saddned at my loss of passion for this sport

Shermanscs · Oct 13, 2015

I have been playing pool my whole life. I used to love the sport more than life itself. I used to get excitedly nervous before competing, whether in tournaments or just league play. I was an avid student of the game and have just about every instructional book made, many instructional videos and was even an accu-stats video of the month member. I have attended pool clinics and have fantastic mentors / teachers that I enjoyed taking lessons from periodically. While never a superstar, I played as a c+ player, but my game steadily improved over the years and I was a tough competitor. I own a pool table and I enjoyed and looked forward to regularly practicing, especially in anticipation of an upcoming tournament, but equally just to knock a few balls around with friends and family. As for the pros, I idolized them as if a kid, seeking them out for autographs at tournaments, hanging my signed copies of billiards digest on the walls of my make-shift pool room in my basement.

The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal. But passion is a strange thing. You can't "will it" to be there. It's either there or its not. I no longer look forward to league nights, played half heartedly in a few tournaments recently, and pretty much stopped reading & practicing. Somehow the sport is still special for me, but is only a shadow of it's former self of what it used to be and mean for me.

Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

pwd72s · Oct 13, 2015

Not with pool...but with Porsches. Had 4 of them over a period of 40 years...then one day, for various reasons...poof! Passion gone.

So, I sold out...everything. The car, the magazines, the spares, the special tools...all of it now gone. I'm really not that much of a car guy now.

Bottom line...when something stops being fun, it's time to look for something else fun.

At least that's how it worked for me.

Johnnyt · Oct 13, 2015

Yes, I have walked away from the game a few times. Sometimes the best part of breaking up is making up. I've been playing for 60+ years and hope to play at some speed till the day I die. Johnnyt

ElCorazonFrio · Oct 13, 2015

Set it free...if it comes back it was meant to be...

or, from a great movie:

Set it free...if it comes back...

...it's broken.

Be happy for the times you had. I left pool to play foosball for a while. It is good. When the itch to play pool again came, I was there to answer the call.

Leave it alone. Take a vacation. Write a novel. Learn to juggle. Whatever, you still love pool, but that doesn't mean that you have to see her every day.

RiverCity · Oct 13, 2015

ElCorazonFrio said:
Set it free...if it comes back it was meant to be...

or, from a great movie:

Set it free...if it comes back...

...it's broken.

Be happy for the times you had. I left pool to play foosball for a while. It is good. When the itch to play pool again came, I was there to answer the call.

Leave it alone. Take a vacation. Write a novel. Learn to juggle. Whatever, you still love pool, but that doesn't mean that you have to see her every day.

Are you saying that absence makes the frozen heart grow fonder? :thumbup:

King T · Oct 13, 2015

Try something new..,

Shermanscs said:
The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal.
Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

Change games. Dump yourself into Snooker or Straight Pool, for me it was One Pocket. After a 8 year lay off that I didn't plan. I walked out the Pool hall and didn't come back for 8 years.

One day a guy asked me to play some One Pocket, that turned the fire back on because he beat me to death every time we played for 4 months, that didn't sit well with me and from that point on I took up the game and it brought back my Love for all the games.

Good Luck!

ElCorazonFrio · Oct 13, 2015

Chuck Fields said:
Are you saying that absence makes the frozen heart grow fonder? :thumbup:

I suppose that is the hope, right?

The flip side is that if you walk away and never desire it again, then it was only a habit and not something which added to your life.

Maybe I'm weird, but I mostly play by myself. Tonight I either beat the ghost or came damn close without ball-in-hand. It was a good night. I then went to a bar tourney to see a few friends and wouldn't play. Pool is here for me, it relieves my stress, it balances me, it ties me to my childhood. It is a positive in my life.

At one time, pool was a negative in my life, so I walked away from it. I didn't even realize what pool meant to me until I had emailed a dear friend about playing a pick-up game for the first time in a while. She said that she wished she had something in her life like pool was in mine, something that would always be there.

