Most of my practice these days is limited to 3-4 nights a weeks for 2-3 hour sessions, either on our extremely tight pocket 9-foot table or on our almost as tight pocket 10-foot table. I feel like I used to be somewhat competitive playing sets against the 9-ball ghost on either of these two tables, although I very rarely won a race to 9 set vs the ghost. That is no longer the case as I find myself frustrated to the point that I'm rarely running a rack - usually due to rattling a very make-able shot in a corner pocket.
At 62, I'm still a good enough player to occasionally run a 2 or 3 pack in 9-ball on our more normal sized pocket tables with 4-3/4" corners pockets. I've always felt that for our lower skilled players, they were basically wasting their time practicing on our tightest tables - 4-1/4" corners or 4-1/8" corners, both with 143 degrees pocket facing angles that seemingly spit out anything other than a dead center pocket shot. Many of our players regardless of their skill level seem to hold the concept that practicing on these extremely tight pocket tables will make them better players. I guess I felt that at my skill level that didn't apply to me and that practicing on these tighter tables and on the 10-foot table would give me an advantage when playing in our weekly Monday tournaments that are played on the other more generous size pocket tables.
I'm starting to wonder if my frustration level in practicing virtually exclusively on these tight tables is taking such a toll on my confidence that it's carried over to playing way below my skill level on the other tables in our weekly Monday night tournaments? Any thoughts or suggestions? - thanks
At 62, I'm still a good enough player to occasionally run a 2 or 3 pack in 9-ball on our more normal sized pocket tables with 4-3/4" corners pockets. I've always felt that for our lower skilled players, they were basically wasting their time practicing on our tightest tables - 4-1/4" corners or 4-1/8" corners, both with 143 degrees pocket facing angles that seemingly spit out anything other than a dead center pocket shot. Many of our players regardless of their skill level seem to hold the concept that practicing on these extremely tight pocket tables will make them better players. I guess I felt that at my skill level that didn't apply to me and that practicing on these tighter tables and on the 10-foot table would give me an advantage when playing in our weekly Monday tournaments that are played on the other more generous size pocket tables.
I'm starting to wonder if my frustration level in practicing virtually exclusively on these tight tables is taking such a toll on my confidence that it's carried over to playing way below my skill level on the other tables in our weekly Monday night tournaments? Any thoughts or suggestions? - thanks
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