Anyone of you guys or gals play 14.1 before a tournament? Or do you just spread out the 15 balls and shoot away?
Practice before a tournament
- Thread starter Positively Ralf
- Start date
Before a straight pool tournament, I usually take BIH and a break ball of choice and attempt to run balls. When I miss, I continue from that point and continue to run balls. I do this for several reasons. I want to see how the balls are opening up, get a feel for the table conditions and speed. After several racks, I like to shoot some object balls that are close to the rail all the way up to the head corner pockets. These shots seem to come up quite often and I feel that I need to comfortable shooting these. After that I may shoot some short rail bank shots and shoot some two and three rail kick shots. Of course, kicks shots are rare in 14.1, I still like to see how the rails are playing.
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I'm not necessarily practicing anything specific, although there have been times when before a Straight Pool tournament I'd shoot opening breaks and the opening shot from the head rail, however tough it might be, to improve my feel for which I might actually take on the following day, and which I'd rather not (there's some "I dare you" aspect in the Straight Pool opening break scenario, after all, and the intimidation factor of not shying back, then again, no use doing anything silly and have to play catch-up, or loose on the first shot).
Before a Straight Pool Open last Saturday, I went to the practice table every day for 10 days, if not two weeks, setting up a break shot, playing until I'd run at least 50 each day - the problem is I don't have much time to practice, and have to be careful not to put too much pressure on myself to get it done in time, but it worked insofar as I did run over 80 every day before I had to leave, but then lacked the time to continue, which did feel like a shame (and at the same time makes one feel hungry, wanting to play more, which is good). Most importantly, I was saying to myself I must not miss in a open table, period. As long as I can hold it together and not shoot at anything I might miss, however tempting it might look, I should be fine. I'm not sure I'd call that practicing, though, more a matter of getting in rhythm or building confidence, which didn't quite work, as it seemed I got slower by the day instead of picking up the pace. But I ended up doing well on Saturday, and that's that.
Now, in hindsight, there are specific aspects of my game I need to practice on, and I really promised myself I'd get to it this week, make the best of what seemed like a chance to get back in form - but haven't picked up a cue since, simply lacked the time. Bummed…
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
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Practice
Before the tournament begins, my main purpose is to get a feel of the table (mainly speed & to see if the rack will open properly). Going to the pool room the day before is a good idea if possible but I will not play a match with anyone if asked to play. Specially if they are a player in the tournament. Those players who ask to play a match or a few racks in a 8 ball or 9 ball tournament are just trying to Size up against you. Practicing heavy at home by myself, starting two weeks before the tournament starts works well for me. If you do this, you will not need to practice before the tournament. Only to get the feel of the table.
Before the tournament begins, my main purpose is to get a feel of the table (mainly speed & to see if the rack will open properly). Going to the pool room the day before is a good idea if possible but I will not play a match with anyone if asked to play. Specially if they are a player in the tournament. Those players who ask to play a match or a few racks in a 8 ball or 9 ball tournament are just trying to Size up against you. Practicing heavy at home by myself, starting two weeks before the tournament starts works well for me. If you do this, you will not need to practice before the tournament. Only to get the feel of the table.