And it will. I've had to decide how I will love her. I've had to accept my limitations with her. I've had to see her for the manipulative beyotch she is and love her despite it...because, in the end, she came back to me and has given me many beautiful moments.

jrackman · Oct 13, 2015

Break time my friend

You see sometimes we need a break from things we do over and over and over to digest what we learned (sometimes too much all in a short period of time). Think in terms, like a computer (your brain), your memory has filled up and needs to be cleaned of the junk that hangs around taking up space, so you need to clean out the junk in the your brain, then it will run so much better. I quit pool for 16 years and when I came back it was a passion like never before and my game was better then ever. But don't go back till you feel that passion again and you'll be surprised how good you really are at playing. I just hope your not a old guy like johnnyt..lol JK johnnyt ..good luck

caff3in3 · Oct 13, 2015

Shermanscs said:
I have been playing pool my whole life. I used to love the sport more than life itself. I used to get excitedly nervous before competing, whether in tournaments or just league play. I was an avid student of the game and have just about every instructional book made, many instructional videos and was even an accu-stats video of the month member. I have attended pool clinics and have fantastic mentors / teachers that I enjoyed taking lessons from periodically. While never a superstar, I played as a c+ player, but my game steadily improved over the years and I was a tough competitor. I own a pool table and I enjoyed and looked forward to regularly practicing, especially in anticipation of an upcoming tournament, but equally just to knock a few balls around with friends and family. As for the pros, I idolized them as if a kid, seeking them out for autographs at tournaments, hanging my signed copies of billiards digest on the walls of my make-shift pool room in my basement.

The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal. But passion is a strange thing. You can't "will it" to be there. It's either there or its not. I no longer look forward to league nights, played half heartedly in a few tournaments recently, and pretty much stopped reading & practicing. Somehow the sport is still special for me, but is only a shadow of it's former self of what it used to be and mean for me.

Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

I walked away from pool for around 10 years. I used to play tournaments and league every week. I went back to school and was working full time as well so I didn't have time to play.

When I finished school I just didn't have the desire to play. I even bought a house with a pool table and barely used it.

About 8 months ago I started playing pool with a buddy from work. Just a few games here and there. Playing with a house cue on my old bar box. Something changed, the fire was back. I think it is that he had only been playing about a year and I had a lot I could teach him.

Now I bought a decent cue, break cue and am doing something I never did before. Going through practice material instead of just banging the balls around.

Find what drives you. Maybe it is mentoring someone who is new to the game. Maybe it is the learning process. If you haven't gone through the BU exams, try them out. They will show you where the holes in your game are and give you something specific to improve on.

If you do take a break I hope you come back to it as energized as I did.

Cheers,

Chris

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Thomas McKane · Oct 13, 2015

THIS. And gamble for lots of $.

King T said:
Change games. Dump yourself into Snooker or Straight Pool, for me it was One Pocket. After a 8 year lay off that I didn't plan. I walked out the Pool hall and didn't come back for 8 years.

One day a guy asked me to play some One Pocket, that turned the fire back on because he beat me to death every time we played for 4 months, that didn't sit well with me and from that point on I took up the game and it brought back my Love for all the games.

Good Luck!

336Robin · Oct 13, 2015

It can happen you need a break

Shermanscs said:
I have been playing pool my whole life. I used to love the sport more than life itself. I used to get excitedly nervous before competing, whether in tournaments or just league play. I was an avid student of the game and have just about every instructional book made, many instructional videos and was even an accu-stats video of the month member. I have attended pool clinics and have fantastic mentors / teachers that I enjoyed taking lessons from periodically. While never a superstar, I played as a c+ player, but my game steadily improved over the years and I was a tough competitor. I own a pool table and I enjoyed and looked forward to regularly practicing, especially in anticipation of an upcoming tournament, but equally just to knock a few balls around with friends and family. As for the pros, I idolized them as if a kid, seeking them out for autographs at tournaments, hanging my signed copies of billiards digest on the walls of my make-shift pool room in my basement.

The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal. But passion is a strange thing. You can't "will it" to be there. It's either there or its not. I no longer look forward to league nights, played half heartedly in a few tournaments recently, and pretty much stopped reading & practicing. Somehow the sport is still special for me, but is only a shadow of it's former self of what it used to be and mean for me.

Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

Well after all this is a game and a game is only a part of life and things can suck the passion right out of it at times.

There will be a waning from time to time and the best way I know to deal with that is to take a break. You put an old pool cue that you don't have a lot of money in, into a case in the trunk of the car and take yourself a nice long pool break. You will be somewhere one day and see a pool room and then it will be all new all over again.

I took up One Pocket and that helped me get over my pool slump because its very interesting and teaches a more mature and complete view of the game because you have to know how to do everything right.

Don't sweat it, there might be something else that is bothering you and you need some time to figure out what it really is. Go with the flow...

Don't worry, be happy. The rest will work itself out.

rrick33 · Oct 13, 2015

People often have a passion for a sport because it challenges them and as they excel and advance their own skills it draws them deeper into to game.

