Question: if you are the best player on the team (by skill level, winning percentage, MVP) and some of your teammates have trouble sometimes making a straight in shot with ball in hand, do you still play your best or save it for when it is needed the most?
I find that I will play 1-2 innings per game on average but play a 5,6 or 7 inning match with B&Rs when I need to. Maybe I don't want to risk opening the table up to my opponent. My opponents notice the difference.
Tell me your stories.
Sorry I'm the strongest weak member on a weak team in a weak league so a lot of this stuff hits a nerve with me.
I don't know about apa, but if it's based on balls pocketed in a round...
I know my team has gotten a lot better ever since I started playing first instead of last. Getting to the table last and knowing you can't win or can only win if you run out was horrible.
When I go first, it sets the tone for the round. If I win big it shakes the other team, and my team can ride the momentum. If I just win, there's three people behind me who only need to pocket balls, and at least one of them can scrape a win.
That way you get the most vague spot, but if you're a stronger player, winning is enough to give the rest of your team a good idea of what they need to do. It's important to have a somewhat decent anchor that can finish off the round though.
But yeah, if your team lets the round slip, and then it's always your job to pull out a win, I just think you're playing from a position of weakness.
Much better to win first and take a bit of pressure off your teammates and hopefully it'll let them loosen up and play better with a firmer goal in mind.
Teamwork is important.
Also teaching your weaker teammates to play smart and not do stupid stuff goes a long way. I also don't know what level your league is at but sometimes it's better for your weaker players to leave a person long, instead of going for that crazy bank that leaves their opponent straight in on the 8-ball.
If their opponents earn it, fine, w.e
I also have no idea how many times I've seen my weaker teammates get upset that they didn't run out. I mean you're a weak player and you've never had a run out, nothing in your prior experience justifies you thinking you should be able to run out. Getting bent out of shape cause you messed up is pointless.
Or they'll moan whenever their opponent misses, and they're not perfectly straight in on a shot. I'm sitting there remembering how they just missed and hooked their opponent accidentally a couple shots ago. But they think the world is against them.
You get luck and you get unlucky, it rolls both ways. If the other team is getting lucky it won't last, and the worst thing your teammates can do is having already given up by the time things start to roll your way again.
Sorry, watching weak players getting upset frustrates me. It makes no sense to me watching someone I know who doesn't practice, has never thought about shape in their life, think that they can expect results that just aren't reasonable. It's like they want to find something to blame for their poor performance, and god forbid it's their fault.
Also to clarify my current team is awesome and we've really gelled as a team. Even though we're weak, we work together and we're positive, and it's the most fun I've ever had.
