I have never shot an opponent the entire time I have shot pool.
No offense sir but i call BS. Of course you're playing your opponent. Taking stock of their strength's/weaknesses figures in to how you play a particular person. Not doing so will get you beat more often than not. You can't consume your thinking with your opponent but you are definitely "shooting your opponent".I have never shot an opponent the entire time I have shot pool. I've always figured, besides playing a safety, my opponent can not affect my game in any way. In other sports a person can block your shot, tackle you, throw you a changeup, check you in to the boards etc., etc, this doesn't come into play in pool. I've always concentrated on getting out and making sure my opponent couldn't if I couldn't. So I seriously don't care one bit who I'm competing against as they don't deter me one way or another. Anyone else use this line of thinking? Brian.
If you don't know your opponent's strengths and weaknesses you are not doing everything possible to win. Saying it's just you and the table in the room might be a good mindset for some, but I think awareness of the other guy involved has value.
Does he bank or cut better? Can he back up or follow better with the cue ball. Does he get better or worse when he drinks? Does he get weaker/less focused late at night?
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No offense sir but i call BS. Of course you're playing your opponent. Taking stock of their strength's/weaknesses figures in to how you play a particular person. Not doing so will get you beat more often than not. You can't consume your thinking with your opponent but you are definitely "shooting your opponent".
If you don't know your opponent's strengths and weaknesses you are not doing everything possible to win. Saying it's just you and the table in the room might be a good mindset for some, but I think awareness of the other guy involved has value.
Does he bank or cut better? Can he back up or follow better with the cue ball. Does he get better or worse when he drinks? Does he get weaker/less focused late at night?
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I have never shot an opponent the entire time I have shot pool. I've always figured, besides playing a safety, my opponent can not affect my game in any way. In other sports a person can block your shot, tackle you, throw you a changeup, check you in to the boards etc., etc, this doesn't come into play in pool. I've always concentrated on getting out and making sure my opponent couldn't if I couldn't. So I seriously don't care one bit who I'm competing against as they don't deter me one way or another. Anyone else use this line of thinking? Brian.
I have never shot an opponent the entire time I have shot pool. I've always figured, besides playing a safety, my opponent can not affect my game in any way. In other sports a person can block your shot, tackle you, throw you a changeup, check you in to the boards etc., etc, this doesn't come into play in pool. I've always concentrated on getting out and making sure my opponent couldn't if I couldn't. So I seriously don't care one bit who I'm competing against as they don't deter me one way or another. Anyone else use this line of thinking? Brian.
^^^^^ This ^^^^^I and everyone else who has played real sets and tournaments will have come up to decisions on how to play certain shots based on the opponent. This whole "play the table not the opponent" has it's limits. You're winning percentage increases just from the knowledge of your opponent's strength and weakness.
Play the player.
Freddie
I agree with the original poster.
I'd like to know how often you really get an advantage from knowing an opponent's strengths and weaknesses and changing your shot based on that. I bet people do adjust their shots sometimes, but how often do they really get an advantage from it? I bet it's not very often.