If you reach a point where you come to believe that you have reached the limits of your ability and have nothing more to offer, then the mind can lose interest.

Are you no longer challenged by the sport?

Losing interest could mean you have lost your drive or motivation to improve.

If it turns out this is your problem, send me a personal message. I may have a solution.

Keith Jawahir · Oct 13, 2015

For me, it's always been the challenge of being better than the guy I was yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, etc. I always ask myself, if I were to play me from a year ago, how would I do?

Another thing that drives me is that I hate missing. It bothers me when I know I can do something and don't live up to it. Then again, I'm 33, so I've got plenty of time left to get tired of pool. Without a doubt, the people are the worst part of this beautiful game of ours.

macguy · Oct 13, 2015

Shermanscs said:
I have been playing pool my whole life. I used to love the sport more than life itself. I used to get excitedly nervous before competing, whether in tournaments or just league play. I was an avid student of the game and have just about every instructional book made, many instructional videos and was even an accu-stats video of the month member. I have attended pool clinics and have fantastic mentors / teachers that I enjoyed taking lessons from periodically. While never a superstar, I played as a c+ player, but my game steadily improved over the years and I was a tough competitor. I own a pool table and I enjoyed and looked forward to regularly practicing, especially in anticipation of an upcoming tournament, but equally just to knock a few balls around with friends and family. As for the pros, I idolized them as if a kid, seeking them out for autographs at tournaments, hanging my signed copies of billiards digest on the walls of my make-shift pool room in my basement.

The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal. But passion is a strange thing. You can't "will it" to be there. It's either there or its not. I no longer look forward to league nights, played half heartedly in a few tournaments recently, and pretty much stopped reading & practicing. Somehow the sport is still special for me, but is only a shadow of it's former self of what it used to be and mean for me.

Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

I have been playing since the early 60's and have quit for years at a time. I run into guys that used to play like fanatics it was all they did and you always hear the same thing. "How are you playing"? "Heck, I haven't played in years".

thintowin · Oct 13, 2015

Johnnyt said:
Yes, I have walked away from the game a few times. Sometimes the best part of breaking up is making up. I've been playing for 60+ years and hope to play at some speed till the day I die. Johnnyt

well put. i would hope these are words to live by for every passionate pool player.

Tramp Steamer · Oct 13, 2015

What you need is an all expense paid week-end at Sarasota's Spa and Men's Club, in beautiful downtown Galveston, Texas.
Formerly owned by "Two Tooth" Sally Bimstein, and now operated by her daughter Sarasota Bimstein, the SSMC is known worldwide as the hottest hot-pillow joint in the Southwest, catering to burned-out old pool players, much like yourself. Located on Canal Street, near the stock yards, the SSMC offers such amenities as reasonably clean sheets, baths at the end of the hall, and hot water on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as well as two-star entertainment every night.
As they say at the SSMC: "Everything goes, even the clothes." Fun nights include mud wrestling, wet t-shirt contests (men or women), and the specialty of the house, Lap dancing (men or women).
And speaking of lap dancing. Every Thursday evening a tribute lap dance is given free to one lucky individual in honor of the late "Two Tooth" Sally. Sally, you'll remember, was shot by an irate patron as she was performing one of her world famous lap dances. Sally, who suffered from CED (Chronic Explosive Diarrhea), unexpectedly let go one night, and really pissed the guy off.
Moving on, I say we here at AZB should pass the hat for our brother who is a little burned around the edges and send him to Texas, for some relief. :smile:

FranCrimi · Oct 13, 2015

Shermanscs said:
I have been playing pool my whole life. I used to love the sport more than life itself. I used to get excitedly nervous before competing, whether in tournaments or just league play. I was an avid student of the game and have just about every instructional book made, many instructional videos and was even an accu-stats video of the month member. I have attended pool clinics and have fantastic mentors / teachers that I enjoyed taking lessons from periodically. While never a superstar, I played as a c+ player, but my game steadily improved over the years and I was a tough competitor. I own a pool table and I enjoyed and looked forward to regularly practicing, especially in anticipation of an upcoming tournament, but equally just to knock a few balls around with friends and family. As for the pros, I idolized them as if a kid, seeking them out for autographs at tournaments, hanging my signed copies of billiards digest on the walls of my make-shift pool room in my basement.

