Not sure why I said that since it's not true, I must've forgot about some things when I wrote that.
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