I read your *great* suggestions about 9-ball. And one of them hit a nerve...
I've been practicing various shots daily on a rotating weekly basis, two of these shots being carom and combo. I recently started playing in 9-ball tournaments specifically to practice hitting in the 9 early with a carom or combo shot. No intention of winning anything, just practicing and having fun.
Well I won 1st in a tournament a few weeks ago by hitting in the 9 early multiple times. (Guess I'm getting better at my combo and carom shots...)
I've also beat some top notch players in matches with this play, knocking them out of the tournament sometimes.
Since winning the tournament, one player has several times told me that I need to run out the rack and not try to shoot in the 9-ball early. Lately he has made comments to me like "have you learned to play 9-ball yet?". In other words, there is strong opposition to my playing style, but only by some players (not all) who usually win the tournaments. (Other players say I am a good shot, say positive things, etc.)
Since I've been winning more and more games (8-ball too), there are all sorts of nasty comments directed my way by some players. When I was losing every single game, they were nice as could be and very encouraging.
The tournaments I've been playing in are mostly lesser skilled players. My solution to all this nonsense was to seek and find tournaments with much higher skilled players. And I have done this. The higher skilled player tournaments seem to have players which are better sports when they lose. Also when playing 9-ball, they attempt every shot they can to shoot in the 9 ball early. This is the way I think it should be.
I don't necessarily care if I win tournaments at this point or not. What I'm doing is practicing different things, then going to tournaments and trying these things out. I'm concentrating on and thinking about whatever the "shot of the day" is. How well I am doing with that specific shot, what I can do to improve, maybe some different practice drill which would help me learn the shot better, etc.
So my question: I feel like I am headed in the right direction with my practice and learning. But it seems the better I get, the more [some] other players want to derail my efforts and discourage me from playing. What is your experience with all this?
I've been practicing various shots daily on a rotating weekly basis, two of these shots being carom and combo. I recently started playing in 9-ball tournaments specifically to practice hitting in the 9 early with a carom or combo shot. No intention of winning anything, just practicing and having fun.
Well I won 1st in a tournament a few weeks ago by hitting in the 9 early multiple times. (Guess I'm getting better at my combo and carom shots...)
I've also beat some top notch players in matches with this play, knocking them out of the tournament sometimes.
Since winning the tournament, one player has several times told me that I need to run out the rack and not try to shoot in the 9-ball early. Lately he has made comments to me like "have you learned to play 9-ball yet?". In other words, there is strong opposition to my playing style, but only by some players (not all) who usually win the tournaments. (Other players say I am a good shot, say positive things, etc.)
Since I've been winning more and more games (8-ball too), there are all sorts of nasty comments directed my way by some players. When I was losing every single game, they were nice as could be and very encouraging.
The tournaments I've been playing in are mostly lesser skilled players. My solution to all this nonsense was to seek and find tournaments with much higher skilled players. And I have done this. The higher skilled player tournaments seem to have players which are better sports when they lose. Also when playing 9-ball, they attempt every shot they can to shoot in the 9 ball early. This is the way I think it should be.
I don't necessarily care if I win tournaments at this point or not. What I'm doing is practicing different things, then going to tournaments and trying these things out. I'm concentrating on and thinking about whatever the "shot of the day" is. How well I am doing with that specific shot, what I can do to improve, maybe some different practice drill which would help me learn the shot better, etc.
So my question: I feel like I am headed in the right direction with my practice and learning. But it seems the better I get, the more [some] other players want to derail my efforts and discourage me from playing. What is your experience with all this?
I would try the combination all the time, because I might need only 2-3 lucky shots to win the match and my opponent needs to make several run-outs. And when I need 8 racks or so, I try to play safe a lot more often compared to normal match. My less skilled opponent will likely give me a ball in hand after a good safety and I don't have to risk a difficult run-out only to find myself out of position on the 8 or 9 thus giving him an easy point.