The point of my post is that all of a sudden, like a light switch, I have lost my passion for the game and it saddens me a great deal. But passion is a strange thing. You can't "will it" to be there. It's either there or its not. I no longer look forward to league nights, played half heartedly in a few tournaments recently, and pretty much stopped reading & practicing. Somehow the sport is still special for me, but is only a shadow of it's former self of what it used to be and mean for me.

Interested if any of you have experienced this, and my hope is, you will tell me how you managed to recapture the magic and passion for the game - something I am desperate for.

Steve

Do a search online about losing passion. There are all kinds of interesting stories and articles about it written by professionals.

The general consensus is that it's normal.

ceebee · Oct 13, 2015

King T said:
Change games. Dump yourself into Snooker or Straight Pool, for me it was One Pocket. After a 8 year lay off that I didn't plan. I walked out the Pool hall and didn't come back for 8 years.

One day a guy asked me to play some One Pocket, that turned the fire back on because he beat me to death every time we played for 4 months, that didn't sit well with me and from that point on I took up the game and it brought back my Love for all the games.

Good Luck!

I quit playing in 1979, because Pool was waning, I had a 60 hour a week job & a family. One day in 1998, just after my retirement, I got an invitation to play in a Pool Tournament at the Moose Club. I got excited, because I was getting ready to go play some Pool, when I left the game, I was a winner, both in gambling & tournaments... so I thought wow, this is gonna be fun.

They beat me like a step child, I was angry & disappointed on the inside, so I bought me a nice Pechauer, a Pool Table (my first) , a couple books & a dozen videos. 4 months later, it was a different story, I was actually getting better than I was as a younger man. Funny what age will bring to a person. I would still have some downs, but slowly worked out of that.

Then I got into the Pool Business & things are great. I'm 74 & loving it. Still get the jitters a few hours before a tournament. I'm also playing a lot of Golf on a Kling Snooker table with a half-ball roll off. That will bring your butter.

To me learning is exciting, because then you have to learn the application. Watching that happen is very satisfying. Winning is also an elixir that is intoxicating. In today's world, a simple thing like the "pecking order" in a Pool Room, can throw one off , but then again, as you break that order & rise up the ranks, that brings back some excitement.

Good Luck...

oldplayer · Oct 13, 2015

I started playing in 1965 and was hooked the fist day.....got really good within 2 or 3 years. had a 9' Brunswick in my house for 13 years and played every day! got even better. left for a 7 yr sabbatical with my wife thru the Caribbean and did not lose but one game and that was to the champion of Bonaire! got back to the usa and did not play for 5 years then started back 3 years ago. tried to get my old game back but because of age I only got back 90% of it. in the past 3 years I have won two 9 ball tournaments, and 8 ball tournament and a 2nd place and 1st place in straight pool. my "apa master's" team got 2nd place 2 sessions ago and 1st place this last session. so I think you can agree I have had an intense passion for pool for a long time. a couple of years ago my wife was diagnosed with a terminal disease and the doctor told me 2 weeks ago she would probably not make it to this xmas and I had to go ahead and make funeral arrangements. I have lost all passion for the sport now and doubt that I will ever get it back....but it was a great ride (with he wife too!). good luck on the hunt and try taking off a couple of weeks. sometimes you can get a little burned out.

ceebee · Oct 13, 2015

oldplayer said:
I started playing in 1965 and was hooked the fist day.....got really good within 2 or 3 years. had a 9' Brunswick in my house for 13 years and played every day! got even better. left for a 7 yr sabbatical with my wife thru the Caribbean and did not lose but one game and that was to the champion of Bonaire! got back to the usa and did not play for 5 years then started back 3 years ago. tried to get my old game back but because of age I only got back 90% of it. in the past 3 years I have won two 9 ball tournaments, and 8 ball tournament and a 2nd place and 1st place in straight pool. my "apa master's" team got 2nd place 2 sessions ago and 1st place this last session. so I think you can agree I have had an intense passion for pool for a long time. a couple of years ago my wife was diagnosed with a terminal disease and the doctor told me 2 weeks ago she would probably not make it to this xmas and I had to go ahead and make funeral arrangements. I have lost all passion for the sport now and doubt that I will ever get it back....but it was a great ride (with he wife too!). good luck on the hunt and try taking off a couple of weeks. sometimes you can get a little burned out.

Mr OldPlayer, I'm sure the entire family of AZB is with me on the condolences I offer. Please know that we are with you in your time of sorrow & we'll be there always....

saddned at my loss of passion for this sport

Steve sherman

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