So, given that I was all set to kinda semi-retire myself from the game after this last Derby, I have a friend here in Germany attempting to get me to play with his Revo, and to get me to consider buying one before I went to Derby.. I basically took it, hit a few balls with it, said rather dismissively, "Yeah, yeah.. It plays good enough, but no way in hell I am buying a $500.00 shaft a month before Derby and try to figure out how to adjust to it in that short of a time period. Plus, I probably am not gonna play that much after Derby. Kind of a last swan song type deal..PLUS, this crap is too expensive."
Then, life threw a surprise at me. Despite all the things that were working against me in the lead up to Derby.. Still carrying around too much weight.. A general lack of really good practice regimen in the 2 months prior to Derby.. A huge amount of drama with a family member and drugs. Having a person along on the trip to Derby that multiplied the stress level 10X...
I somehow.. Some way.. Managed to play "halfway decent". Even though I lost, I had Scott Frost down 5-0, 6-0 in the first two games of our One Pocket match.. And he didn't make any mistakes.. I played ultra aggressive in the beginning, popped in critical shots, and then just flopped a stroke or two due to lack of real work on my game... And he ran out whenever I missed, no matter where the balls were. Beyond that, I had a few other good matches.. Some wins.. Some close losses while breaking extremely mediocre to people who had won against champions before..
After coming back to Germany, and we got all the stress stuff taken care of, the family member and everything.. Wifey tells me that she wants us to go back to Derby again this year, just her and I, and she wants us to start working out, and do everything to be in prime shape in January.
I had been playing with a mid-cue extension, which I felt was significantly contributing to more deflection/squirt/whatever. Just way too much side movement on long distance shots, and I was always feeling that every half tip of english was increasing my odds of missing by 15%.. I and thought to myself, "I gotta get rid of this extension.. Why not give the Revo another try, with a clear mind?" So, I tried it out, and did see improvement on long shots, and spin shots hit and speed. So I make the decision to buy one. My friend already had a few of them coming in the mail, and he sold me one for $435.00.. Dealer cost.
And now, here's the rub.. During the time I played with his Revo shaft, I paid close attention to how it responded at different shot lengths, spin, etc. It definitely draws easier than my 314-2. Beyond THAT.. I noticed, as others have noted, a complete lack of "feel" for the stroke. It basically feels like hitting the cueball with a steel bar. Not much feedback through the cue at all.
But.. I noticed that my shotmaking and position was significantly improved with this shaft.. How to explain it? Well, it's all about what your game is built on. I am a player that sticks pretty close to center ball, and I really work hard to get the correct angles to move the ball around the table. The advantage of the Revo "for me", was that it forced me to choose a tip position and speed/length of stroke, and then just commit to the stroke. As there is no "feel" for me with this shaft, it seems to greatly diminish the tendency to anticipate the hit.
And I am gonna have a tougher bunch of players to compete against to test this shaft out. My Bezirksliga team here in Germany won our division, and normally, the entire team is promoted to the next level, which in this case would be Landesliga. I talked to one of the club administrators, and expressed the desire to jump on a Verbandsliga team. This is two levels up from the team I had been playing. Bezirksliga just wasn't enough of a challenge to get me in the club practicing. Now, in Verbandsliga, we race to 100 points in our straight pool matches, and there is also 8, 9, and 10 ball. I feel some pressure to make a good showing, as I am volunteering to jump a level and take the spot of a player who is taking a break to be with his family. The Verbandsliga team I am possibly joining took third in their division, and I see it as my personal responsibility to get them over the hump. (When I actually practice, I have a pretty decent advantage over players at Verbandsliga level... But I have to work for it..)
So... The next league season starts sometime around late September.. Wife is flying back from the U.S. on Monday, and the plan is for us to both tighten up our diets, and get into the gym for lifts 4-5 days a week, and cardio 4-5 days a week. I need to drop as much weight as I can June-August, and then get a practice plan in place. Continue the weight loss September-January in the runup to Derby. I think this all might just be a perfect storm of timing that gets me to do the things I need to do to play my best by January. In addition to all this, a pool buddy just left Germany to go to TN, about 4 hours away from Derby, and has said he is coming for the whole week.. So, that is one more expectation that I can use to fuel all the hard work I need to do in the next 7 1/2 months. I need to show up there slim and trim, and in absolute dead punch.
