I have been stuck at 39 for a long time. I have dogged my brains out on countless occasions in the 30's. Therefore, I have all kinds of runs in the 30's, and I am likely to run 30-something anytime I hit a ball.
Recently I have noticed that I have been slamming break shots and getting terrible rolls, so I have no shot afterwards. I have to do this because when I hit the shots a moderate pace balls do not come out. I am not playing in TV like conditions. There is older cloth on this table and the balls are very old and beat up.
Before I started this last high run I racked the balls and started to count the gaps between the balls. Not only were there all kinds of gaps, but several of the balls were not touching a single other ball. In my view, this places me at a decided disadvantage, as a number of shallow (er) angle breaks shots are not smart options if one is trying to break the balls to continue a run. The shot where you pop the break shot in and draw six inches back between the side pockets (think Niels Feijen) is just not a viable option.
I start running the balls. After the first rack, my wife calls and says the people that will fix our AC will be at the house in an hour. Obviously, I cannot leave with a run unfinished, so I start shooting pretty fast. I get out. I am now on a run of 29. I hit the break shot like Mosconi. I get out again, screw up a break shot for the following rack, but break the next rack poorly anyway. My run ends at 46.
Some observations in this latest attack on my high run are this:
1) Playing with weird undersized balls simply takes away a lot of break shots that might be viable in better conditions.
2) I need to pick my pace up, and maybe a lot of us do. If you are moving fast, doing what you know to do, there is no time to dog it...or at least less time.
kollegedave
Recently I have noticed that I have been slamming break shots and getting terrible rolls, so I have no shot afterwards. I have to do this because when I hit the shots a moderate pace balls do not come out. I am not playing in TV like conditions. There is older cloth on this table and the balls are very old and beat up.
Before I started this last high run I racked the balls and started to count the gaps between the balls. Not only were there all kinds of gaps, but several of the balls were not touching a single other ball. In my view, this places me at a decided disadvantage, as a number of shallow (er) angle breaks shots are not smart options if one is trying to break the balls to continue a run. The shot where you pop the break shot in and draw six inches back between the side pockets (think Niels Feijen) is just not a viable option.
I start running the balls. After the first rack, my wife calls and says the people that will fix our AC will be at the house in an hour. Obviously, I cannot leave with a run unfinished, so I start shooting pretty fast. I get out. I am now on a run of 29. I hit the break shot like Mosconi. I get out again, screw up a break shot for the following rack, but break the next rack poorly anyway. My run ends at 46.
Some observations in this latest attack on my high run are this:
1) Playing with weird undersized balls simply takes away a lot of break shots that might be viable in better conditions.
2) I need to pick my pace up, and maybe a lot of us do. If you are moving fast, doing what you know to do, there is no time to dog it...or at least less time.
kollegedave