Let's hope this Revo isn't a placebo effect type deal.. :grin-square::grin::grin-square: In addition to practicing with one a few hours, I also watched Joshua Filler play a couple of big gambling matches at DCC with one, and my thoughts on it's "dead hit" were very much in line with what I saw from Joshua's play. He did just seem to be wailing the balls in with his tip near center ball, not worrying too much about position, and just letting the accuracy of the shaft carry him through racks.
Then, life threw a surprise at me. Despite all the things that were working against me in the lead up to Derby.. Still carrying around too much weight.. A general lack of really good practice regimen in the 2 months prior to Derby.. A huge amount of drama with a family member and drugs. Having a person along on the trip to Derby that multiplied the stress level 10X...
I somehow.. Some way.. Managed to play "halfway decent". Even though I lost, I had Scott Frost down 5-0, 6-0 in the first two games of our One Pocket match.. And he didn't make any mistakes.. I played ultra aggressive in the beginning, popped in critical shots, and then just flopped a stroke or two due to lack of real work on my game... And he ran out whenever I missed, no matter where the balls were. Beyond that, I had a few other good matches.. Some wins.. Some close losses while breaking extremely mediocre to people who had won against champions before..
After coming back to Germany, and we got all the stress stuff taken care of, the family member and everything.. Wifey tells me that she wants us to go back to Derby again this year, just her and I, and she wants us to start working out, and do everything to be in prime shape in January.
I had been playing with a mid-cue extension, which I felt was significantly contributing to more deflection/squirt/whatever. Just way too much side movement on long distance shots, and I was always feeling that every half tip of english was increasing my odds of missing by 15%.. I and thought to myself, "I gotta get rid of this extension.. Why not give the Revo another try, with a clear mind?" So, I tried it out, and did see improvement on long shots, and spin shots hit and speed. So I make the decision to buy one. My friend already had a few of them coming in the mail, and he sold me one for $435.00.. Dealer cost.
And now, here's the rub.. During the time I played with his Revo shaft, I paid close attention to how it responded at different shot lengths, spin, etc. It definitely draws easier than my 314-2. Beyond THAT.. I noticed, as others have noted, a complete lack of "feel" for the stroke. It basically feels like hitting the cueball with a steel bar. Not much feedback through the cue at all.
But.. I noticed that my shotmaking and position was significantly improved with this shaft.. How to explain it? Well, it's all about what your game is built on. I am a player that sticks pretty close to center ball, and I really work hard to get the correct angles to move the ball around the table. The advantage of the Revo "for me", was that it forced me to choose a tip position and speed/length of stroke, and then just commit to the stroke. As there is no "feel" for me with this shaft, it seems to greatly diminish the tendency to anticipate the hit.
And I am gonna have a tougher bunch of players to compete against to test this shaft out. My Bezirksliga team here in Germany won our division, and normally, the entire team is promoted to the next level, which in this case would be Landesliga. I talked to one of the club administrators, and expressed the desire to jump on a Verbandsliga team. This is two levels up from the team I had been playing. Bezirksliga just wasn't enough of a challenge to get me in the club practicing. Now, in Verbandsliga, we race to 100 points in our straight pool matches, and there is also 8, 9, and 10 ball. I feel some pressure to make a good showing, as I am volunteering to jump a level and take the spot of a player who is taking a break to be with his family. The Verbandsliga team I am possibly joining took third in their division, and I see it as my personal responsibility to get them over the hump. (When I actually practice, I have a pretty decent advantage over players at Verbandsliga level... But I have to work for it..)
So... The next league season starts sometime around late September.. Wife is flying back from the U.S. on Monday, and the plan is for us to both tighten up our diets, and get into the gym for lifts 4-5 days a week, and cardio 4-5 days a week. I need to drop as much weight as I can June-August, and then get a practice plan in place. Continue the weight loss September-January in the runup to Derby. I think this all might just be a perfect storm of timing that gets me to do the things I need to do to play my best by January. In addition to all this, a pool buddy just left Germany to go to TN, about 4 hours away from Derby, and has said he is coming for the whole week.. So, that is one more expectation that I can use to fuel all the hard work I need to do in the next 7 1/2 months. I need to show up there slim and trim, and in absolute dead punch.
Let's hope this Revo isn't a placebo effect type deal.. :grin-square::grin::grin-square: In addition to practicing with one a few hours, I also watched Joshua Filler play a couple of big gambling matches at DCC with one, and my thoughts on it's "dead hit" were very much in line with what I saw from Joshua's play. He did just seem to be wailing the balls in with his tip near center ball, not worrying too much about position, and just letting the accuracy of the shaft carry him through racks.
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